I had been wanting to visit Wye Marsh for over a year now.

On Sunday, a beautiful spring day, that visit finally happened.

My friends Sam and Shylo had also wanted to go. So we picked a day and headed down to check out what Wye Marsh is all about.

We paid the admission fee of $11.00 plus person, plus tax. I found it a bit steep but once I found out what the admission was for, I was pretty happy about it.  Once Shylo got the details on which trails were best to do, we headed to check out the trails and learn more about Wye Marsh.

Environment Canada operated  Wye Marsh in 1969 and turned over the operation to the Friends of Wye Marsh in 1985.

The Friends of Wye Marsh, or FWM is a non profit organization that brings awareness to the public about the important role that wetlands play.

The FWM provides education, recreation and  research opportunities to the community and hope to continue doing so for years to come.

To ensure the health of the marsh, FWM relies on donations, fundraising, volunteers and people like us who come to visit and pay an admission fee.

Hence, why I was happy to pay the fee once I learned about everything that the FWM does.

The FWM also depends on managing partners such as the Ministry of Natural Resources, Ducks Unlimited Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Service.

I honestly had no idea about any of this when I had arrived. I just thought we were going to hike some trails today.

But we ended up learning so much.  The centre features bright colored informative plaques situation throughout the trails.

Which help you learn the different types of wildlife that live in and depend on the type of area you are in to flourish.

In the early 1980’s a biologist named Harry Lumsden began a program to reintroduce trumpet swans into it’s former habitat, the Wye Marsh.  The program is quite interesting and you can find more information on it here.  

We continued on after watching the swans for a bit to find more plaques and signs throughout the trails.

I was very happy I came and was learning so much about wetlands and the marsh we were visiting.

There were magnificent boardwalks placed throughout the wetlands so you can view the wildlife without disturbing it.

I was excited to see these turtles just hanging out in the sunshine enjoying the beautiful spring day, as we were.

After walking to another area, we spotted turtles swimming in the water. I did my best to get some photos and you can make them out but not as clearly as we could see them with our polarized glasses unfortunately.

I found this plaque on the body language of geese quite interesting and same and I attempted to mimic the poses shown to display how we were feeling.

We spent a few hours exploring the marsh and education ourselves on the wetlands and all the amazing things that happen in them.

Eventually the trail we were on led us back to the main visitors centre.  We sat and watched a few interesting birds who easily ate out of our hands,  and viewed some curious chipmunks and squirrels before heading out of Wye Marsh.

If you haven’t checked out Wye Marsh yet, I highly recommend a visit so you can help the Friends of Wye Marsh continue their important work, and, so you can learn about and all the amazing things the centre has to offer.

I hope you enjoyed checking out Wye Marsh with Sam, Shylo and myself.  If you have any questions, comments or just want to say hi, please leave a message.

Happy Marshing!

Camper Christina