MOULTONBOROUGH — Loon chicks have been spotted all over the Lakes Region as of late, but according to the preliminary results of the 2025 New Hampshire Loon Census, numbers are down statewide.

While the total number of loons appears strong at 541, with an additional 109 loon chicks, the picture paints a decrease compared to years prior, because each individual loon can be considered part of a mating pair, plus some lone loon extras.

“There were 541 adult loons — that comes out to 270 pairs — and that’s far under what we expect our population to be,” said Caroline Hughes, outreach biologist for the Loon Preservation Committee. “It’s sort of hard to get the full picture of the season for the loons from the census alone.”

The results from the 2024 census yielded 359 loon pairs and 100 “or

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