Today, Wednesday, was another sunny day in Saskatchewan, although the temperatures were cooler. After breakfast in the hotel, we drove southeast, the opposite direction from yesterday. Today our destination was the north end of Last Mountain Lake where there is a bird observatory in the regional park bordering the lake, as well as a wildlife refuge surrounding the lake’s north end.
It was a two-hour drive from Saskatoon into the direction of the sun, and the prairie offered no protection from the low angle of the sun’s rays coming at us. We stopped along the way at a full-service (!) gas station to fill up the Hyundai’s tank. There was a gas attendant sitting outside the station, in the 38 degree morning, waiting to fill our tank. An unexpected luxury.
We reached the Last Mountain Lake Bird Observatory in the regional park a few minutes after 10 a.m. and walked in to the building where bird banding takes place during spring and fall migrations. We got there just as the scientists were bringing in two Dark-eyed Juncos that had been caught in their mist nets that morning. We got to see them banding one of the juncos and then the scientist brought out the banded bird, held in his hand, to explain the banding to us. It was fun to see the banded bird up close and we were lucky to have arrived there at the perfect time to see the banding performed on the very last day they were doing it this migration season.
Then Dave and I walked out to an observation tower that the Canadian Wildlife Service had constructed for visitors to look out over the lake. It was windy and cool, but beautifully sunny. We saw a few grebes and American Coots on the whitecap-covered lake.
After coming down from the tower and returning to the car, we drove around to the top of the lake on gravel roads to reach the headquarters of the Last Mountain Lake National Wildlife Area. We stopped at the headquarters building to use the restrooms and get oriented. Inside, we found brochures and staff members who recommended the driving tour around the refuge, so Dave and I set out to do that. Along the route there were many ponds with ducks and herons, as well as grasslands with other birds. A few of the birds were new to us, like Horned Larks, Franklin’s Gull, and the Canvasback duck. We also saw many Western Meadowlarks flying away from the car, a Savannah Sparrow, and several other birds. But no Whooping Cranes nor Sandhill Cranes were seen in the refuge.
At the end of the driving tour route, we exited the refuge and started the drive back to our Saskatoon hotel. We made two stops along the way: one for a house that was being transported along the highway and took up both lanes, and the second stop was for a flock of Sandhill Cranes that we spotted in a field north of the highway. We were so happy to see our first cranes, even though they were the more abundant Sandhill Cranes, not the endangered Whooping Cranes we really wanted to spot. So that made our day!
After reaching the hotel, we ate dinner in the English pub downstairs. Dave’s cold symptoms had abated somewhat during the day, leaving him feeling good enough to eat a normal meal instead of takeout in the room. It was a good day.
