Gardnerville resident Jan Wilson called to tell me about a rescue that occurred at about dusk on Wednesday.
She and her neighbor's grandson were watching the movie "Avatar," and she got a hankering for some ice cream.
They were in the Smith's parking lot when she and the boy saw a mama duck and three babies hanging around a storm drain.
"She kept sticking her head in the grate and looking in," Jan said. "We were watching and a gentleman and his wife came over."
The man kneeled down and saw there were four ducklings trapped in the storm drain.
"He lifted the storm grate and scooped up the babies, but we didn't want to leave her there," Jan said. "We decided to take them over to Lampe Park where they came from."
They put the ducklings in a box and the man picked up the duck with leather gloves and they caravaned the whole lot over to the park.
"We released them right around dark," Jan said. "The last I saw they were swimming away into the dark. My little boy was so excited about it. I just thought it was the sweetest story, and that people cared enough to help. It was such a teachable moment."
The event formerly known as the Walker Lake Loon Festival is taking place on Saturday at Sportsman's Beach. They altered the name to the Walker Lake Education Day last year in recognition that there just aren't that many loons, and the drop in the lake's level.
That doesn't mean that they won't still have a party, or that there won't be some loons and several other kinds of birds. There will also be exhibits, demonstrations and an opportunity to learn about the lake.
For information on Walker Lake Education Day call (775) 945-2289 or (775) 677-8951 or visit the working group's Web site at www.walkerlake.org.
