Old Wives Lake

We have spent plenty of time along the Atlantic coast and are familiar with shore birds, but we never expected to encounter these long-legged coastal cruisers in the wheat fields of central Saskatchewan. It turns out that what brings them here is brine shrimp and what brings the brine shrimp are three inland saline water lakes. The lakes were probably formed about 20,000 years ago by the movement of glaciers, which created large depressions in an otherwise flat landscape.

The lakes were once much deeper, but a severe drought 8,000 years ago caused them to evaporate, leaving behind extensive salt beds. We stopped at Lake Chaplin when we were looking for a place to eat our lunch. Chaplin was about half way on our journey today and a road sign advertised a Nature Centre on the shore of the lake. Chaplin Lake is one of the three saline lakes, the others being Old Wives and Reed Lakes, which are important inland sites for migratory birds in North America.

Getting to know shore birds.

The other important activity at Chaplin Lake is the production of sodium sulphate that is used in powder laundry and dishwasher detergents, carpet deodorizers, textile dyeing, glass making and mineral feeds for livestock. 

From the observation tower on the grounds of the Nature Center we could view the lake across the 4-lane Trans-Canada Highway.

Deposits of salt along the shore.

Inside the Nature Center was this albino coyote.

One whole wall was a diorama of the shore and some of the visiting and resident birds. Left center is a red winged blackbird. We see lots of these blackbirds on the plains.

In the center above is a yellow-headed blackbird and...

his close-up.

Everywhere we go we hear about the endangered Piping Plover and the same was true at Chaplin Lake.

There are the brine shrimp - when mature they are the size of a wheat kernel and resemble the shape of a scorpion. There is a nice example of one in the lower left of the picture.

Tonight we are in the last western town in Saskatchewan, Maple Creek, that lies along the "1", as they call the Trans-Canada Highway which is also numbered 1.  

We went for a walk along a country road adjacent to the campground and were joined by these two. The pup on the left went the whole 3 1/2 miles with us. 

We passed by a road-side pond where these pelicans were enjoying their dinner.