At Somerset reservoir, deep in the Green Mountains of southern Vermont, we work with local wildlife experts to ensure the survival of the Common Loon.

Famous for their haunting call, loons are also known among biologists as an "indicator species". This means they are highly sensitive to habitat changes, usually experiencing population declines before other species.

In 1983, State of Vermont biologists noted a sharp drop in the number of breeding pairs — from 19 to 8 in just one season. Vermont declared the Common Loon an endangered species and stepped up the activities of the Vermont Loon Recovery Project (VLRP) that had existed since 1978.

The VLRP works with citizens, lakeshore owners, hydro dam operators, lake associations, state agencies and other conservation groups to monitor and manage loon populations.

As the operator of the 600-acre (243-hectare) Somerset reservoir, which feeds our hydroelectric facilities on the Connecticut and Deerfield Rivers, TransCanada agreed to help by holding the water level in the reservoir to within three inches of nesting loons.

This is important because loons nest near the shoreline. Abrupt changes in the water level can swamp a nest or strand chicks. We also placed a nesting raft on Somerset to provide a safe and secure nesting site.

As a result of similar actions taken by others on nearly 100 Vermont lakes, the loons started to make a comeback. More and more chicks survived until volunteer observers counted more than 60 breeding pairs in 2008. In 2009, our observer was again able to identify a known territorial pair on the North Islands at Somerset during the annual July count.

TransCanada is pleased to be contributing in this small way to the recovery of Vermont's loon population.