Unlikely Wow Moments

Sometimes there are surprising wonders to be found at very common looking places. I stopped the other day at a typical looking wetland to try to get close to some blooming water lilies. The flowers were beautiful, just opening up, and numerous. As I cautiously approached, hoping to get a close up of the flowers a mighty slap of beaver tail surprised me. I shouldn't have been, I was just concentrating on keeping the water level below the tops of my shoes. The grass covered ground, if I can call floating grass ground, moved and wobbled with each step. It wasn't too many steps along when I found my boots were not waterproof above boot gunwale, so I just gave up and ended up knee deep.

Cautious Beaver (Castor Canadensis)

The beaver swam back and forth checking to see how threatening I was and soon came to the conclusion that I was probably not a very challenging predator. Beaver soon paddled into the midst of the lily pond and began eating one of the flowers. I was able to get my camera and tripod onto solid enough grass and willow tussock and snap a few shots as I slowly sank. Should have worn snow shoes or waders and I would have been much drier.

Beaver Eating Water Lily 

I had time to take a look with binoculars and spotted a red-necked grebe sitting on her nest as papa grebe swam around preening and grooming. I thought that I might get close enough by backing up and wandering through the bush to another opening. As I made my way over I discovered several beaver runs, some fresh and some camouflaged under a layer of deep dead grass and reeds. I did not fall in due more to good luck than any of my good management. The grebe sat patiently but watchfully as I snapped a few shots.

Nesting Red-necked Grebe

With a bit of patience, curiosity and good luck I managed to enjoy a beautiful hour or so in a very unlikely looking pond. Good memories, decent photos and great adventure to add to my Wow Moments catalogue.

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Victoria Settlement Tour

We had barely began our tour from Sherwood Park when: "Ah, they're so cute!" Fay cried as we popped over a rise to see a cow moose with twins straddling the yellow line. We stopped in plenty of time hoping not to panic them  while giving Mom time to make a decision which direction to go. Once she made up her mind and headed down through the ditch toward the bush, the gangly calves followed. They seemed to walk on tip toes or goose stepping on the unfamiliar paved highway surface. Once they hit the soft grassy ditch their normal gait resumed, or as normal as a long legged, wobbly kneed calf can be. It pays to leave early and take roads less travelled. We were headed east and north of Sherwood Park toward the historic fur trading Victoria Settlement along the North Saskatchewan River. As we drove along scenic side roads I spotted a brilliant flash of yellow flitting over a pasture dotted by bright yellow dandelions. As I reversed I spotted the yellow flash again settled in a willow tree along the ditch. I managed a couple of photos for future identification confirmation of what I assumed to be a warbler of some sort. It ended up to be an American Goldfinch.

American Goldfinch

There were three of them, a first time sighting for us. Also spotted at this stop were a pair of mountain bluebirds which were hauling food into a birdhouse attached to the barbed wire fence. A bit further down this meandering country road we spotted and American Coot with prickly, red feather headed youngsters. 

American Coot with Young

They paused in an opening long enough to get a couple of quick pictures and a cute smile.

We always enjoy our Sunday morning drives through this scenic countryside to the accompaniment of classic country music on 790 CFCW. I don't think our car radio can get any other station. Even if the drive extends beyond the noon hour, they continue playing awesome requests from listeners with the same great taste in music as we have.
We even found and stopped for a while at a Red Fox den where a few fox pups posed while the more shy ones hid in the safe confines of the roadside burrow.

Itchy Red Fox Pup

Once we arrived at Victoria Settlement and paid our 3.00 entry fee we enjoyed an introductory film showing archived photos and drawing from the mid 1800s as this region was explored and settled. Fur traders soon brought settlers who began clearing land in strips off the river. Each settler or farmer had access to the river, good flat land for his crops and exposed hillsides for grazing cows and other livestock. Father Lacombe arrived here to bring Christianity and schooling to the Cree natives and taught them how to farm and grow crops and vegetables.

 Helping us to Understand

 This outpost only lasted for a few years but had a lasting effect upon the land and the people. Relatives of these early explorers and pioneers still live and farm in the area. We were lucky enough to have the great great grandson and his family of one of the early traders on the tour with us this day.

