The Upper Saranac Foundation (USF) has partnered with Dr. Nina Schoch and the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation in a vital effort to monitor and protect common loons in the Upper Saranac watershed. This collaboration is part of a broader initiative to track the health of Adirondack loons and study the long-term impacts of mercury contamination in the region.
Earlier this summer, loons on Upper Saranac Lake were safely captured, banded, and tested as part of the Center’s ongoing research. Under moonlit skies, USF Executive Director Guy Middleton assisted researchers by navigating the lake during night operations, helping ensure loons could be carefully and efficiently located and examined. This type of fieldwork is crucial to gathering data that allows researchers to track individual birds and assess population health over time.
Loon research not only monitors mercury exposure, but also focuses on reproductive success, climate change impacts, long-term survival and population dynamics, and overall health. These combined efforts are essential to understanding how loons are adapting to environmental stressors and how best to protect their habitats in a changing world.
Mercury contamination—primarily from atmospheric deposition due to coal-burning power plants—has long been a significant environmental issue in the Adirondacks. As top predators, loons are especially vulnerable to mercury bioaccumulation, which can impair their reproductive success and reduce chick survival. While loon populations in the Adirondacks have rebounded in recent years, mercury remains a persistent and serious threat.
In a recent interview with North Country Public Radio, Dr. Schoch emphasized the importance of continued monitoring:
“The population is stable now, but they’re still dealing with a lot of threats,” she said. “People who care for loons are often helping to protect the waters that they live in and care for the environment too. So, being able to use them as an environmental educational tool has been fabulous.”
Dr. Schoch, a veterinarian and long-time wildlife rehabilitator, is expanding her work throughout the region in a new role focused on advancing wildlife health and conservation. In addition to her continued research on loons, she will be leading diagnostic and treatment programs to support wildlife rehabilitators and promote science-based decision-making across the Adirondacks.
This partnership underscores USF’s commitment to science-driven conservation and the protection of native species and habitats. By supporting expert-led field research, USF is helping ensure that loons—and the pristine waters they rely on—remain protected for generations to come.
Learn more about Dr. Nina Schoch’s work and the status of Adirondack loons by listening to the full interview here: Nina Schoch on the State of Loons in the Adirondacks – NCPR
