The noise of more than just kids.

Wailing, hooting, yodeling and laughter are all fairly common noises to hear around Camp Foley in the summer months. This year, all that noise has returned about 3-4 weeks early according to the Minnesota DNR. Why would the DNR be listening to campers you ask? Well they aren’t talking about campers, they are talking about the loons!

According the Minnesota DNR, unseasonably warm weather has brought this state bird back earlier than expected. Loons migrate to warmer climates in the winter months, but I guess like most people who visit Minnesota, they just couldn’t come back soon enough!

A beautiful Common Loon pictured on Hidden Lake.
(Photo by Alli Faricy)

Loons are named for their clumsy appearance on land and need about 100-600 feet of “runway” space before taking off for flight. But, once they get going in the air, they can fly up to 75 miles per hour! I guess that speed comes in handy when making the long trek back and forth from the Gulf of Mexico! Here in the United States, loons are protected by the Migratory Bird Act which prohibits the hunting or harassment of the birds. It is even illegal to have a loon feather! But, down south where the birds live in the winter time, they are hunted and even eaten.

Known for their striking red eyes, black heads and necks and little white speckles on their bodies, loons can weigh up to 12 pounds feeding on all the delicious fish of Minnesota lakes. Those red eyes help the loons see deep into the dark water....they can dive up to 250 feet in search of food and stay under water for 5 minutes!

Minnesota has more loons (about 12,000) than any other state except Alaska and the coolest thing about about them is that they bond to their lakes! That’s right, in the spring loons find their way back to the same lakes as the previous years. It is thought by experts that loons bond more to their lakes than they do to their mates. So, if you see the same nest year after year, you most likely have a permanent neighbor.

Nearly everyone who visits Camp Foley, or any lake in Minnesota for that matter, knows and loves the loons. It is part of the atmosphere and experience here at Foley. Don’t forget to watch out for, and listen for, the loons!

- Carrie Stageman, Assistant Director

Slap Me on the Back!

This past week we had 100 6th graders from 4 different Minnesota schools join us for 5 days of environmental education and team building.  As the buses arrived...it rained.  As we ate our first meal...it rained.  As we struck out in the woods for 3 hours of geocaching...it rained.  And what made this rain so much worse was the fact that it was accompanied by a solid 10 mile per hour wind and 40 degree temperature.

But somewhere squeezed between the raindrops and the gusts of wind, 4 kids managed to plant themselves in the right place at the right time to see one of those things in nature that most people read about and few experience.

On the last night of the week, a few of us walked over to Hidden Lake (in the rain), and crouched near the beaver lodge in hopes of spotting the shy creatures in their natural environment.  With any luck we would get a slap of a tail as an exclamation point to the week.  A young beaver finally showed up to entertain us with his fast swimming and stealth underwater movements.  And although it was fun to watch him we were still missing that slap.  

Then, just as we were preparing to head back (the rain drops had gotten so big that each one seemed like a water balloon hitting our eyelids and foreheads), we saw it.   A large adult beaver.  Swimming close to shore then...SMACK.  

The kids jumped.  

Then squealed with delight.  

Then wide smiles and thumbs up. 

"That was so cool!"

"Do you think they will do it again?"

 Success.