More loons are filling Maine's lakes with their ghostlike calls

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Loons are on the mend in Maine, filling more of the state's lakes and ponds with their haunting calls, although conservationists say the birds aren't out of the woods yet.

Maine is home to a few thousand of the distinctive black-and-white waterbirds — the East Coast’s largest loon population — and conservationists said efforts to protect them from threats helped grow the population. An annual count of common loons found more adults and chicks this year than last, Maine Audubon said this week.

The group said it estimated a population for the southern half of Maine of 3,174 adult loons and 568 chicks. Audubon bases its count on the southern portion of Maine because there are enough bird counters to get a reliable number. The count is more than twice the number when they started counting in 1983, and the count of adults has increased 13% from 10 years ago.

“We’re cautiously optimistic after seeing two years of growing chick numbers,” said Maine Audubon wildlife ecologist Tracy Hart. “But it will take several more years before we know if that is a real upward trend, or just two really good years.”

Maine lawmakers have attempted to grow the population of the loons with bans on lead fishing tackle that the birds sometimes accidentally swallow. Laws that limit boat speeds have also helped because they prevent boat wakes from washing out nests, conservation groups say.

It's still too early to know if Maine's loons are on a sustainable path to recovery, and the success of the state's breeding loons is critical to the population at large, Hart said. Maine has thousands more loons than the other New England states, with the other five states combining for about 1,000 adults. The state is home to one of the largest populations of loons in the U.S., which has about 27,000 breeding adults in total.

Minnesota has the most loons in the lower 48 states, with a fairly stable population of about 12,000 adults, but they are in decline in some parts of their range.

While loons are not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, they are considered threatened by some states, including New Hampshire and Michigan. The U.S. Forest Service also considers the common loon a sensitive species.

The birds migrate to the ocean in late fall and need a long runway to take off, meaning winter can be a treacherous time for the birds because they get trapped by ice in the lakes and ponds where they breed, said Barb Haney, executive director of Avian Haven, a wildlife rehabilitation center in Freedom, Maine.

“We're getting a lot of calls about loons that are iced in,” Haney said, adding that the center was tending to one such patient this week.

A rescued loon's frostbitten foot is bandaged at Avian Haven, a bird rehabilitation clinic, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in Freedom, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Athena Furr, left, a rehabilitation technician, examines a rescued loon with assistance from Toby Verville, center, and Katie Daggett at Avian Haven, a bird rehabilitation clinic, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in Freedom, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

A rescued loon is held by medical staff during an examination at Avian Haven, a bird rehabilitation clinic, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in Freedom, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

FILE-A common loon chick hitches a ride on its mother's back on Maranacook Lake, in Winthrop, Maine, in this July 20, 2021, file photo. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)

Uvira, CONGO (AP) — A climate of fear reigned Saturday in Uvira, a strategic city in eastern Congo, days after it fell to the Rwanda -backed M23 group, as fighting in the region escalated despite a U.S. mediated peace deal.

The Associated Press gained rare access to the city, which was the Congo government’s last major foothold in South Kivu province after the provincial capital of Bukavu fell to the rebels in February. Its capture allows the rebels to consolidate a broad corridor of influence across the east.

M23 said it took control of Uvira earlier this week, following a rapid offensive launched at the start of the month. Along with the more than 400 people killed, about 200,000 have been displaced, regional officials say.

On Saturday, the situation in Uvira still had not returned to normal. There was absolute silence and no traffic, apart from military jeeps circulating on the empty streets. The banks were closed and people have not resumed their jobs — only a few dared to go out during the day, and no one ventured outside after sunset, with armed M23 fighters patrolling the city.

“Some people left the city, but we stayed," Maria Esther, a 45-year-old mother of 10, told AP. “But the situation hasn’t returned to normal, we haven’t resumed our usual activities because there’s no money circulating.”

Joli Bulambo, another resident of Uvira, said: “People thought that the situation that had happened in Goma with the deaths would be the same here in Uvira, but fortunately, there were not many deaths because God helped."

