There is not much noticeable change in the daylight as we go to bed when it is still very light and get awakened by the sun before we are ready to get up. It is the routine of the people in the north of "49' 50"" . We are actually at present, just a bit south of James Bay in Canada, so it is a bit far "north".
I want to share with you two items that we came upon this week, one having to do with agriculture in the region and the other with a terrible fire of a year ago.
As we drove from Calgary to Fort Macleod, we noticed a short, green plant growing in the fields (many places) that we had not seen before. After some checking and researching we found that it was the rutabaga plant and it was just about 3-4 inches high at this time. It could have been beans, but just different. Thousands of acres of it. As this country (Alberta) is great wheat growing (three different kinds) that puzzled us. I researched and found that indeed, quite recently that rutabaga has been introduced and for a very good reason. About 20 +years ago the production of Canola seed (rape seed or B. napus)) was increased as it became very popular. The acreage that was sown increased dramatically. That was fine for profits but a new culprit moved into the scene. It was P. brassicae, or CLUBROOT which is devastating to the canola. Researchers found that planting the rutabaga in alternating years at least, allowed the soil to resist the Clubroot, and allow canola to be planted in the same field again without danger of loss from Clubroot. It was successful and hence the large amount of fields with those green leafy plants growing , or... rutabaga.
The second item that I ran into today concerns the Waterton Lakes National Park (Canada) .In 2017 there was a terrible fire in Waterton N.P., covering some 65,000 acres, and devastating most of the drive-able park. The emergency work of volunteers and firefighters was able to surround the campground and village there with a wall of hoses and water to save it. The remaining portion of the wooded areas were demolished. One of the lookouts we enjoyed today showed the edge of where the fire had gone (out of the park, and stopped there), The fire burned for more than two months.
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| Th Waterton Park Front cooperative. |
There has been a cooperative movement since the 1990's to keep the "Park Front" land out of commercial development and to remain in ranch/grazing status. That meant an agreement by the landowners there to avoid selling to commercial interests and to keep the land in as much as possible in its original state. (See photo above)
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| The Waterton N.P. fire last summer that burned 60,000 acres |
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| The town and the main campsite were all that was saved. |
Today was a chance to get closer to the Mountains again, as we directed our day to the west and the town of Pincher Creek , Yes, that is spelled correctly.
Pincher Creek, the river that gave the community its name.
For centuries before European settlers reached this area and inhabited it, Aboriginal clans of the Blackfoot, Peigan and Kootenai passed through, lived in or frequented the region. In the 1840's gold prospectors used pincers to carve the horses hooves . Some 20 years later NW Mounted Police found the pincers in the creek and named the Creek Pincher Creek. That name stuck.
Pincher Creek is the northern gateway to the Waterton Lakes National Park. From Mccleod it is about 80 miles. We had been told by our friend Frank ,here at the park, (a staff member) that the many ponds along that route have abundant birds in them and to scope them out as well as some of the side roads. We did just that. There were some 8-10 ponds that we stopped and surveyed, and most of them had some form of bird in them. One such pond was at a home that had as a beautiful background of the Rocky Mountains. (See below)
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| This was a most beautiful setting at the foot of the Canadian Rockies. |
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| Some Ruddy Ducks in that pond above. |
Ruth and I stopped at many ponds and small lakes and found 30 species of birds, many of which were nesting at this time of the year. When we get to Montana and North Dakota in the next two weeks, we will see the larger birds with their young as they take longer to develop and learn how to survive.
One pond alone saw nine species .They were ;YELLOW HEADED BLACKBIRD, RUDDY DUCK, BUFFLEHEAD, DOUBLE CRESTED CORMORANT, SOOTY TERN, COOT (feeding its reddish young) CINNAMON TEAL, and a RING NECKED DUCK. Along the roadsides that we drove off the beaten track, were ; HOUSE WREN, CLAY COLORED SPARROW (again), YELLOW WARBLER, VESPER SPARROW, MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD (feeding its young) . In the air again, we saw the RED TAILED HAWK and the NORTHERN HARRIER. Jim was able to get a nice video of Red Tail as it stayed overhead for awhile.
The "kicker" today was that Ruth saw, on a fence post an AMERICAN BALD EAGLE. Rare to see them sitting so close to a road , but there it was.
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| The "Park Front" From Outside Waterton Lakes NP. |
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| Another view of the mountains from the Park Front. |
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| An explanation of the "coalition" to save the land. |
It was a great ride with the mountains getting closer with each mile, and even though we did not get into Waterton Lakes Park, the scenery was breathtaking. We saw the entire chain of mountains from the USA border to the Banff/Jasper Mountains. As the afternoon progressed the thunderstorm came down out of the mountains and we drove through a few of the edges of it.
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| Storm coming out of the mountains |
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| We just hit the edge of it. |
Tomorrow we leave for the States and hope to cross at the Sweetgrass crossing. Shelby, Montana is next.
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