Abandoned

Abandoned, discarded, no-longer used – that’s what so much of rural Saskatchewan seems to be – a run-down, even ramshackle, building standing alone in a prairie or grain field. But all those discarded buildings or objects can make for interesting pictures.

Old Saskatchewan Homestead

Stone Foundation Remains

This church looked in good condition from the distance. It beckoned to us sitting up there on its hill all alone (yes Saskatchewan has rolling hills). Once we were closer though you could see that the door was boarded up and its paint job was a little worn. But otherwise it looked good from the outside. A plaque indicates the church closed in the 1950's and was built in 1925. So not used long.

Old Saskatchewan Church

In the Dirt Hills we toured the Claybank Brick Plant. It produced bricks from 1914-1989.

Claybank Brick Plant National Historic Site

The brickworks is now a National Historic Site and a Saskatchewan Provincial Heritage Property. It can still produce bricks but many of the wooden buildings looked like the wooden roof would come off in the next big wind - and wind is something Saskatchewan seems to have plenty of. Even the kilns looked rough.

Claybank Brick Plant Kilns

I hope they can get the plant repaired before it is beyond saving. It was an interesting tour.

Of course Saskatchewan has plenty of abandoned grain elevators.

Spring Valley Grain Elevator

What shocked us the most though, is that one of our favourite grain elevators to photograph is gone. Not even a pile of rubble is left where the last Wood Mountain grain elevator once stood. This is what it looked like the last time we photographed it.

Wood Mountain Grain Elevator

Grain elevators have been called lighthouses of the prairies. But this landmark is now gone and that makes me sad.

Visit Ron's blog posting "Endangered" to read more about our visit to Southern Saskatchewan and Grasslands National Park.

Still Making the Most of Things (Where the Deer and the Antelope Play)

We tried hard to get to The Great Sandhills in Saskatchewan. But it wasn’t to be. What can I say – it’s a wet year. (see Ron's blog for his take on it)

Sunrise and Flooded Fields - Click for larger

So Ron photographed what he could. At least there are always lots of Pronghorns in that area!

Antelope - Click for larger

Gone to the Birds

We went to Morse, Saskatchewan again. We’ve been there many times before (see a previous post on my former blog). The main attraction is Reed Lake and its many thousands of nesting or migrant shorebirds.

It’s a shallow intermittent saline lake and it along with Chaplin and Old Wives lakes, are part of a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network site – one of the most important inland sites for migratory birds in North America.

American Avocet - Click for larger

This trip would not disappoint. There were hundreds, perhaps thousands of American Avocets.

American Avocet - Click for larger

But there were also Marbled Godwits,

Marbled Godwit - Click for larger

Willets, Phalaropes, and Franklin's Gulls - to name a few.

Willet - Click for larger

We even caught a glimpse of a pair of Black-necked Stilts - a first for us. It was a good day to go to the birds!