Nature's never far away in wild Winnipeg

Earlier this summer, my friend, Harald, and I went for a two hour evening paddle down the La Salle River in the 15-foot cedar fibreglass canoe that Harald (a master carpenter) had built at home.

It was a serene evening with the sun's sharp rays glinting off the placid water just south of Winnipeg. We saw a beaver swimming along at one point, and numerous mallards and other ducks and song birds on the shoreline.

Canoeing down this city's rivers the Red, Assiniboine, La Salle and the Seine or hiking through our parks, other forested areas and various trails is a wonderful way to experience nature close to home.

As our canoe glided along, I caught sight of what looked like a Cooper's hawk, or perhaps it was the somewhat smaller look-alike sharp-shinned hawk, perched atop a tree.

Several people seated on the riverbank had cast their fishing lines into the murky water.

"Do you have any frozen fish?" joked one fellow as we drifted by the shoreline.

We paddled to the Brady Road bridge and followed the current back to our starting point at La Barriere Park.

It was idyllic, Harald mused afterward as we sipped cold drinks while relaxing in his refurbished Volkswagen camper van in the parking lot.

When you're on the river, you'd never know that you're in the city- Charles Burchill

"Even with the proximity to southern Winnipeg, the La Salle River has a wilderness feel," Charles Burchill, an avid paddler and naturalist in Winnipeg, writes in his blog.

"It has minimal current and ample protection from the wind, making it a perfect evening place to paddle."

All of Winnipeg's rivers are quite wonderful to paddle, Burchill said in a recent telephone conversation.

"They provide another perspective of our city," he said.

"The jewel that everybody overlooks is the Seine River. It runs through the heart of the city St. Boniface and St. Vitalbut when you're on the river, you'd never know that you're in the city, because it's forested across most of the distance. I've seen otters, deer, many beaver, geese and various duck species and at least one very large snapping turtle, and all of those right within the city."

Walking is another way to explore some of Winnipeg's natural spaces and seek solace away from the madding crowd.

Assiniboine Forest, off Grant Avenue, is a natural wilderness park measuring just under 300 hectares. It's filled with aspen and oak trees, numerous wetland areas, grassland prairie and a selection of wildlife.

A moose was even spotted in the forest several years ago, a person I was chatting with said during a walk through the forest one day.

There are also numerous other parks and restored natural sites to visit within our city.

The Yellow Ribbon Trail goes past the Living Prairie Museum (a well-maintained 12 hectare preserve of natural tall grass prairie, with an interpretive centre, in St. James) and winds down to Sturgeon Creek.

The almost seven kilometre long recreational Harte Trail in Charleswood, built on an old railway bed, runs from Shaftesbury Boulevard on the east along the south end of the Assiniboine Forest and then all the way to the Perimeter Highway on the west.

While walking on the Harte Trail in late July, a friend and I spotted a white-tailed doe suckling her freckled fawn in the dense bush. Another fawn appeared moments later. Cyclists whizzed by without noticing.

As we edged closer along the path, the watchful creatures bounded back into the bush.

Bald eagles, coyote

I've even seen bald eagles flying over the Red River while walking along one of the numerous river trails and elsewhere in the city.

Another friend and I chanced upon a cautious coyote one winter's day about seven or eight years ago.

We were walking north along the path that leads from Kildonan Park past the Kildonan Park Golf Course to the Kildonan Settlers Bridge. The wild canid stared back at us, then departed down the riverbank.

I've seen red foxes on several occasions, including chancing upon one that had just caught a large grey squirrel at the base of a colossal cottonwood tree in a forested area of Kildonan Park, while another squirrel squeaked a plaintive, high-pitched alarm from the safety of a gnarled branch.

City of Winnipeg naturalist Rodney Penner points out that there are natural locales of various sizes in most Winnipeg neighbourhoods, such as Wolseley in the West End, where some streets run down to the Assiniboine River.

Little Mountain Park, a short drive north of the Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport, is another good place to experience nature.

'In our own backyards'

"We've done a fair bit of work restoring tall grass prairie in that park," said Penner, who also points to restored natural habitat in Transcona and Bluestem Park by Omand's Creek across from Polo Park, among other such sites in Winnipeg.

"A lot of people are drawn to wildlife shows on television," says James Duncan, a wildlife biologist who started Discover Owls and a former director of the provincial wildlife branch.

"But we can see the phenomena of nature right here in our own backyards if we seek out, or even create, the proper habitat. If you really peer high up into the treetop canopy, then you might see one of the holy grails of bird watching the eastern screech owl."

Mother Nature is all around us. You don't have to travel far to appreciate its calming sights, sounds and smells. How fortunate we are to live here.

This column is part of CBC's Opinion section. For more information about this section, please read this editor's blog and our FAQ.

Read more opinion pieces published by CBC Manitoba.