Gone ducky! May 28-31am, Morse, Saskatchewan

The weather while we were at Morse, Saskatchewan really was just meant for the ducks. It rained even on days when the sun shone (and while the sun shone). That reeked havoc with the Saskatchewan back roads which was were we wanted to be. Could our van get any muddier? Would we get stuck in gumbo? When we arrived on the 28th it was raining and there were thousands of shorebirds lining Chaplin Lake (a saline lake) in a feeding frenzy. They looked like they were starving! Of course there was no light for photography. Besides the shorebirds at Chaplin and Reed Lakes there were lots of ducks at the lakes and the nearby sloughs (ponds to Easterners). Like this Northern Shoveller, above which seemed to be happy rain or shine.
We love the sloughs south of Morse/Reed Lake. They seem to be so active with all kinds of birds, like coots, willets, phalaropes, and a flock of eared grebes (above) that all seemed to want the same nest spot at the slough’s edge in the reeds. They are quite striking when the sun hits their golden ear patches. The yellow-headed blackbirds are always captivating with their shrieking song and contrasting colours (below). We were pleased to see that the old barns and abandoned houses continue to support a family of great-horned owls. This year Ron photographed a fluffy young owl in a tree behind one of the barns. Last year it was an adult that he photographed in the barn window: http://www.ronerwin.com/web/largeN/no/0507_RE_5058.html We also saw a muskrat swim by, a few deer and antelopes (pronghorn) in the nearby fields and this cute family of Richardson's ground squirrels (gophers to the locals) with their black marble eyes.
One of the interesting things of staying at Morse, Saskatchewan is the campgrounds. It's washrooms with showers are always clean but it is located beside the 9th hole of the town golf course. Beyond the ninth hole are the train tracks (and trains run every few hours), very busy grain elevators and then Highway 1. If you want to sleep for long you need to get used to the trains. Here's the view from our tent. If you look hard you can see the flag marking the hole and the greens (which weren't exactly green right now).