[Lakegeezer]

The loon center will no doubt provide their side of the story and I'm sure it is a good one. From what I've learned from LPC, the only way to tag the adults is to do it while they are protecting the chicks at night. Otherwise, they can't be captured. Non-breeding loons are not tagged. The tagging allows the scientists to record which territory a loon nests on, when they move and how many chicks each tagged loon produces. It would be a rare event for the adults to abandon their chicks after the banding process. While no doubt traumatizing, exhibited by the loon defecation that the intern holding the loon experiences, loons stick around and often don't mind being near humans.

Since artificial nests are a primary source of loon chicks in NH, the tagging goes along with the preservation of the species. Without the Loon Center, breeding would occur more to the north and we'd have fewer loons in NH. With the recovery of the eagle population, it is even more important that humans help to protect loon's reproduction cycle, because eagles attack loon chicks. Humans are responsible for much stress on the species, especially with shoreline development, water level changes and boat wake, so it is only right that humans help preserve them.