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The Quill Lakes/Mount
Hope Heritage Marsh Complex |
A New
Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve
Located in east central Saskatchewan in the
center of a North American Waterfowl Management Plan's Key Program Area are the Quill
Lakes. This Saskatchewan Heritage Marsh and RAMSAR site is a major staging area for
hundreds of thousands of ducks, geese, and cranes. The lakes support a breeding colony of
white pelicans as well as being ranked as having North America 's 6th largest breeding
population of endangered piping plovers.
Ground and aerial surveys by the Canadian Wildlife
Service since 1987 have also shown these large saline lakes to be of major importance to
migrating shorebirds. Thirty-seven species are found here, many of which breed in the
Arctic and winter in South America. The shallow mud flats and marshy bays of the Quill
Lakes richly supplied with invertebrates and submergent vegetation, make this an excellent
feeding and resting stop.
In 1994 the Governments of Canada and Saskatchewan,
Wetlands For The Americans, and Ducks Unlimited Canada, designated the Quill Lakes an
international shorebird reserve under the Western Hemispheric Shorebird Reserve Network
(WHSRN). This is only the second site in Canada to receive international recognition.
WHSRN is an international conservation initiative
aimed at protecting key shorebird habitats throughout their migration ranges. Surveys
estimate the Quill Lakes support over 200,000 shorebirds annually. Since the 1950's Ducks
Unlimited Canada has been actively managing wetlands at the Quill Lakes. Currently D.U.
Canada manages 19 separate wetland projects in the area totaling approximately 14,600
acres.
Links to DU Sponsored Self Guided Tours of Area
- Little Quill Lake : East Shore
- Middle Quill Lake
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