Posted on 04/26/2009 6:33:20 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Reno -- On the windswept desert of northern Nevada, spring in one tiny town has been welcomed for years with a festival to a celebrated group of visitors - migrating loons. Perilously clumsy on land but graceful and sleek in water, the large birds with a haunting call used to descend on Walker Lake by the hundreds to gorge on a fishy feast of small tui chub before continuing their journey to who knows where.
Not this year, and the reason is Walker Lake itself. Its water quality and levels have declined and along with them the rich bounty of small fish that attracted the loons.
The result: Hawthorne's Loon Festival, held each year in late April, was canceled, replaced by a day to bring awareness to Walker Lake's teetering ecosystem and ongoing, multimillion-dollar and multifaceted efforts to save it from a salty demise.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
They must fly north for the walleye. Interesting. They are such cool birds. The guy on the farm adjacent to the lake has longhorn cattle. It’s a weird juxtaposition for this Minnesotan.
Loon festival? What is that, when Congress meets?
We drove past a couple of summers ago. It was one of the (only) bright spots between Vegas and Reno. I don't know that I will ever see it again, as it was a drive I could easily live without doing another time.
i saw loons, san fran, and i thought that the fulsom street fair was cancelled.
Lots of sand and sage in that state! LOL! It’s so refreshing to visit, and it’s a very different way of life. I’d like to go back one day, but not if the Lake is gone, I don’t think.
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