We drove home along the Victoria Trail, a road that parallels the river for many miles. The village of Smoky Lake is just north of the river settlement. The Settlement itself is more than just the museum, it has the Metis ferry crossing as well as a monument to RCMP who struggled along the early road to bring law and order to this wild region. It was not an easy trek for them and their supplies trying to get upstream to Fort Edmonton. There is a decrepit cemetery dating back to the 1800s as well as several sign posts showing the boundaries of old strip homesteads.

What a change we see in this land over the past 150 years or so. So much has changed, so much speed. Communication that took days or weeks of tough travel is now almost instantaneous. We were out of cell phone signal a couple times today, oh no!
We did see quirky Alberta on this trip as well. A very colourful lineup of threshing machines from many different manufacturers and vintages are painted in varied colours, unrelated to any corporate paint scheme. Why? we ask, well why not?

Threshing Machines Under Alberta Skies

We were almost home when we spotted a small cafe set up in a couple of train cars. Kattie's Crossing offered burgers and fish and chips so we enjoyed 3/4 hour of railroad nostalgia inside the refurbished rail car restaurant. Old photos and stories lined the walls, the food was good and reasonably priced. Katie's Crossing is only a few miles east of Sherwood Park, just south of Ardrossan. A nice way to top off another fine Alberta tour. What a diverse and colourful province we live in!

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Bird Watching Patience

Patience value was once again re-enforced with me yesterday. Fay and I were driving slowly along a small pond which bordered the road when Fay spotted a muskrat floating very close by. I stopped and stepped out to get a photo but the camera shy critter crawled up into a hidey hole on a small cattailed covered islet. We could just see him grooming himself while monitoring the strange photographer perched a few feet away. He finally decided that he could not fix himself up well enough on such short notice for this glamour shoot, so he let himself out the back door and disappeared. I sat there quietly in case he changed his mind. 

Hidden Muskrat

I was enjoying the other activity around the pond. Frogs croaked steadily, red-winged blackbirds were busy protecting their territory and numerous species of ducks floated around feeding, grooming or just resting. There was a slight rustle of reeds in front of me when a tiny bird stuck its head out of the cattails. I couldn't believe my eyes. 

Male Sora Emerging

Here stood a Sora, a very stealthy and secretive bird of the swamps. This male Sora stepped into the open, quickly stepping from reed to reed and picking at, invisible to me, insects in the duck weed covered water. This bird reminded me of the African Jiracanna, or Jesus Bird as it is called there because it seems to be able to walk on water.

Ideal Sora Habitat

I would often, in the past, wander off once the muskrat hid itself so well in the reeds. I now recognise what an integral part of life this is for it. There are many predators who enjoy dining on fresh muskrats from hawks, owls, northern pike, foxes, coyotes and of course man for silky muskrat fur. They have to have safe havens where they can sleep, dine and groom. I have often disregarded the value of the cattails surrounding most wetlands in this area of the world. It looks like a very tangled wasteland between shore and water but cattails provide very valuable habitat for many critters. Insects, amphibians, water bugs and fish all live here amongst the underwater tangles feeding and growing and hiding. In the messy mass that we see above the water surface more insects live, birds nest and raise young and of course muskrats live, feed and raise babies. We have all seen red-winged and yellow-headed blackbirds dive into hidden nests and protect valuable home territory. If you looked closer you may have spotted swamp sparrows, marsh wrens or even the shy Bittern. Above the reeds we often see terns, gulls and small hawks gliding and swooping for insects or unwary birds.

The reeds themselves help keep the wetlands healthy by filtering run off water and absorbing carbon from the air.

Wildlife photography has a very large luck component but also a very large part of patience. Luck and patience often combine to "being in the right place at the right time." Timing is said to be everything, but you must also be ready for when stuff happens. You will never get a sunrise shot if you are not up and ready before it happens. How many times have we all seen some WOW MOMENTS and had no camera or it was tucked safely an securely in the protective camera bag in the back seat. I have a lot of great photos tucked safely away between my ears with no way of showing them off. Good camera gear helps but is not essential. Any half decent SLR camera with moderate length lens will take these photos if you are ready. Above all, even if you don't get great photos, enjoy the wow moments that you will see if you take your time and sit still for a few minutes. Re-wild yourself with a quiet communion with Mother earth. I can tell you that I was very excited to get these shots and could hardly wait to get home to download and take a look.

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Train and B&B Combo

We hurried out of town early last Saturday morning to catch the train leaving Stettler, Alberta heading about 40 kilometres south to Big Valley. It was a spectacular tour, well worth the 2 hour drive. The train we rushed off to see was the Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions historical tour using diesel locomotive No. 1259, built in 1957.

