Vermont
Vermont’s adult loon population is at an all-time high, but fewer chicks are surviving – VTDigger
Vermont’s adult loon population is at an all-time high, but scientists have noticed a recent decrease in the number of chicks surviving.
In 2024, Vermont saw a record-breaking 123 nesting pairs, 11 of which landed at first-time nesting sites. Out of the 125 loon chicks that hatched in 2024, 65% survived through the end of August, slightly below the 2004-23 average of 76%, according to the Vermont Center for EcoStudies.
Eric Hanson, a biologist for the Vermont Loon Conservation Project, said the three main reasons for less chick survival are competition, habitat loss, and predation from eagles and other wildlife.
Flooding in Vermont in recent years has contributed to habitat loss and affected nesting success. Twenty-one nests were flooded in the summers of 2023 and 2024, a stark contrast to the one flooded nest reported during the drier summers from 2020 to 2022, according to the center’s 2024 loon season summary.
Nesting loons make their homes in smaller lakes when larger lakes are taken by other pairs of loons with established breeding grounds there. These sites tend to have more marginal habitat, often lacking protective features like marshes or islands. Nests built there are more exposed to predators, such as eagles and snapping turtles. Adults must also leave small lakes to feed in bigger areas where fish are plentiful, and the additional time spent away from their young can lead to their neglect, according to the season summary.
A higher presence of adult loons also creates territorial conflict, resulting in “turf battles” between loons that could prevent a pair from nesting, Hanson said. Chick casualties can also occur during these encounters.
However, lower nesting success rates are part of a natural process as the loon population begins to level out, he said.
“Loons overall are doing really well, and we don’t need to see success all the time,” Hanson said.
Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department Biologist Jillian Killborn said this new phase is a balancing act on the landscape. After years of great success in increasing the loon population, slower growth and productivity is to be expected.
“With any wildlife population, there’s natural checks and balances that are built into populations when they start to get too high or exceed carrying capacity on the landscape,” Killborn said. Now, scientists are figuring out how many loons will remain in Vermont long term and where, she said.
Despite the drop in chick survival rates, Vermont loon chicks do better than those in eastern Maine, New Hampshire and the Adirondack region, according to preliminary data from the Vermont Center for Ecostudies.
Since 1983, volunteers and biologists have been gathering on the third Saturday of July for LoonCount Day, a survey of adult and nesting loons in water bodies statewide. On July 19, Hanson said he expects more than 200 participants to visit 175 lakes in Vermont to tally the number of birds. These efforts are important for tracking loon health, nesting success and the identification of emerging threats, he said.
“We’re just trying to hit everything,” he said. “We’ve expanded that out as loons start to land on smaller ponds compared to what they used to do.”
In tandem with LoonCount Day, the Vermont Loon Conservation Project at the Vermont Center for Ecostudies organizes an annual loon monitoring program, during which volunteers take regular trips to lakes throughout the summer season to post signs in nesting areas and keep tabs on new and known nesting pairs.
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Volunteers paddle to shoreline nesting sites to place signs to alert the public of loon habitats on the Green River Reservoir in spring 2025. Photo by Fiona MacLean courtesy of the Vermont Center for EcoStudies
The nesting signs respectfully ask boaters to give the loons a little space since they are highly territorial, especially during breeding season. If humans get within 10 feet of their nest and the birds feel it’s threatened, they’re more likely to abandon it, Hanson said.
In attempts to curb disruptions along ecologically sensitive shorelines, Vermont passed one of the most protective statewide wake sport regulations in the country in April 2024. However, Hanson said kayakers and people fishing in boats close to the shore create more harm for loons than far-off wake boats.
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Volunteers contribute to monitoring efforts for Vermont’s loons by placing signs along shoreline nesting sites at Green River Reservoir in spring 2025. Photo by Fiona MacLean courtesy of the Vermont Center for EcoStudies
“If we can give them that little bit of space, they’re more likely to hunker down and watch you go by,” he said.
In addition to shoreline disturbances, recreational fishing poses another serious threat to loon survival. After a period of decline, loon deaths due to lead poisoning from ingesting tackle have risen again over the past six years, Hanson said. Ingestion of lead tackle, monofilament fishing line and fishing hooks remains the cause of more than half of loon deaths in Vermont.
Vermont banned the use and sale of small lead sinkers in 2007, but despite the ban’s initial success, loons are still ingesting poisonous tackle, according to Hanson and Killborn. To address the issue, the Vermont Loon Conservation Project partnered with lake associations and the Fish & Wildlife Department last summer to install lead tackle and fishing line collection sites at around 30 public boat access sites, which they plan to add to this year.
