IBA Wavy Lake
Daysland, Alberta
Site Summary
AB037 Latitude
Longitude
52.871° N
112.070° W
Elevation
Size
685 - 700 m
40.02 km²
Habitats:
freshwater lake
Land Use:
Urban/industrial/transport
Potential or ongoing Threats:
Oil slicks
IBA Criteria: Globally Significant: Waterfowl Concentrations
Conservation status:
Restricted access for IBA coordinators
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Site Description
Wavy Lake is located 11 km east of Daysland, in central Alberta. The lake is about 10 kilometres long and two or three kilometres wide. Highway 13 is 3 kilometres to the south of the lake, providing well developed road access around the lake but poor access to the lakeshore itself.
Birds
Wavy Lake is noted for large numbers of staging ducks; over 20,000 ducks of various species have been recorded in the fall. Snow Goose and Greater White-fronted Geese frequently pass through the area during spring and fall migration in globally significant numbers. In many years, at least 10,000 to 30,000 Snow Geese are found here in both seasons; one year, however, there was a peak of 70,000 birds. Typical numbers represent at least 4% of the Western Central Flyway population. Greater White-fronted Geese usually number 10,000 to 20,000 during spring and fall migration this is at least 1% of their world population. The site is also locally significant for moulting ducks with over 1,000 having been recorded. Like many prairie lakes this lake is dry in some years it was dry for several years in the late 1990s.During both spring and fall migrations, several thousand Sandhill Cranes are regularly seen at the north end of the lake. The area was surveyed for Piping Plover in 1986 but no birds were found.



IBA Criteria
SpeciesT | A | I Links Date Season Number G C N
Greater White-fronted Goose 1995 FA 10,000
Greater White-fronted Goose 1995 SP 10,000
Snow Goose 1995 FA 70,000
Waterbirds 1985 FA 20,000
Note: species shown in bold indicate that the maximum number exceeds at least one of the IBA thresholds (sub-regional, regional or global). The site may still not qualify for that level of IBA if the maximum number reflects an exceptional or historical occurrence.
 
Conservation Issues
Approximately 80% of the land around the lake is owned the Alberta Department of Lands and Forests. There is some oil and gas activity occurring in the vicinity of the lake. Ducks Unlimited, which considers the lake a critical moulting and staging wetland, has a restoration project taking place on the lake.

The IBA Program is an international conservation initiative coordinated by BirdLife International. The Canadian co-partners for the IBA Program are Birds Canada and Nature Canada.
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