Tranquille Wildlife Management Area
The area immediately east of Tranquille floods each year and becomes the home to wildlife in channels and riparian zone on both sides of the river. The designated area is on the north side, but across the river 2km away is another larger area. The flood zone also extends up the shores of the river trail and west along to Cooney Bay. To see all the channels of the floodlands is a 16 km route. Inside the flooded channels is willow and cottonwoods, creating green "islands," with birds and aquatic life. Which wildlife will be seen depends on the month and the mating cycle of each species. Families are born and predators feed. Floodlands are inhabited by fish, amphibians, and reptiles. Mammals swim into the channels or forage on the shores. Each day brings more suprises. Over 5 days in the channels, many species were seen:
great blue herons | golden eagles | bald eagles |
western painted turtles | beavers | muskrats |
Canada geese | mergansers | mallards |
a great horned owl | ospreys | frogs |
deer | a black bear | wiid ducks |
coyote | orioles | cedar waxwings |
red-tailed hawk | red-winged blackbird | loons |
cormorants (in 2011) | flycatchers | merlins |
swallows and wrens | gulls | crows and ravens |
and more….