For an easy, delightful hike through diverse habitats in beautiful northern Nova Scotia, visit Wallace Bay National Wildlife Area, home to beaver and muskrat, as well as an abundance of waterfowl and migratory songbirds. 

 

Wallace Bay National Wildlife Area is a 585-hectare migratory bird sanctuary abutting the Northumberland Strait near the village of Wallace on Nova Scotia’s beautiful North Shore. Established in 1980, the protected area is managed by the Canadian Wildlife Service and encompasses freshwater wetlands, marine wetlands, forest and fields. An easy 3-kilometre loop trail leads hikers along an impoundment dike built by Ducks Unlimited, and then through mixed forest back to the parking area (or it can be hiked in the reverse direction).

The trail section along the dike (about 1.75 kilometres) is edged with grey birch and offers views out over freshwater marsh dominated by cattails, as well as over a saltwater inlet with farms on the far shore. The wetlands act as staging areas for migratory waterfowl, and the entire protected area provides breeding habitat for a wide variety of water and forest birds and other wildlife, including muskrat and beaver.

I’ve hiked the Wallace Bay National Wildlife Area in different seasons, most recently with my husband Vilis on June 5, 2016 on a sunny, calm late spring afternoon. American wigeon, blue-winged teal and northern shoveler floated on the wetlands. I heard the voices of song sparrow, white-throated sparrow, American goldfinch, red-winged blackbird, belted kingfisher, raven, yellow warbler and yellow-rumped warbler.  A common yellowthroat skulked in dense shrubs, the tiny songbird’s black mask lending it the look of a bandit. An eastern chipmunk ran along a fallen apple tree branch. Cinnamon ferns and wildflowers – bunchberry, starflower, pink lady’s-slipper – bedecked the forest floor.

In autumn, the Wallace Bay National Wildlife Area flames with the fall colours of maples, oaks and aspens. In winter, the wetlands freeze over, offering skating. At any time of year, this reserve is a great place for a peaceful (and sometimes windy!) hike.