The whisper of the prairie breeze is suddenly disturbed by a loud, bugle-like trumpeting as a family group of three Whooping Cranes, their wings beating slowly and deliberately, fly just above the horizon to reach the edge of the lake northwest of Saskatoon. The majestic Whooping Cranes, the rarest bird in North America, and the recipients of intense conservation efforts for decades, have arrived from their nesting grounds in Wood Buffalo Park to feed and rest in this area before continuing on to their wintering grounds in Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas.
Itinerary
(Breakfast - B, Lunch - L, Dinner - D)
PLEASE NOTE: This itinerary may be changed as reports of Whooping Crane sightings and their locations come in.
Day 1
Arrival Day / Saskatoon to Quill Lake
We plan to arrive about noon in the Saskatoon Airport. Our naturalist guide, Tony Beck, will be there to meet us. This afternoon we'll be travelling through a mix of prairie, farmland and aspen grove parkland to the Quill Lakes. These lakes are part of a huge tract of land called the Prairie Pothole Region, which arcs across the Great Plains from Iowa to Alberta. During their migration, large numbers of shorebirds congregate here on the mud flats, and waterfowl flock by the hundreds of thousands. Among them the rarest bird in North America, the Whooping Crane, and one that we hope to find. We’ll be checking the birding hotline to keep abreast of the most up to date sightings. After checking in to the hotel in the evening, we’ll have an orientation meeting and go over our plans for the week.
o/n Manitou Nu-Inn, ManitouLake, Watrous (L, D)
Day 2
Last Mountain Lake / Manitou Springs
We will explore the shores of Little Manitou Lake, an alkaline/salt lake that is known for its healing properties, and often compared to the Dead Sea. Then we'll move south to Last Mountain Lake, the oldest federal bird sanctuary in North America. We'll spend more time exploring this sanctuary and enjoying the hotel spa. Lake water is pumped into the pool in the hotel next door, and heated. These alkaline lakes must seem like home to the many bird species that winter on the Pacific Ocean, because of their very salty waters. We'll hike some of the many trails of the area and finish our days’ activities with sunset birding as the flocks come in to roost. In some years Whooping Cranes stop over here, so we'll keep our fingers crossed that this is such a year.
o/n Manitou Nu-Inn, ManitouLake, Watrous (B, L, D)
Days 3 - 4
Diefenbaker Lake / Douglas Provincial Park
We’ll have a last look at Last Mountain Lake and then continue on to Riverhurst and the shores of man-made Diefenbaker Lake. The lake is massive - 225 km long, with a shoreline of 760 km. This natural environment park has enormous inland sand dunes, some 30 metres high, native prairie and lush aspen forests. Plains Indians have used this area as a meeting place and place of worship for more than 9000 years. Wildlife is abundant with over 170 species of birds, Mule and White-tailed Deer. The rare and endangered Piping Plover maintains a tenuous foothold here. The lake itself is, of course, another magnet for huge waterfowl flocks. These flocks are tremendous and darken the sky in the morning as they take off and circle prior to dispersing to their feeding grounds. We’ll get up early one morning to view the spectacle in the beautiful half-light of dawn. As usual we will keep checking the Whooping Crane hot line for up-to-date information on the location of this striking bird.
o/n Mainstay Inn, Riverhurst (B, L, D)
Days 5 - 7
Gardiner Dam / Rice Lake
This morning, we’ll make another early start to see the big flocks taking off. After breakfast we’ll take a look at the Gardiner Dam, on the Saskatchewan River, that holds back Diefenbaker Lake. Gardiner Dam, the largest earth-fill dam in Canada, provides irrigation system water for the farms in this area that were hard-hit during the droughts of the depression. We’ll have a farm lunch and take a look at antique and modern farm machinery as well of the grains that make Saskatchewan the breadbasket of Canada. All the while we’ll be looking for Whooping Cranes on the fields and prairies. We’ll take time to explore Wanuskewin Heritage Park, where nineteen historic archaeological sites have been discovered. They include a medicine wheel, tipi rings, bison jumps and other bison kill sites, habitation sites, and stone cairns.
o/n Park Town Hotel, Saskatoon (B, L, D)
Day 8
Prairie Sloughs / Departure Day
In the morning we will visit some prairie sloughs to the northeast of Saskatoon to round out our prairie experience. Our leader, Tony Beck, will have us back to the airport in time for our flights home. (B)
Please Note: The activities on the last day may need to be adjusted depending on flight departure times.
To increase your enjoyment of this trip, we limit our maximum number of participants to 8. This means extra comfort for you as we travel, for there will be ample room in the 15-passenger van for luggage and personal belongings.
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