GENERAL INFORMATION
Site Name: Big Lake Natural Area
Stewards Names: BLESS
Email:
Date: Oct 14, 2002
Inspection Number: 4
Hours: reported separately
Phone: 458-5617
Changes: Yes

DISTURBANCES
- Vegetation/Animals:
- Soil:
- Vandalism:
- New Trails/Cleared Lines:
- Comments On Disturbances: This inspection was done while installing a Natural Area sign on a post in the SE corner of the BLNA. On the South East corner of Big Lake there is a golf course under development that is in both the City of Edmonton and the City of St. Albert. The operator has laid a ditch roughly 1m wide x 2/3m deep x 50m long that extends out into the exposed muds of Big Lake. This spring the area was definately under water, and will likely be next spring. It is assumed that this is intended to be an irrigation line for the future golf course, and that they are planning on a water withdrawal from BLNA. A tracked vehicle, possibly a front-end loader, had been on the mud flats as well.

USES
- Recreation: Bird Watching, 4 Wheel Driving, Hiking, mountain biking
- Other:
- Comments On Uses: There is now a truck trail all along the east side of Big Lake starting at the berm near the viewing platform in St. Albert and extending south to the golf course development. It appears that it is used expressely for the purpose of getting to and from the lakeside portion of this development. The trail may encroach in part on the Natural Area, although it is roughly 50 meters back from the highwater line. In hiking along the lake to the area where the sign was posted I encountered four hikers intent on bird watching, especially the Tundra Swans, and a person who had mountain biked down to the shore for the same purpose.

BIOLOGICAL NOTES (optional)
Hundreds of Tundra Swans were spotted on Big Lake near the mouth of the Sturgeon River on Oct 14, 2002. According to knowledgable birders there were several thousand on the lake on Oct. 13, 2002. The birds were very skittish and scared easily when they heard or spotted anyone on shore.

ACTION RECOMMENDED
- Reclamation:
- Materials & Supplies:

SUMMARY
- Change In Condition Since Last Inspecton: Deteriorated
- Summary Comments:
The golf course being developed in the SE corner of Big Lake has definitely intruded on the Natural Area with the development of a ditch, presumably for future water withdrawals. BLNA draws a large number of birders during fall migration as large, showy birds (pelicans, swans, geese) congregate on the lake in large numbers.