Howdy -

Just to be clear, the articles mentioned are referring to the Common Loon
breeding population in WA state. Looking at the WDFW status report (see
below), it looks like Common Loons have been scarce breeders in WA since at
least the 1970's. In recent years the number of known nests has been 20 or
less - saying the population has "plummeted" is really kind of meaningless
in this context.

The Common Loon is just barely hanging on as a breeder in the state and
probably has been for some years. Of course it would be nice to still be
able to find them in the few places they still nest. But clearly this
breeding population is inconsequential to the overall health of the species.

http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/diversty/soc/status/commloon/drftloon.pdf

thanks, Charles.

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura at gmail.com