The Maine Audubon has released data from its 37th annual loon count. Author: Griffin Stockford (NEWS CENTER Maine) Published: 10:19 AM EST December 14, 2020 Updated: 10:22 AM EST December 14, 2020 FALMOUTH, Maine — In a year when it seemed like just about everything could go wrong, a few things did go right. Thanks to 48 regional coordinators and 1,347 volunteers, Maine Audubon’s Annual Loon Count was one of them. They overcame many hurdles in order to complete the annual snapshot census of Maine’s loon population that takes place every year on the third Saturday of July. Adaptation was the theme for this challenging year. Some of the regional coordinators are summer residents who determined it too risky to travel to Maine, so they recruited loon counters and prepared their loon count team remotely. Other participants worked hard to find replacements if they found they couldn’t participate in the count themselves. Some recruited neighbors with larger boats so unrelated participants could maintain distance. Others allowed only family members on their boats or switched to separate travel in canoes and kayaks. And long-running traditions of gathering the morning of the count or celebrating afterward were largely abandoned.