The old blog has been a little quiet lately, what with time off and holidays and all.

So it’s nice to get things flowing again with a little good news.

Maine’s loon chicks had a really good year in 2007, according to the 24th annual Maine Audubon Loon Count. The group announced today that last summer’s count recorded the highest number of loon chicks since the annual census started in 1983. Not bad considering that the 2006 count revealed the lowest number of chicks ever on record. Chick numbers jumped nearly 200 percent from 2006.

“It was great to see the numbers of young bounce back,” said Maine Audubon biologist Susan Gallo, who coordinates the army of 800 volunteers in the annual count.

Much better weather last summer was clearly a big help.

Another factor may have been a 6 percent decline in adult loons, according to Maine Audubon. Groups of non-breeding adult loons – “rogue” birds that inhabit large lakes – can threaten nesting loons, according to the group.

Rogue loon gangs notwithstanding, the bird has a lot of charisma and huge following. It’s also a valuable environmental indicator, reflecting the health of Maine’s lake systems and the effects of pollutants such as mercury.

Look at Maine Audubon's Web sitefor more about the survey results.

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