
What's in Saskatchewan's Sand Dunes? Highlights from Fieldwork in Douglas Provincial Park
As the field season wraps up I’ve been reflecting on the places I've been and the things I've seen. Our trip to Douglas Provincial Park stands out as an experience that is infinitely wonderful, now through the eyes of a biologist, after frequenting summers there as a child.
So, what's in the sand dunes that I did not see or appreciate before? First off, Brandon and I were there to monitor the population of Western Spiderwort, a federal species at risk listed as threatened. Only found in this area of the province, Western Spiderwort is striking in its beauty, and flowers only in the morning. Its flowers are most commonly purple but sometimes there are pink variants that are thrilling to find. In the afternoon the flowers close and the plant looks quite similar to some blades of grass.
While Nature Saskatchewan's plant crew is primarily focused on the plants, we keep our eyes out for other species at risk. A particularly unique one we came across was Gibson’s Big Sand Tiger Beetle, also listed as threatened. They run fast across the sand and fly away as soon as you get near. I must have befriended one as it posed for me to get what I would consider my best photo of the summer. Hopefully, even if you are not a bug person, you can appreciate how cool this beetle is.
This summer I've surveyed dry prairie and ephemeral wetlands, walked over hills and into valleys, but something about working in sand dunes, where one direction is pure sand and the other is thick forest, is breathtaking. Thank you Douglas Provincial Park, and Saskatchewan, for your diversity that can never be captured properly through a camera.