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Bird watching a relaxing experience at Kimiwan Birdwalk
Along with the summer season comes the opening of the Kimiwan Birdwalk in McLennan and this year repairs are being completed on boardwalks and trails after flooding waters covered them for the past two years.
"It's exciting to be back because the only way I have seen the Birdwalk is with water over the trails. It is all brand new to me again this year," says Cheyenne Kean, interpreter at the Birdwalk for the second year.
All the walkways are being repaired and the water levels are back where they should be. Thanks to a dry summer last year much of the walkways have been repaired.
The Birdwalk opened in May of 1992 and since then has been visited every summer by about 400 people a month. Some of the 206 bird species people can view there include mallards, northern shovellers, red wing blackbirds, marsh wrens, yellowheaded black birds, and some unusual birds seen include swans, golden eye and green wing teal and American Avocet.
Along with more access, plans for the Birdwalk this year include essay contests for school children and more interaction with school classes.
"I am going to try to go to the schools and talk to them about the Birdwalk and invite them and their families to come out and enjoy it. The Interpretive Centre will continue to encourage toursim in our area as well as to educate and serve the public."
On May 14 is the annual Hot Dog Day for the children at Ecole Providence School and until the summer a lot of the focus will be on school children and tours for them.
"We opened on the third, and I am really excited to be back. I am a lot less nervous about the job this year and I am finding it really great to be able to focus on tourism in the region. Not only do visitors come into the centre to see the birds, they come in the centre and ask about surrounding amenities and places to go. I've lived in the area my whole life and I really didn't know a lot of the stuff.
"The birds and the lake are my first concern of course, but my secondary concern is tourism in the area," says Kean.
A new feature at the Birdwalk is a television for watching nature films and videos. The usual birding books and binoculars and pamphlets are available at the interpretive centre also.
"The way to get to know about birds is really just through observation. It takes years to really have extensive knowledge on the birds in the area."
The interpretive centre is very popular with area tourists, some coming from as far away as Germany and Australia to look at the wetlands and observe the wildlife. Last summer over 2,000 individuals from around the world came to Kimiwan and the surrounding communities.
"We had some kids who were taking home schooling come in for a while last year. The unit they were working on was ecosystems and that was pretty neat," says Kean.
Visitors are encouraged to sign the guestbook at the Birdwalk and tours are available. For more information about tours or general information call Cheyenne Kean at Box 606, McLennan, Alberta, T0H 2L0, 324-2004 or e-mail her at kimiwan_birdwalk@hotmail.com. The birdwalk is open from May to October, seven days a week for July and August.
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