Orange shirt day run/walk on September 30 at Kinsmen Park
Terry Lusty Photo
This annual event, held on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, aims to honour and remember our little ancestors who never made it home and all those who attended residential schools. It raises funds for local grassroots movements, https://orangeshirtday.org/ and Indigenous athletes.
The event location is Kinsmen Park. Participants are asked to pay $17 for 2.15km, $35 for 5km, and $50 for a 10km run or walk on a combination of pavement and trails in Edmonton’s river valley. Swag includes a custom orange shirt and race bib, and a custom wooden medal. Details on how to register at https://www.indigenousrunner.com/
North America’s largest land mammal is the bison
Today, bison are synonymous with the west, but the plains bison’s range extended from the grasslands of southern Canada to northern Mexico, and east along the Gulf coast from Texas to Florida. Bison have excellent hearing and a strong sense of smell, but they have relatively poor eyesight.
Bison are perfectly adapted to survive in a wide variety of habitats, especially areas with harsh, cold winters. The fur above the bull’s eyes is buzz-cut short, a cold-weather adaptation that helps prevent water from freezing near its eyes. When snowdrifts cover the prairie, bison use their massive heads like a plow, swinging them back and forth to clear away the snow to reach grass underneath.
In winter, bison grow a thick, two-layer coat that helps insulate them from cold. These coats are so efficient at retaining heat that, during a snowstorm, snow will accumulate on top of bison without melting. Beneath their fur, black skin helps bison absorb warmth from the sun.
Another cold-weather adaptation is harder to see: Proportionate to their body size, bison have the largest trachea of any other large land mammal. This helps warm cold winter air before it hits the bison’s lungs, helping them maintain their core body temperature in winter.
When winter blizzards come, bison face into the weather and hunker down to wait for the storm to pass. They can slow their metabolism to conserve energy and slow their digestion to draw more nutrients from their food.
https://blog.nature.org/2023/09/18/meet-the-bison-north-americas-most-famous-mammal/
Smith Blackburn Homestead Pollinator Garden wins Greener Greenspaces Award
The pollinator garden at the Smith Blackburn Homestead has received a Greener Greenspaces Award from the Society For Organic Urban Land Care (SOUL).
SOUL's Greener Greenspace program, established in 2021, awards sites from across Canada that exemplify greener greenspace stewardship. The aim of the program is to showcase examples of ecologically focused land care as a means to inspire others and to further the movement across Canada.
The Smith Blackburn Homestead Pollinator Garden is 60 kilometres east of Edmonton within the Beaver Hills Biosphere Reserve. The Edmonton and Area Land Trust (EALT) planted the pollinator garden in 2021 to convert an area dominated by invasive plants into a habitat for native wildlife.
Staff and volunteers planted over 250 native plants to support numerous species of insects, birds, and mammals. The garden is open to the public to learn about pollinators, native plants and pollinator habitats. https://www.ealt.ca/blog/native-pollinator-garden
Showcase your river valley photo in an upcoming calendar
River Valley Alliance wants to display your photographs of North Saskatchewan river valley trails in its upcoming 2024 calendar. It is looking to feature trails within Parkland County, Devon, Edmonton, Strathcona County, Fort Saskatchewan and Sturgeon County.
Submission requests are photographs in various seasons, and photos highlighting RVA projects like Legs of Fire Stairs, New Parkland Stairs, Terwilliger Footbridge, Fort Edmonton Footbridge, Funicular, Riverside Nature Trail, and Lamoureux Trail.
Photo requirements are RGB formatted JPG files only, photos in landscape orientation, high-resolution only (4.0 MP to 80.0 MP), no identifiable people in the photos, and cropped for an 8.5 11-inch calendar page.
You may submit multiple images for consideration, however only one photo from a single photographer will be chosen. Submit photo(s) with your name and where the image was taken, trail & municipality. Submit your photo by October 15 to makennah.walker@rivervalley.ab.ca with the subject line Calendar Submission. https://rivervalley.ab.ca/
Ghost Pipe Flowers
Suzanne Cody photo. Blooming for only a week in summer, they are also known as Indian Pipe. It is a perennial that gets its energy from other organisms. In other words, it is a parasite.
Comment or contribution
Please note that articles may not reflect the position of NSRVCS. River Valley News is meant to be a clearinghouse for the wide variety of opinions and ideas about Edmonton’s River Valley. Email river valley photos, event information, comments, or questions to nsrivervalley@gmail.com