Here’s a great way for you to spend some time outside AND get the kids involved in an easy outdoor activity.  Counting loons!  Here is the release from the Minnesota DNR:

Minnesotans love their ionic state bird, the loon. Every year, volunteers take part in helping to track Minnesota’s loon population by listening and watching for them. The time for the annual Loon Count is almost upon us, and we still have several lakes in Kandiyohi County still needing volunteers to count the number of loons you see on ONE morning between June 28 and July 8, 2013.

Detailed instructions, training materials, maps, and a data form will be provided to all who sign up! The time commitment is 2-4 hours per lake. Surveys must be done sometime between 5:00 a.m.-12:00 noon on the one morning of your choice. Volunteers must commit to completing assigned lake(s) and be willing to participate in the program for multiple years.

Contact Dorie Tess, New Ulm, 507-359-6036, or email dorie.tess@state.mn.us for more information or to sign up!

With the generous assistance of volunteer observers, the DNR annually gathers information about common loon numbers on more than 600 lakes distributed among six regions, or “index areas” of the state.

Be a part of the MN Loon Monitoring Program and sign up today!