On Saturday July 21, the Wildlife Conservation Society will be conducting an annual loon census with the help of local Adirondack residents and visitor volunteers.
The Lake George Association coordinates volunteers on Lake George; multiple volunteers are needed to cover 176 miles of shoreline simultaneously during the hour of the census. To register and sign up for a section of Lake George to monitor, please contact the LGA at 518-668-3558. The LGA will provide information on how to participate, and a data sheet.
Census volunteers will monitor a selected portion of the Lake from 8 – 9 am, and report the number of adult loons, chicks, and immature loons they observe. Similar loon censuses are also conducted in other states throughout the Northeast at the same time on the same day, contributing to a thorough regional overview of the population’s current status.
This data provides a quick glimpse of the status of the breeding loon population in and around the Adirondack Park and across New York State. The results help guide management decisions and policies that affect loons. One of the major findings of the 2010 census: The Adirondack loon population has almost doubled since the last pre-census analysis in the 1980s, and now totals some 1,500–2,000 birds.
The Annual Loon Census is a project of the Wildlife Conservation Society Adirondack Program and is conducted in partnership with Biodiversity Research Institute’s Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation.
For more information, contact the LGA at (518) 668-3558 or visit the LGA website at www.lakegeorgeassociation.org.