December 3, 2018

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A Far Cry
The Loon Preservation Committee's 2018 Annual Appeal
LPC staff members Caroline Hughes and John Cooley band a rescued loon before releasing it onto Lower Danforth Pond in May.
Seacoast Region Field Biologist Owen Brennick rescues a loon on Lower Suncook Lake in June. Photo courtesy of Linda Haney.
LPC Biologist Tiffany Grade floats a nesting raft on Squam Lake in early May.
LPC Field Interns Matt Tolman and Julian Moulton make signs to protect loon nests.
Students at Wolfeboro Elementary School pose with a loon nesting sign they made with the help of LPC Senior Biologist John Cooley. Photo courtesy of Liz Jackson.
Monadnock Region Field Biologist Hillary Siener collects eggshells from Meetinghouse Pond. Photo courtesy of Brian Reilly.
Tufts Intern Kim Freid collects water quality data on Lake Francis as part of a collaborative research initiative between LPC and the University of New Hampshire.
Sunapee Region Field Biologist Sarah Cantwell floats ropelines to protect a loon nest on Lake Sunapee. Photo courtesy of Susan Parmenter.
Seacoast Region Field Biologist Owen Brennick modifies a loon nesting sign to protect chicks on Big Island Pond. Photo courtesy of Al Sandler.
Senior Biologist/Executive Director Harry Vogel speaks at LPC's 2018 Annual Meeting. Photo courtesy of Brian Reilly.
If you have already received and responded to LPC's 2018 Annual Appeal mailing, thank you for your support and please disregard this email.
Dear ,

On Caroline’s third trip to distant South Pond, just 29 miles from the Canadian border, she caught the loon. This ailing bird, hopelessly tangled in fishing line, was still able to elude even the Loon Preservation Committee (LPC)’s accomplished Staff Biologist on two previous rescue attempts. Persistence paid off, as it always has for LPC, as Caroline gently removed the line that had bit deeply into the bird’s bill and skin to keep him from feeding and waterproofing his feathers. This poor loon was one of 17 rescued by LPC this year to date – but he will likely not be the last. We will be ready to respond to loons in trouble through the winter, as always.  

The rewards of this rescue work are great – helping a suffering loon and knowing that these rescues play an important role in recovering New Hampshire’s threatened loon population. The South Pond loon was one of five that LPC Senior Biologist John Cooley rescued from the ice on Lake Sunapee three winters ago. Four of those loons survived to be released, and all four came back to New Hampshire lakes this year. The three loon chicks they raised between them all hatched from nests protected by LPC signs and ropelines.   
Those chicks were in good company, as record numbers of loons nested this year on rafts floated by LPC and behind the protection of LPC “Loon Nesting Area” signs. Many of these nesting loons watched as LPC biologists monitored, carried out research, and talked to anyone who would listen about loons and their needs – all to ensure a good year for loons in New Hampshire.  , our volunteers and supporters made this work possible. 

This summer, many of our lakes were home to loons for the first time since LPC was created in 1975. But, for too many of us, the call of the loon is still heard distantly, or not at all. LPC has been up to every challenge over the 44 years we’ve worked to recover our loon population. We’ve shown that it’s possible to bring loons back to our lakes; and, with your continued support, we will keep working to bring that wild and soulful cry a little closer.  Please consider a gift to LPC to sustain that work in the coming year.  Thank you for your support, and I wish you and your family a peaceful and joyful Holiday Season.


Yours sincerely,
Harry Vogel
Senior Biologist/Executive Director   

P.S. Please visit our website, www.loon.org , to make a tax-deductible gift to support LPC’s monitoring, research, management, and outreach to protect loons. Thank you!

Be sure to click below for a video of one of our 2018 loon releases!
LPC Senior Biologist John Cooley and Wildlife Rehabilitator/Former LPC Biologist Bethani Garland release a rescued loon onto Lower Danforth Pond.
For the first time in our monitoring history, LPC documented nesting loons on Caldwell Pond. These chicks are 2 of 224 hatched on New Hampshire Lakes in 2018. Photo courtesy of Brian Reilly.

The Loon Preservation Committee is dedicated to restoring and maintaining a healthy population of loons throughout New Hampshire; monitoring the health and productivity of loon populations as sentinels of environmental quality; and promoting a greater understanding of loons and the natural world.
Loon Preservation Committee | 603-476-LOON (5666) | www.loon.org

Loon Center Hours: Open Thursday through Saturday, 9 am to 5 pm