Greetings!
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 all of 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,
