Chickakoo Lake Recreation Area
By Dominic Lloyd
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
On April 27 2004, the Wild Rose Ramblers met at the John Janzen Nature Centre for the third ramble of 2004. We drove to the Chickakoo Lake Recreation Area, north of Stony Plain and walked the trails for a couple of hours. Trees were just starting to show hints of green, but there were pussy willows, bishop's cap, and ferns to be seen. Birds seen included widgeon, robin, bufflehead, goldeneye, mallard, Canada goose, and a pair of red-necked grebes building a nest in the lake. We also saw beaver and muskrat, and heard song sparrows and ruby-crowned kinglets. The water level in the lakes is low, and beaver have cut down many large trees. Is this a coincidence?
Pussy Willows
Birch Trees
We finished our walk and had lunch. Then as the wind came up and it started to rain we drove 13 kilometers to a gravel pit on township road 540 to see the red-sided garter snakes. Large numbers of these snakes spend the winter in a hillside below the frost line and emerge in the spring. There weren't as many to be seen as last year when, I'm told, there were balls of snakes coming down the hill. Maybe they didn't care for the cold rain any more than we did.
Garter Snakes