The rebels’ latest offensive comes despite a U.S.-mediated peace agreement signed last week by the Congolese and Rwandan presidents in Washington.

The United States accused Rwanda of violating the agreement by backing a deadly new rebel offensive in the mineral-rich eastern Congo, and warned that the Trump administration will take action against “spoilers” of the deal.

The accord didn’t include the rebel group, which is negotiating separately with Congo and agreed earlier this year to a ceasefire that both sides accuse the other of violating. However, it obliges Rwanda to halt support for armed groups like M23 and work to end hostilities.

Marco Rubio, U.S. Secretary of State, said on X on Saturday: “Rwanda’s actions in eastern DRC are a clear violation of the Washington Accords signed by President Trump, and the United States will take action to ensure promises made to the President are kept.”

There was no immediate reaction from Rwanda.

The rebels’ advance pushed the conflict to the doorstep of neighboring Burundi, which has maintained troops in eastern Congo for years, heightening fears of a broader regional spillover.

More than 100 armed groups are vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo, near the border with Rwanda, most prominently M23. The conflict has created one of the world’s most significant humanitarian crises, with more than 7 million people displaced, according to the U.N. agency for refugees.

Local U.N. partners report that more than 200,000 people have been displaced across the province since Dec. 2. Civilians also have crossed into Burundi, and there have been reports of shells falling in the town of Rugombo, on the Burundian side of the border, raising concerns about the conflict spilling over into Burundian territory.

Congo, the U.S. and U.N. experts accuse Rwanda of backing M23, which has grown from hundreds of members in 2021 to around 6,500 fighters, according to the U.N.

Congo’s Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner on Friday accused Rwanda of trampling on the peace agreement, which she described as bringing “hope of a historic turning point.”

She warned, however, that the “entire process … is at stake,” and urged the Security Council to impose sanctions against military and political leaders responsible for the attacks, ban mineral exports from Rwanda and prohibit it from contributing troops to U.N. peacekeeping missions.

“Rwanda continues to benefit, especially financially but also in terms of reputation, from its status as a troop-contributing country to peacekeeping missions,” Wagner told AP.

Bertrand Bisimwa, deputy coordinator of the AFC/M23 rebel movement told AP in an exclusive interview Friday that peace commitments have remained largely theoretical. “Regardless of the ceasefire agreements we sign and the mutual commitments we make, nothing is implemented on the ground,” he said.

Asked about the expansion of M23 operations toward the Uvira region, Bisimwa said the region was a long-standing hot spot of ethnic tensions and violence. “For a long time, people were attacked and killed because of their community affiliation,” he said.

On Friday, Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe told diplomats that Congo had declared it would continue fighting in M23 recaptured territories and it was only after M23 retaliated that the international community “suddenly woke up.”

“The DRC has openly declared that it would not observe any ceasefire and would instead continue fighting to recapture territories held by the AFC/M23, even as the peace process unfolded," he said.

While Rwanda denies the claim that it backs M23, it acknowledged last year that it has troops and missile systems in eastern Congo, allegedly to safeguard its security. U.N. experts estimate there are up to 4,000 Rwandan forces in Congo.

Associated Press writers Ruth Alonga in Goma, Congo, and Evelyne Musambi in Nairobi, Kenya, contributed to this report.

Soldiers patrol as thousands of people fleeing fighting in Congo's South Kivu province arrive in Cibitoke, Kansega, Burundi, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Berthier Mugiraneza)

Internally displaced people (IDPs) fleeing fighting in Congo's South Kivu province arrive in Cibitoke, Kansega, Burundi, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Berthier Mugiraneza)

Internally displaced people (IDPs) who fled fighting in Congo's South Kivu province prepare a meal in Cibitoke, Kansega, Burundi, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Berthier Mugiraneza)

Internally displaced people (IDPs) fleeing fighting in Congo's South Kivu province arrive in Cibitoke, Kansega, Burundi, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Berthier Mugiraneza)

FILE - Democratic Republic of the Congo's Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner attends a signing ceremony for a peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the State Departmentin Washington, June 27, 2025. (AP Pho to/Mark Schiefelbein, File)