It doesn't look like anything could live here, but the prairie is replete with wildlife of all kinds. Just down the road, hidden by the sign, is a small hill dropping down to the valley bottom and the Frenchman River. Buffaloberry thickets line the road on both sides, and this is where Loggerhead Shrikes love to build their nests.
In recent years, increased traffic through the park has resulted in many young birds dying in collisions with vehicles. People drive too fast. They bring their city speed to the prairie, where it isn't necessary. Last week I slowly crept past a car with Ontario plates; the lone, female driver was watching a bull bison just off the road. Moments later she went roaring past me in a cloud of dust. Racing from highlight to highlight is a common disease in our society. But the prairie doesn't work like that. It resists the quick fix, the instant reward. You have to slow down and give it time; only then will it reveal its secrets - its immeasurable beauty and bounty.
One of the park staff created this sign last year, and it has been installed in several locations. People generally obey. I don't think they come here to run down the wildlife; they just need clear guidelines. And, I suppose, to clear their heads. I haven't seen a dead shrike on the road since the signs went up. I don't always agree with decisions made by Parks Canada, but in this case... good work!
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
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The sun was just up. When I arrived at the Top Dogtown - prairie dogs, that is - I was scanning to my left, looking into the light, hoping for an owl. No luck. A family was nesting there, but they appeared to be still underground.
Then I arrived at the pullout, where an easy trail leads to a coulee overlook, and there was my owl! It didn't react to the rolling red Toyota blind. Good start to the day!
More owls to come...
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
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This is a good companion piece to yesterday's horses, as it was taken just across the road. Bruce Dixon's Diamond T Ranch was one of Parks Canada's most significant acquisitions in the creation of Grasslands National Park. Assembled by Bruce's father, Hugh "Doc" Dixon, in 1928, the ranch was comprised of 43 sections (a section is 640 acres) and contains critical habitat for Black-tailed Prairie Dogs, Greater Sage Grouse, and other threatened or endangered species in Canada. After holding out for many years, Dixon's failing health finally convinced him - in 2011 - that it was time to sell. A key factor in his decision was the promise by Parks Canada that it would make continuing efforts to honour and interpret the role ranching has played in the history of Saskatchewan.
This great old ranch sign still stands at the entrance to the Dixon ranch yard.
Of course, before the ranching era, this area was home for thousands of years to nomadic Indigenous tribes, including Plains Cree, Assiniboine (or Nakota), and Blackfoot. Their legacy can be seen in more than 10,000 archeological sites throughout the park. It is almost impossible - once you know what to look for - to hike any high prairie ridge here without seeing ancient tipi rings.
I love the wildlife and the landforms, the seasons, the solitude, the big prairie skies and the sense of vastness, but am also aware that I'm a newcomer here. It's important to recognize those that came before. We are all dust in the wind.
Bruce Dixon died in Medicine Hat, Alberta, on October 8, 2021, at the age of 85.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2020 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
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Caught in the open as stopped and rolled down the window, this Porcupine's instinct was to climb. But that didn't help him avoid the photo-op! I stayed in the car, and drove away after this shot to allow him to find his way down to the nearby river and safety. His quills offer some protection, but I have seen coyote scat full of quills and buffaloberries.
The campground is closed in winter months. There is a perimeter fence and Texas gate to keep the bison out. Nothing can keep the wind out...
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2018 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
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I'm preoccupied with signs this week. Here's the latest, a strange, happy sign at the cemetery gate. Are the dead wishing us a Merry Christmas, or vice versa?
Photographed in Prelate Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2017 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
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