Help Us Look for Loons

Alert loons in search of an intruder. © Lorna Kane-Rohloff

From a mere seven pairs three decades ago, Common Loons now number about 100 breeding pairs in the Vermont. This conservation triumph came only with a collaboration among people and organizations across the state. You can help us help loons this year. And one way is to help us assess the breeding status of loons on some lakes and ponds this spring that are not often visited by volunteers.

If you need an excuse to paddle or walk a beautiful shoreline this spring, take a trip to one of the lakes and ponds listed below during the latter half of May or early June to see if you can find the loon pair and assess whether they are nesting or not.

Most loons initiate nesting between May 20 and June 15 with a few pairs starting earlier and some later. The lakes and ponds below have limited or no loon volunteers visiting them, so any extra visits can help us know what the pairs are doing, which is especially important if we need to use nest warning signs or the pairs are on reservoirs. We use nest warning signs at about half of the current 100 plus pairs of nest sites.

If you do visit, please report your sighting to Vermont eBird, a project of our Vermont Atlas of Life, and then share your observations with VCE’s loon biologist, Eric Hanson at . Even if you don’t see loons, it is still important information for you to report.

Common Loon sightings reported to Vermont eBird during the first week of May 2017. Click on the map to see a live version at Vermont eBird.

Some Lakes and Ponds for Monitoring

(Find the Vermont eBird hotspot for each lake to get directions and see when Loons were last observed)

Northeast Kingdom

• Bald Hill Pond
• Center Pond
• Derby Pond
• Echo Lake
• Great Averill Lake
• Holland Pond
• Jobs Pond
• Little Averill Lake
• May Pond
• Neal Pond
• Norton Pond

North Central

• Buck Lake
• Dog Pond
• Ewell Pond
• Lake Elmore
• Flagg Pond
• Great Hosmer Pond
• Green River Res.
• Hardwick Lake
• Keiser Pond
• Little Hosmer Pond
• Lyford Pond
• Mollys Falls Res.
• Osmore Pond
• Lake Parker (no nesting yet)
• Peacham Pond
• Wolcott Pond
• Zack Woods Pond

Central

• Chittenden Res.
• Glen Lake (no nesting yet)
• Lake Morey (no nesting yet)
• Lake St. Catherine (no nesting yet)
• Spring Lake

South

• Gale Meadows Res.