LMT July 23 2018

Last Mountain Times • Monday, July 23, 2018 • lmtimes.ca
Open house at Bird Sanctuary
9
Last Mountain Lake viewed from the new walking trail in front of the headquarters building for the National
Wildlife Area (NWA).
Last Mountain Lake saw more than
just birds passing through its borders on
Friday July 13th. Located 27 km southwest
of Nokomis, the National Wildlife
Area (NWA) and the Migratory Bird
Sanctuary (MBS) held an Open House
event for all members of the public to
attend.
The event was planned and organized
by Alex Dunleavy, interpreter at the
NWA. Dunleavy explained her job in this
way, “The idea of an interpreter is that
we work with a lot of scientists here, and
so for the general public, to talk to a scientist,
without having the same knowledge
base, it is very hard time bringing
that knowledge down to the public’s level.
So my job is to interpret the science
for everybody and make it applicable to
everybody - a farmer, a child, a family,
it really doesn’t matter who. I can gauge
what their level of experience is and I
can give them that knowledge and that
experience.”
Some of the activities during the Open
House included guided tours, games and
activities for people who brought their
children, bird watching, and refreshments
for those who had attended.
The Open House also saw the debut
of a brand new walking path, which is
one of several walking paths that exist
The entrance to Last Mountain Lake National Wildlife Area. The
NWA is one of the oldest in North America, being over 130 years
old.
A small bird nest on the ground at the Migratory Bird Sanctuary.
The nest contains four eggs which could easily be mistaken for
stones.
within the NWA. The new trail is fairly short, beginning out in front of the NWA and MBS headquarters,
and leading down to the lake before looping back around and returning to the headquarters building. The
trail ends with a small display showing some unique artwork with bronzed cattle bones, donated by a local
artist.
“I want people to come and be like, ‘OK, I can bring my family here’. They’ll keep an eye out for events
more often and they’ll see that we’re not just a park with some trails, we have actual things for them to
do out here, and birds to see, and just to see the amount of wildlife we actually do have around the area,”
Dunleavy added.
The National Wildlife Area is 10,906 hectares (ha) in size (approximately 109 square km) with 2,289 ha
being wetlands, 6,213 ha being grasslands, 400 ha is cultivated land, and 1,962 ha being used as hay land.
The Migratory Bird Sancturaty is 4,843 ha in size (approximately 48 square km), and is comprised of 3264
ha of open water and marsh; 1,440 ha of native grasslands, and 48 ha of both cultivated land and park
area.
-article and photos by Alec Konkel, reporter for Last Mountain Times
Classical Music recital coming
On July 30th, the St. John Lutheran Church of Strasbourg will open its doors for a summer evening recital
of some of the finest classical music being performed today, including works by Bach, Mozart, and Brahms.
The concert will be performed by three internationally-recognized Saskatchewan musicians: Maria Fuller,
piano, currently pursuing a third Masters degree in Cincinnati; Sam Milner, violin, currently a member of
the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra; and Ryan Davis, viola, currently finishing an Artist Diploma in viola
in Los Angeles. All three musicians received their Bachelors of Music together at the McGill University in
Montrèal.
The July 30th recital, titled, “Classical Homecoming,” will also be performed with the Shurniak Recital
Series in Assiniboia the following evening. A free will offering will be taken at the Strasbourg Recital.
Maria
Ryan
Sam
-info and photos submitted by Carol Schultz