April 2022
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Seeking Seasonal Staff Housing
LPC's seasonal field biologists are due to arrive at the end of May, and we are seeking summer housing for our Monadnock field biologist from May 22 to August 13. Please let us know if you know of a place or would consider hosting or renting space. We’ve found that advertised short term rentals are few and far between, but loon biologists are a hardy lot: anything from a spare room to a pleasant tent site could work. Please respond to this email or call the Loon Center (603-476-5666) with ideas!

In addition to the Monadnock region, one of our Lakes Region crew members will be traveling from graduate school in Montana and would love to bring her well-behaved 4-year old dog for the summer. If you know of a dog-friendly home or rental vacancy in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire that could accommodate this need, please let us know.
Visit us at Discover WILD New Hampshire Day!
This coming Saturday (April 16th) from 10 AM–3 PM, our friends at New Hampshire Fish and Game are hosting Discover WILD New Hampshire Day! LPC is participating in the event—we'll have a table, and we'll be kicking off our 2022 Lead Tackle Buyback Program! Those who turn in one ounce or more of illegal lead fishing tackle (lead sinkers and lead-headed jigs weighing one ounce or less) at this event will receive $10 cash. We'll also have non-lead tackle and educational materials about loons to distribute.

Note that this is a special kickoff event—for the rest of the year, you can exchange your lead tackle at a participating tackle shop for a $10 voucher to that shop, which can be used to purchase non-lead, loon-safe tackle or other supplies.
New Hampshire Happenings
Loons have been arriving back to their breeding lakes in New Hampshire in a flurry over the past few weeks! To keep up with their arrival, check out the great map of first loon sightings available through Journey North. Thanks to the many NH residents who documented and reported these loon returns!

Some LPC volunteers have already managed to confirm the return of banded loons to their lakes. See LPC volunteer Scott Powell's photos below, and if you manage to capture any photos of banded loons this year (from a responsible distance of 150 feet or more), please share them with us!
This photo, taken by LPC volunteer Scott Powell, confirms that the same female that hatched a chick on his lake last summer has returned this year. Her band combination is yellow stripe over red on the left leg and green over silver on the right.
This photo shows that the banded male loon has also returned to Scott's lake.
Raft and Sign Building Workshops
On April 13th, LPC hosted the first in a series of three Volunteer Raft and Sign Building Workshops. Together, LPC staff and volunteers constructed 14 rafts—and we still have more to build! If you'd like to participate in the workshops scheduled for April 22nd from 9 AM–1 PM or April 23rd from 9 AM–1 PM (or both), please RSVP to [email protected].

We'd like to extend a sincere thank you to all who participated in the April 13th workshop and helped us to make these rafts, which will be floated this year at vulnerable loon nesting sites across the state.
What's that loon eating?
Though loons are now returning to our lakes, we wanted to share one last series of winter loon photos with you. These photos were taken by Ian McDonald on the ocean off of the coast of North Carolina, and they show a loon eating a stingray! While we've received photos over the years of wintering loons eating lobster, crabs, shrimp, snails, and even marine worms, none of us at LPC have ever seen a loon eating a stingray before, and we wanted to share Ian's incredible photos with you!
Loon Preservation Committee | 603-476-LOON (5666) | www.loon.org
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.