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Loon and Baby

LoonWatch

…cases are responsible for loons and loon music disappearing from traditional nesting lakes. LoonWatch, a program of the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute, protects common loons and their aquatic habitats through education, monitoring, and research. Though our primary focus is Wisconsin, our education and research activities extend to Upper Great Lakes…

Loon flying over a lake

Get Involved

Since 1978, LoonWatch’s Annual Lakes Monitoring Program has engaged an active volunteer network of Loon Rangers as its primary tool to collect critical long-term data on loons in northern Wisconsin. Working as population monitors and environmental educators, these volunteers have been the field force that has provided SOEI and WI…

Happy Anniversary, LoonWatch

THE LAKE WHERE YOU LIVE

…set in deep black? Forty years ago, the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute at Northland College started a project called LoonWatch to “protect common loons and their aquatic habitats through education, monitoring, and research.” A highlight of last month’s Wisconsin Lakes Convention in Stevens Point was a panel discussion about LoonWatch

Phot0 by Brad Thompson. 2021 loonwatch winning photo of loon and chick.

Loon Appreciation Week and Poster

Held the first week of May, LoonWatch promotes loon education and conservation during Loon Appreciation Week by creating and distributing a new Loon Appreciation Week poster each year. Poster are available to the public for $7 each.  …

2017 Loon poster Photo by Lorna Rohloff

Give to LoonWatch

LoonWatch, a program of the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute, protects common loons and their aquatic habitats through education, monitoring, and research. Please fill out the gift form below. Please call 715-682-1215 if you would like to change or cancel a recurring gift. Video footage by Linda Grenzer Oops! We could…

Mother loon and her chick

Wisconsin Loon Population on the Rise


Results of the 2015 one-day Wisconsin Loon Population Survey

…been conducted every five years since 1985. Some 210 volunteers collected data July 18, 2015, surveying 204 lakes in twenty-seven northern Wisconsin counties. LeMoine credits the improved population, in part, to improved communication about loons, expanding volunteers, and the LoonWatch Get the Lead Out! program. “LoonWatch has had a positive…

Loon and baby on lake

Ethical Wildlife Photography

All bird photographers want that perfect shot, and sometimes they’ll go to great lengths to get it (read Audubon magazine’s feature). The problem comes when that pursuit jeopardizes the welfare and safety of the birds themselves. LoonWatch wants to make sure our contest photos are taken in an ethical way….

NIck Smith at booth at Loon Days

My LoonWatch Internship

By Nicholas G. Smith Last winter I applied for the LoonWatch internship at the SOEI. I saw this as an opportunity to learn ways to bring wildlife science together with a large caring community for the betterment of this beautiful bird. The job description entailed becoming proficient in loon ecology,…

Loon airs its wings

Protect Loons

Over the last seventy years, northern Wisconsin has experienced increasing development. Housing density maps from 1940, 1990, and 2010 clearly show cumulative density throughout the decades, particularly in the lakes regions. What does this mean for loons? Loss of habitat, declining water quality, and increased recreational use of lakes influences…