Thursday was cloudy when we got up. Breakfast at the Prince Albert McDonalds. We headed south and east into Manitoba and the Duck Mountain Provincial Park. Henry stopped and took pictures of the yellow and blue fields and pulled one canola plant and one of the blue flowering plants. We saw Wildlife Tomorrow signs near some of the wooded areas. .
Lunch was at a hamburger place along the road in the small town, Hudson Bay (not on the famous ocean bay). Talking to the people at the blue fields are flax. In retrospect, I KNEW that flower looked familiar, part of me says, I should have known . . .
We took the road through Duck Mountain Provincial Park. While it doesn't seem "tall" enough to be a mountain, it is really a pretty area. It's really an escarpment that is flat on the top with numerous lakes, ponds, and marshes, it is forested and well worth the drive through. We saw a rough legged hawk that gave us a very nice look see. He kept flying to perches that we could see as we carefully approached in our car. Other wildlife sightings - saw a bear twice - might have been same bear . . . might not. Second sighting was near a small community where a couple was out walking. When we mentioned we had just seen a bear, they turned around and went back the way they had come. A porcupine crossed the road in front of us fanning out his quills. We were looking at the ducks and ducklings in a pond, when there was a big splash. A few moments later a beaver surfaced. Got a good look while he floated and swam around his territory. Got a good look at his flat tail as well. Wellman Lake is very pretty with a campground and a lodge with cabins as well as church camps along its banks. We saw a loon on this lake as well as some of the other lakes in the park. The Wellman Lake Lodge would make a great place to stay to spend some extended time here doing birdwatching or canoeing or fishing. They have both cabins and camping facilities.
Later on we saw another hawk - my best guess is the Harlan's variety of the red tailed hawk. We saw several small ponds and lakes with loons - one that had four! One of the ponds had a ringed neck duck (I think) and about 9 ducklings still downy! What fun! Spent the night in Dauphin, Manitoba, the town where Henry went on a mission trip when he was a young teenager. His group helped with a Vacation Bible School there.
The day was cloudy and gray - not great photography lighting - so no pictures for today.
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