Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park

Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park is a provincial park

Provincial park

A provincial park is a park under the management of a provincial or territorial government in Canada.While provincial parks are not the same as national parks, their workings are very similar...

in Alberta, Canada, located immediately west from Edmonton and St. Albert

St. Albert, Alberta

St. Albert is a suburban city in Alberta, located northwest of Edmonton, on the Sturgeon River. It was originally settled as a Métis community, and is now the second largest city in the Edmonton area. St...

. It was named after Lois Hole

Lois Hole

Lois Elsa Hole, CM, AOE was a Canadian politician, businesswoman, academician and best-selling author. She was the 15th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta from February 10, 2000 until her death...

, former Lieutenant Governor of Alberta

Lieutenant Governor of Alberta

The Lieutenant Governor of Alberta is the viceregal representative in Alberta of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the nine other jurisdictions of Canada and resides predominantly in her oldest realm, the United...

.

The park is situated on the shores of Big Lake (formed on the lower course of the Sturgeon River

Sturgeon River (Alberta)

Sturgeon River is a 260 km long river located in central Alberta, Canada. It is a major tributary of the North Saskatchewan River. The stream crosses Sturgeon County, which was named for this river....

, at an elevation of 660 m (2,165.4 ft). It is maintained by Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation and was established on April 19, 2005, on lands designated in 1999 as Big Lake Natural Area (part of the Special Places program). It is the latest provincial park to be established in the province, and Alberta's 69th provincial park.

Activities

Birdwatching

Birdwatching or birding is the observation of birds as a recreational activity. It can be done with the naked eye, through a visual enhancement device like binoculars and telescopes, or by listening for bird sounds. Birding often involves a significant auditory component, as many bird species are...

is a popular activity in the park: Species include Franklin's gull

Franklin's Gull

The Franklin's Gull is a small gull.-Description:It breeds in central provinces of Canada and adjacent states of the northern United States...

, tundra swan, black tern

Black Tern

The Black Tern, Chlidonias niger, is a small tern generally found in or near inland water in Europe and North America. As its name suggests, it has predominantly dark plumage.- Description :...

, eared grebe, northern pintail

Northern Pintail

The Pintail or Northern Pintail is a widely occurring duck which breeds in the northern areas of Europe, Asia and North America. It is strongly migratory and winters south of its breeding range to the equator...

, yellowlegs

Lesser Yellowlegs

The Lesser Yellowlegs is a medium-sized shorebird similar in appearance to the larger Greater Yellowlegs. It is not closely related to this bird, however, but instead to the much larger and quite dissimilar Willet; merely the fine, clear and dense pattern of the neck shown in breeding plumage...

, dowitcher

Dowitcher

The three dowitchers are medium-sized long-billed wading birds. They resemble godwits in body and bill shape, and the reddish underparts in summer, but are much shorter legged, more like snipe to which they are also somewhat closer related...

, pectoral sandpiper

Pectoral Sandpiper

The Pectoral Sandpiper, Calidris melanotos, is a small wader. It is sometimes separated with the "stint" sandpipers in Erolia. This may or may not represent a good monophyletic group, depending on the placement of the phylogenetically enigmatic Curlew Sandpiper , the type species of Erolia...

, American avocet

American Avocet

The American Avocet is a large wader in the avocet and stilt family, Recurvirostridae.This avocet has long, thin, gray legs, giving it its colloquial name, "blue shanks". The plumage is black and white on the back with white on the underbelly. The neck and head are cinnamon colored in the summer...

and other sandpipers. A total of 220 bird species have been observed in the area.

Activities

See also