|
By Joan Eyolfson-Cadham, The Lure
of the Lakes
Reprinted courtesy of the Advance
Gazette, Wynyard, Sask.
....The Quill Lakes marsh network has
been identified as a RAMSAR site, a wetlands of international importance, and it is
officially recognized as a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network Site (WHSRN), the
second such designation in Canada. The other site is the Bay of Fundy.
....Quill Lakes is part of a chain of
23 reserves in seven countries, including the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Surinam,
Argentina and Peru. Designation is based on biological criteria.
....To gain international status, a
site has to host more than 1,090,000 shorebirds annually or 15 percent of a flyway
population annually. This area attracts 34 species of shorebirds including the American
Avocet, the Marbled Godwit, the Least Sandpiper, the Semi-palmated Sandpiper, the
Red-necked Phalarope, the Stilt Sandpiper, the Hudsonian Godwit and the endangered Piping
Plover. As well, the site is a staging area for 400,000 Ducks, 130,000 Snow Geese, 80,000
Canada Geese and 40,000 Sandhill Cranes. Middle Quill Lake, or Mud Lake, supports a colony
of 400 White Pelicans.
....The Quill Lakes area also provides
habitat for several other endangered species including the Whooping Crane, Baird's
Sparrow, Ferruginous Hawk and Perigrine Falcon.
....The reserve covers 40,000 acres
including the largest salt lake in Canada, freshwater marshes, mixed grass prairie and
aspen parkland.
....Much of the shoreline and adjacent
upland that is around Big Quill Lake is Provincial Crown Land that is being transferred to
the Saskatchewan Wetland Conservation Corporation, the provincial coordination for the
North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) program.
....The best viewing areas are around
the Campbell Marsh site north of Mozart and the Wadena Wildlife Wetlands, two miles south
and three miles west of Wadena.
....The Quills are saline and
surrounded by alkali flats. Driving on wet alkali is akin to trying to navigate and
maintain traction while driving over a bar of very wet soap. Much of the land around the
Quills is hay bottom which is harvested by local farmers. Birdwatchers are asked to stick
to obvious trails and not to make tracks across hay or grain fields. |
