Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
Midnight Lake lies adjacent to Helene Lake and Birch Lake, 12 km north of Glaslyn, in west central Saskatchewan. It can be described as a "forest-fringe" lake: the northern half of the lake is bordered by mixed wood forest that is part of extensive boreal forest to the north, while the southern half of the lake is bordered by bogs and agricultural lands. Several intermittent creeks flow into this lake. The rolling uplands that surround the lake form the divide between Churchill and the Saskatchewan River systems.
Midnight Lake is used consistently by staging Whooping Cranes, a species that has been identified as both globally and nationally endangered. Over the course of 13 surveys completed between 1969 and 1998, an average of 5 Whooping Cranes were recorded during the fall migration. Whooping Cranes are also present during the spring migration with an average of 6 birds being recorded (3 surveys between 1969 and 1998). The Whooping Crane population dropped to as a few as 15 or 16 birds in the early 1940s. Until the 1960s, the population hovered between 20 and 40 birds, but it has since undergone a slow but steady increase to the current population of circa 183 birds.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
Like much of the forest fringe area, this region is vulnerable to clearing of forests and drainage of wetlands for agriculture and grazing, and on-going forestry operations that could create disturbance. The land surrounding the northern side of Midnight Lake is mostly provincial Crown Land, while the area surrounding the south side of the lake is mostly privately owned.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Midnight Lake (Canada). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/midnight-lake-iba-canada on 23/11/2024.
