Earlier this summer Milt Weinstein and his three grandchildren were out walking along Eastman Pond to look at a loon nesting site.
“At the time we were there, the mate of the loon was swimming in toward the nest,” Weinstein recalled. The other loon got off the nest and the pair switched places. “They alternate every few hours.”
“We just watch them all the time,” the Grantham resident said.
Weinstein is one of many loon enthusiasts who help out with the annual loon count, which happens every year on the third Saturday of July from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. This year, the count is on July 15.
“This event coincides with loon counts on the same day in Vermont, Maine and New York and is a great way to generate more interest about loons and ways to protect them,” said Susie Burbidge, the outreach/volunteer coordinator for the Loon Preservation Commitee.
Michael Riese, of Canaan, is one of about a half-dozen people who help count loons on Goose Pond every year. He and other volunteers divide up the 625-acre lake into sections for the count.
“You stay in your area and you keep and eye out and mark what you see,” Riese explained. Then, after the hour is up, the volunteers meet again to compare notes. “You have to be careful not to over count.”
After the count, volunteers report their findings to the Loon Preservation Committee.
In 2016, 526 volunteers covered 121 of the state’s lakes, Burbidge said in an email. That was about ⅓ of the lakes that the organization surveys and 445 adult loons, three immature loons and 74 chicks were counted.
“We’ve been pretty fortunate to see two chicks almost every year,” said Weinstein, who has volunteered with the count for about a decade. Usually Weinstein and a neighbor divide up the 320-acre lake.
Those who volunteer have a deep affection and appreciation for the birds.
“We really like listening to the loons,” Riese said. Late at night, “the world is quiet and all of a sudden you hear the loons calling out on the lake.”
After Weinstein and his wife started watching them on Eastman Pond, “it turned into a birding hobby,” he said.
The annual count is one of a number of ways to volunteer with the Loon Preservation Society.
“It does give us a good mid-season snapshot of what’s happening,” Burbidge said. “People look forward to it every year.”
Editor’s note: For more information about the upcoming loon count and volunteer opportunities with the Loon Preservation Commitee, contact Susie Burbidge at volunteers@loon.org or 603-476-5666. For those interested in volunteering in Vermont, contact Eric Hanson, loon biologist for the Vermont Loon Conservation Project, at 802-586-8064.
Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.
