Photos by: Judy Shire
Two
weeks ago we showed you this spot with some
cranky geese standing around on ice and a year
ago this same flock had just returned from their Southern vacation. Canada geese
once a rare thing to see on the prairies other than during their migrations North
and South have become common place as they have taken up residence year after year
in the same locations.This lovely pasture just East of Tisdale is the site of Tisdale's riding stable so the geese have to share the stream and spring overflow with a few well mannered horses.
The warm weather for the past few days has really turned the stream on as water is flowing in a controlled but
steady
manner through townand North. In all cases this year's run-off is well below flood stages and the water remains in the channel of the streams. We check the golf course and discovered that stream behaving equally well under the bridges and along the fairways.
It is this low level of run off that will permit agricultural operations to get underway early this year as the frost which was not deep this year to start with will come out of the ground quickly allowing spring planting to begin about two full weeks of average planting times, even in the so-called "warm" years.
Below is a view of this same pasture on its East end looking toward the Louis Dreyfus inland terminal situated South of town. In this picture you can see melt water accummulated in a small temporary pond above the stream. Dug outs with their thick ice cover are still solid ice and will take some time to thaw however, they are extremely dangerous at this time of the year as the ice loses its strength and though a dug out looks solidly covered the ice will not permit even light weights on top.
