This story was originally published in July 2023.

So, you think you know loons. OK. I’m going to throw out factoids and see if any of them surprise you.

You might have heard of the annual Maine Loon Count , which in 2023 mobilized more than 1,600 volunteers to count loons. You might not know that the count takes place only in southern and central Maine. There are simply too few people to survey the remote lakes of northern Maine, especially when access is difficult.

Maine’s loons have faced an increasing number of threats over the last four decades. Adult loons have few natural enemies. A loon on a nest can be vulnerable to bald eagles, but attacks are rare, because the loon’s sharp bill is enough to convince most eagles it’s a bad idea.

However, eagles will grab chicks, and woe to t

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