Late Night Activities

Each year, the MNR runs a program called "Walleye Watch". Volunteers go out after dark and search along rivers that feed into lakes looking for spawning Walleye. You have to look in areas where there are gravel bottoms with fairly fast moving water, and of course water deep enough for the fish to swim. You find the fish by shining a very powerful floodlight into the water and looking for the golden eyes of the fish. You then record all the pertinent detail such as location, water temperature, flow conditions, number and estimated size of the fish. Trips into the bush at night can be quite eventful as you may not only see fish, but may hear lots of noise in the bush, particularly from those animals that come for a drink of fresh cold water !
Last night however was quite uneventful until I got back home and went to bed ! Since the Loons arrived back earlier this week, they've been quite vocal at night - perhaps celebrating their arrival. We know that Loons are also very social birds, often visiting relatives on nearby lakes. And last night was no exception - around 11:15 pm, the Loons put on what can only be called a beautiful concert, that lasted well over twenty minutes. Well worth staying awake to hear !