Loon Festival at Walker Lake

The annual Walker Lake Loon Festival will be held at Sportsman's Beach at Walker Lake on April 21.

The Festival will feature boat tours, presentations, food, prizes and fun.

The Nevada Department of Wildlife, the Mineral County Search and Rescue Unit and the Walker Lake Working Group will offer the public the chance to get a closer look at the many loons with free barge or boat rides. Those rides will begin at 9 a.m. and continue until about 3 p.m.

Lunch will be available for purchase on the beach.

Also, during the day, the public can listen to various, free, wildlife presentations from NDOW and a Native American storyteller.

A fund-raising raffle will be held in the afternoon.

An estimated 1,400 loons use Walker Lake as an important stop on their migrations in the spring and fall of each year.

Although virtually unknown to bird experts until some years ago, the concentration of loons at Walker Lake is the largest of any kind on any inland lake in all of North America.

Those persons attending the festival are encouraged to bring their binoculars.

For information, call the Mineral County Chamber of Commerce (775) 945-2507 or the Walker Lake Working Group at (775) 945-8243.