Record Loon Sightings with New Online Tool

The NY Loon Observation Reporting Tool is now available online for members of the public to share their reports of loon sightings anywhere in New York State.

Researchers at the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation (ACLC) have developed a new Loon Observation Reporting Tool for members of the public to log their loon sightings on water bodies throughout New York State.  

The reporting tool uses the ArcGIS platform to allow members of the public to locate a water body on a topographic or satellite map and then to tag the location where the loon was spotted and enter basic information about the observation.  

“Historically, if someone wanted to share their loon observations with us, that would have been a laborious process on our end to ensure that we were logging data for the correct lake, in the correct location on that lake, the correct date, etc.,” said Griffin Archambault, ACLC research biologist. “It was also difficult to pair someone’s photos directly to their observation in our database. The new reporting tool allows the observer to be sure that their data is going in the correct location. They can report nest locations, loons in multiple locations, and they have the option to add any photos that they take to that individual observation report.” 

The NY Loon Observation Reporting Tool will help researchers build an even more detailed picture of the health of the loon population in New York. The data collected through these reports will serve a similar purpose as the annual loon census that ACLC also organizes every year on the third Saturday in July.

“The key difference between the census and the reporting tool is that the census is an organized effort within one defined hour per year whereas the reporting tool can be used at anytime and anywhere in New York,” said Archambault. “It’s a less organized effort but provides us with data that is spatially and temporally referenced, meaning it is almost immediately ready to be analyzed once it’s submitted.”  

Spotted a loon while enjoying time on the water in New York? Record your sighting in the new online NY Loon Observation Reporting Tool. Photo by Denise Silfee

There are many water bodies throughout New York State that loons do not breed on but where they will stop over during migration or to feed. The reporting tool will help capture these events to better understand how the entire state of New York is used by loons. Additionally, people who spot loons outside of the Adirondack Park now have a way to record that sighting.  

“It’s also worth noting that if someone is on a water body and does not observe loons, that information is useful for us too,” said Archambault. “Simply drop a pin in the area observed and record zero loons with a note that the pin was not a nesting site.”  

In its beta form, the NY Loon Observation Reporting Tool is only accessible from a computer. It is not yet usable on a phone or tablet. As the rollout continues through the summer and any bugs can be addressed, versions for handheld devices will be made available. ACLC research biologists have a goal of using these reports to create an interactive map showing where loons have been spotted throughout the state. 

To record an observation, individuals can access the reporting tool from links on the ACLC website, or they can long onto www.adkloon.org/research#loon-map. There is also video tutorial for how to create an observation record. Visitors to the Loon Center on Main Street in Saranac Lake can also log an observation with assistance from Loon Center staff on a console dedicated to the reporting tool.  

The process for recording an observation is meant to be as minimal as possible. Once someone is familiar with the tool, they should be able to log their observation in 30 seconds or less. 

“We’re excited to offer this to members of the public, and excited to see what we can learn about the loon population in New York,” said Archambault. “We think we will learn some new things, like how we recently learned that loons are breeding in the Taconics, which is something we were not previously aware of.”  

The NY Loon Observation Reporting Tool does not take the place of the NY Annual Loon Census, and volunteers are able and encouraged to participate in both. This is also not to be used to report loons in distress, as these reports are not monitored daily. To report a loon in distress, please call the Loon Center directly at 518-354-8636 or email rescue@adkloon.org.