Diesel Electric Engine #1259

The diesel/electric locomotive towed 10 cars of various vintages and decors. The journey took about 2 hours that seemed to fly by at maybe 25 to 30 kms/hr. We travelled through small towns, open parkland, modern agricultural farmland and past pothole ponds filled with ducks, geese and song birds. Even spotted a few deer, a coyote and a wild cat. Just as we thought we had arrived safely in the historic town of Big Valley, a gang of horse riding cutthroats stopped and held up the train. They gathered any loose change they could coax from smiling, picture snapping tourists before we were rescued by our train guard Gabriel Dumont.

One Desperado

After the notorious gang has been either killed off or taken prisoner, any cash they absconded with will be donated to either Edmonton or Calgary hospital for sick kids. We heard that they collected over 400.00 this trip. Shortly after the robbery, we arrived at Big Valley where we were all hustled off to the community hall for a roast beef supper. A glass of wine and lettuce salad, spuds, carrots roast beef and gravy topped off with various desserts were enjoyed to the accompaniment of a country western band known as Domino. They sang a song that I had only ever heard a fellow guide sing at Knight Inlet Lodge called "The Last Saskatchewan Pirate." They sing about the dangerous life of being a pirate on the mighty river Saskatchewan. After supper was over we had an hour to tour the many old fashioned shops, museums and collections in Big Valley. Soon were were chugging our way back to Stettler, entertained by a couple of singing musicians in various cars as well as some historic interpretations of trains, rails and railway dependence to each community.

Phoenix House

At the end of the day we had booked a room at Phoenix House B&B in Stettler. This is an original "Eaton's" house sold to farmers in the 1920s from the Eaton's Catalogue. The house has been renovated and refurbished after a fire several years ago. It now boasts 3 modern bathrooms, one for each private bedroom. In the morning we enjoyed a nice breakfast and great conversation with our hosts Dave and Barb.

Donalda's Oil Lamp

We left Stettler working our way back home by a round about route. Our first stop was at Donalda where the worlds largest oil lamp sits in a small park. This lamp is an introduction to Donalda's lamp museum which was closed this day. We still enjoyed the visit, especially our surprise as we left town dropping down into a "badlands" type river valley. As we sat on the breaks of this valley, Fay spotted huge windmills in the distance so we thought we would just run over there to take a look. Distance can be deceiving in the heat waves of the clear prairie air. We drove for at least 1/2 hour before we could start to see the wind turbines spread across the prairie landscape. Once close to them, we get a sense of how big they are. The towers are 80 meters tall that support the wind turbine powered by 3 44meter blades catching the mild wind.

Multi-Purpose Land

A soft hum emanates from each turbine. There are a total of 83 towers spread out over 15000 acres of private land in Paintearth County, east of Stettler. They create enough power for 50,000 homes. This wind farm was built and is managed by Halkirk Power.
A few miles away we saw a farmyard with a barn roof covered with solar power collectors. A few miles further down the secondary highway we could see giant drag lines on the skyline. These monsters remover several meters of overburden to reveal a seam of coal. Miles of reclaimed land surrounds the actual mine site itself. A few miles east is the coal fired generating station fed by large ore trucks hauling coal from the giant mine site. We pause at a small park that demonstrates how coal has been mined for years in this region from small ore cars used to push coal from underground stopes to small shovels that began the open pit mining era.

Fay Dwarfed by the Shovel

I do pause to ponder the future of this land environmentally. Coal fired generators do contribute to our global climate changing crisis. We have turned over acres of diverse prairie grassland and aspen parkland to create single plant agricultural land base. We travelled past oil pumpers and of course the large wind turbines notorious for wild bird collisions. It is a difficult conundrum that we live with as humans these days. Do we want the industry that contributes so much to habitat degradation? Do we challenge industry to work harder to reduce their footprint upon the natural land? Do we celebrate industry who do strive to rehabilitate their damages? Which is the better evil that we should support, the wind farm or the coal fired generation of electricity? Many, many questions for sure. Perhaps more awareness for the difficulties we face will reap answers to some of these questions.

A Bit of Colorful Prairie Quirckieness

All in all we enjoyed this tour through another region of beautiful Alberta. It is full of beautiful scenery,  innovative industry and sturdy, hardworking people. We did enjoy a few Wow Moments this trip through Alberta.
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