More loons are filling Maine's lakes with their ghost

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Loons are on the mend in Maine, filling more of the state's lakes and ponds with their haunting calls, although conservations say the birds aren't out of the woods yet.

Maine is home to a few thousand of the distinctive black-and-white waterbirds — the East Coast’s largest loon population — and conservationists said efforts to protect them from threats helped grow the population. An annual count of common loons found more adults and chicks this year than last, Maine Audubon said this week.

The group said it estimated a population for the southern half of Maine of 3,174 adult loons and 568 chicks. Audubon bases its count on the southern portion of Maine because there are enough bird counters to get a reliable number. The count is more than twice the number when th