Goals
- Provide a regional snapshot of the loon population to guide management decisions and policies that affect loons.
- Engage the public in loon conservation efforts.
Activities
Adirondack Loon Census: How to Participate
On the third Saturday of July, WCS conducts the census with the help of local Adirondack residents and visitor volunteers. Observers sign up to monitor a particular lake from 8 – 9 AM on Census Day, and complete a census observation form indicating the number of adult loons, chicks, and immature loons they observe. Observations made elsewhere in New York State are also welcome. Similar loon censuses are also conducted in other states throughout the Northeast at the same time on the same day, contributing to a regional overview of the population’s current status.
Interested in helping out? Each summer, volunteers are needed to help census loons on Adirondack Lakes!
Citizens interested in volunteering can select a lake from the lake selection table and contact us to sign up for an available lake by emailing adkloon@wcs.org or calling (518)891-8872. We will need to know your name, address (or email) and phone number, and the lake where you would like to observe (including the town and county in which it is located.) Lakes are available to observers on a first-come, first-served basis. Please also download instructions for participating in the census and the census form. If you would like to return the form to us digitally, you may do so using the fillable form (requires Microsoft Word).
Accomplishments
- We have conducted the loon census for ten years, surveying, on average, more than 200 lakes each year, with engagement by well over 500 volunteers.
- Census results reveal a relatively stable population estimated at approximately 2000 loons in the Adirondacks (see the results of past censuses for more detailed results).