As readers have read in the other community columns, the birds are slowly making their way back to the South Cariboo for the season. Wendy Marshall, our local bird enthusiast, reports the return of common redpolls and redwing blackbirds. I heard my first goose of the year on March 24. Like most of the high altitude lakes around us, Lac des Roches is still completely frozen. As I peered through the blowing snow, I followed the sound of the goose flying low to the ice around Rock Island, where he circled and headed back to the west. No doubt he was scouting for open water, which has been observed in a small creek near the southeast corner of Bridge Lake. It seems it will be a while yet before we start seeing the large flocks of returning birds and their many relatives passing overhead to their more northern summer mating grounds.
Quiet break
Spring break was very quiet this year around Lac des Roches. Despite excellent winter recreational conditions, our normal numbers of visiting part-time residents were down considerably. Activity on the lake was limited to a few ice fishers braving the blowing snow and a few families sledding and trekking when the wind died down. Even the cottage ice rinks that normally attract visitors for hours of pond hockey and recreational skating have not been maintained and some not cleared at all this year. A few neighbours speculate that with the unusually harsh winter experienced throughout the province, particularly in the lower mainland, there is no need for residents to travel four to six hours for winter recreation…They can find it in there own backyards down south!
Deep snow
After exploring the local fields on snowshoes, one neighbour reports increased animal activity as evidenced by several different prints and holes in the snow. It seems a coyote, with a keen sense of smell and obviously very hungry, dug a deep and narrow tunnel straight down through four feet of snow to reach a mouse nest in the grass below. Not only is this a story of determined animal behavior, but the deep snow will likely be a challenge for our wildlife for weeks to come yet.
Green green grass
Drivers on Highway 24 will see evidence of the roadside brush clearing from the last few weeks. I suspect that some travellers may not immediately recognize the bright coloured patches, every 100 meters or so, for what they are: wood chips sprayed from the chipper machine. These brown and green patches on the snow remind me of a humorous comment made by a taxi driver at the Vancouver Airport just prior to the opening of Expo 86. He pointed to the green stuff on the newly excavated boulevard (which I am sure was the green-tinged mixture of fertilizer and grain seed the road crews typically spray after road work), and told me that the city was sprucing up the place for Expo, including “painting the grass green. ” I got such a chuckle out of his explanation of the green stuff, I never contradicted him. Our green stuff is chipped tree limbs!
Friends meet
Members of Friends of Lac des Roches and Birch Lake met on March 26 to review several items of society business. A quarterly summary of their winter activities and plans for the upcoming lake monitoring season is sent to all members and posted on their website www.lacdesroches.org.