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Responsible fishing, boating and recreation are vital to loon health and survival, Killborn and Hanson said. As Vermont’s loon population stabilizes, they emphasized that the next phase of conservation will depend on how well humans learn to share the landscape.
Either way, Killborn said loon numbers are increasing at a sustainable rate, and overpopulation is not yet an issue. “I’m not sure if we’ll ever get there, depending on conditions,” she said.
A 21-year-old is dead after a pickup truck slammed head-on into her vehicle on Interstate 89 Wednesday evening in Bolton, Vermont, and the other driver involved has been cited.
State police say they responded around 5:22 p.m. to reports of a wrong-way driver in the area of mile marker 71. As troopers were responding, a multi-vehicle crash on the interstate was reported to dispatchers.
A preliminary investigation shows 45-year-old Timothy Wooster was driving a Toyota Tundra in the northbound lane when he crossed the median into the southbound lane, where he continued traveling the wrong way until he collided head-on with a Kia Sportage that was being driven by 21-year-old Hailey Westcot, police said.
A third vehicle, a Cascadia Freightliner, was traveling southbound when the head-on collision happened ahead, causing the vehicle to strike Westcot’s car and then rollover.
Westcot, of Northfield, Vt., was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Wooster, of Jericho, Vt., was taken to University of Vermont Medical Center to be treated for serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
The third driver who was involved, 50-year-old Douglas Bailey, of Londonderry, New Hampshire, was evaluated on scene and did not report any injuries, police added.
Officials haven’t said what led Wooster to allegedly drive in the wrong direction on the highway. Wooster was cited on a charge of grossly negligent operation with death resulting. Further charges will be determined as the investigation continues, according to police.
Any witnesses are asked to contact Trooper Shawn Morrow at 802-878-7111. Anonymous tips can be submitted online here. The investigation remains ongoing.
It’s unclear if Wooster has obtained legal representation at this time. He’s due in Chittenden County Superior Court on Jan. 29, 2026.
The University of Vermont men’s rugby team romped the University of Chicago last weekend, 71-5, to win its first-ever national championship. It’s the second time, notably, that a UVM sports team has won a national-level title in the past year.
Rugby is not a varsity sport at UVM — such as soccer or basketball — which means the school’s men’s and women’s teams play outside of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA. The men’s team plays in National Collegiate Rugby’s Division II, which has more than 100 teams in different regional conferences across the country.
The team’s win Sunday capped an undefeated season that also saw it dispatch rivals in earlier rounds of the Division II tournament by double-digit margins.
“It really hasn’t even set in yet, still. Every time I see a picture or something, I’m like, holy — I can’t believe it,” said Jack Worobel, a senior mechanical engineering major at UVM who plays in the No. 4, or “lock,” position. “It’s awesome.”
In UVM’s rugby league, 15 players are on the field for each team at a time. Players advance the ball by running or kicking it but aren’t allowed to pass the ball forward. Points come primarily through “tries,” which are worth five points each and scored by bringing the ball into the opponent’s in-goal area and touching it to the ground.
Worobel credited UVM’s win to strong bonds that he said he and his teammates have built up over the past four years. A number of the players, including himself, have been on the team every year since they were first-year students, he said.
UVM has had a men’s rugby team since 1970, according to a school press release.
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The University of Vermont men’s rugby team handily defeated the University of Chicago 71–5 to win its first ever national championship. Photo courtesy of National Collegiate Rugby
“We all do anything for each other. Anyone would do a favor for anyone else on this team — I think that’s where the win comes (from),” Worobel said Wednesday. “It’s not from the skill or the talents. Really, it’s what’s off the field.”
The rugby team’s win comes about a year after UVM’s men’s soccer team — which competes at the highest level of collegiate athletics — won the NCAA Division I championship last December. UVM has also won six NCAA championships in skiing, with the most recent coming in 2012.
Police are asking for the public’s help in their ongoing investigation into a stolen all-terrain vehicle in Derby, Vermont.
State police say they were notified around 4 p.m. on Oct. 31 that a Camouflage 2008 Yamaha Rhino 700 ATV had been stolen from a driveway on Main St. The theft occurred some time between 10 p.m. on Oct. 30 and 7 a.m. on Oct. 31.
No other details were immediately available. Police did released two photos as part of the investigation.
Anyone with information about this theft is encouraged to call Vermont State Police at 802-334-8881, or leave an anonymous tip online.
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