Garden Hill Conservation Area

[OldTimer]

I did visit the Garden Hill Conservation on Saturday morning.

(Some background – I occasionally visit a friend who lives in Garden Hill, and have had my eye on this water – looked great last year on my drive bys while going to Rice Lake…………..My friend told me that many hundreds of Canadian Geese wintered here – as the pond never did completely freezer over, and was wide open most of the winter………… I could hear the geese when I was nearby on Family Day in February………)

The driveway was not locked (apparently they lock it up about 6+ months in the winter).

The parking lot was empty, and the grass had been cut. The public washrooms were boarded up and locked (and had been for quite some time). Only one picnic table was on the property. Looked like this park was the victim of funding cuts.

The water was at what appeared was its usual level. This area has been getting rain, and the pond is spring fed.

In spite of water levels - the pond had a major algae bloom happening with very large masses of the green stuff floating most everywhere…….. so great in fact that I did not even bother trying to fish (to avoid the frustration of this).

My thoughts are that the much milder temperatures coupled with the fecal nutrient pollution - from tons of goose do-do, produced this problem.

Scratch another possible spot for me………… really unfortunate they let this place slip and let this goose plague continue………….

Not recommended.

Cheers,

OldTimer