River Valley News - Mar 14/24

Birding locations in and around Edmonton

As winter turns to spring and migration begins, there are many good locations within the city or not far outside of Edmonton to bird watch. Whitemud Ravine is a local haven for wildlife. Over 150 species of birds have been spotted in the area! During migration, it’s best to go first thing in the morning.

Located east of Edmonton on Hwy 14, Beaverhill Lake is a designated wetland of international significance and one of Canada’s only federally recognized Bird Sanctuaries. Thousands of shorebirds migrate through the area, making spring and fall especially good times to visit. In the winter, look for snowy owls.

West of Edmonton, Big Lake is globally recognized as an Important Bird Area, providing a critical habitat to thousands of wetland and migrating birds. Osprey nest on the nearby industrial park towers and feed in the lake.

More places to visit at https://www.todocanada.ca/birding-locations-in-and-around-edmonton/

Our Natural Home mural a celebration of YEG river valley

Our Natural Home, a mural project created by Kris Friesen, depicts the North Saskatchewan River running through Edmonton. It was created through the Giants of Edmonton Mural program, which was a partnership with Capital City Clean Up and 630 CHED Radio.

This program asked the public to vote on which local heroes and examples would be celebrated in a mural. The mural on the Westside Automotive building at 10010-168 Street NW was the result of the public’s choice of Edmonton’s river valley as a subject.

Kris Friesen describes himself as a mural artist who says “Human interaction is at the core of my work. When a painting accurately reflects the intended sentiment, and I get to witness the community interacting with my representation, it is one of the most rewarding aspects of my job.” https://krisfriesen.com/our-natural-home-river-valley-mural/

Ritchie Mill a nationally recognized heritage building

Constructed in 1892 and the oldest surviving flour mill in Alberta, the Edmonton Milling Company locally known as Ritchie Mill, is listed on Canada’s Historic Places register. It is significant because of its association with the early agricultural and industrial development of Alberta, using steam-powered, steel rollers instead of the traditional stone wheels that became pitted when grinding hard prairie wheat.

Ritchie Mill is also significant because of its association with the development of the Strathcona community, one of south Edmonton's oldest settled neighbourhoods, dating from the arrival of the Calgary and Edmonton railway in 1892, which terminated at the North Saskatchewan River Valley.

The Edmonton Milling Company was located at the 'End of Steel' to take advantage of the rail link with the southern part of the Province. Elevators were added in 1895 and 1902 and the building functioned as a flour mill until 1948.

Robert Ritchie arrived in Strathcona in 1892 and within a year he had built and began operating the flour mill and added elevators in 1895 and 1905. Ritchie also served in local politics as alderman, school trustee, justice of the peace and in 1906 as mayor of Strathcona. https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=3011

Province wants control over Edmonton urban national park process

Joanne copied us on a letter she sent to MLA Brandon Lunty regarding his private member’s bill, Bill 204. Here are some excerpts. “The North Saskatchewan River has a storied history of being an indigenous highway responsible for fur trade and economic development in previous centuries. Indeed, the river is an important part of why Alberta became linked to the rest of Canada . . . As Albertans we belong to both a federal and a provincial constituency responsible for the joint management of the North Saskatchewan River.

I am an Edmontonian and Metis, whose family ties go back as far as Fort Edmonton . . . At any rate, these efforts should be collaborative and respectful of past, present and future uses of urban spaces, and I hope you will consider adjusting the language in Bill 204 in future Readings to reflect these aims. Thank you for listening to and considering my points. I would appreciate knowing if they expanded your point of view.”

Big Miller by Danek Mozdzenski, Big Miller Park

https://www.edmontonarts.ca/public-art/big-miller

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

River Valley News - Mar 7/24

Province wants control over Edmonton urban national park process

Mack Male photo

MLA Brandon Lunty says his private member’s bill, Bill 204 would amend the Municipal Government Act to prevent municipal councils from negotiating plans for national urban parks with the federal government without specified conditions from Alberta’s lieutenant-governor.

“What happens to Albertans’ green spaces is of paramount importance to the people of our province,” Lunty said. “While national urban parks may have some benefits, it’s critical for the province to have more oversight when it comes to their creation and development.”

The City of Edmonton said the province is participating “as an interested observer” in a working committee composed of the city, Parks Canada, and Métis and First Nations representatives.

Ward Dene Coun. Aaron Paquette said he has supported a national urban park since the idea was first proposed. He acknowledged the province has a legitimate claim to being stewards of the river valley. But, Paquette added, that claim is mostly “on paper,” as the city has taken stewardship responsibilities in practice.

 “Why (is the province) suddenly interested when they haven’t been interested for so long? And why show that interest in the form of legislation that sort of comes out of nowhere, rather than picking up the phone or even walking the few blocks from the legislature to city hall?” https://edmonton.taproot.news/news/2024/02/29/explainer-the-battle-over-a-proposed-national-urban-park-in-edmonton

Sundew peatlands excellent at storing carbon

Sundew conservation land is in Westlock County, near Echo Lake family campground, and about 100 km from Edmonton. This 151-acre parcel, protected by Edmonton & Area Land Trust, is located near other protected areas and is prime habitat for threatened amphibian species such as the Canada toad and the Boreal toad.

Vegetation communities include a wet coniferous fen, mixed woods forest, mixed wood swamp, and shrubby fen. Sundew is home to many wildlife species, including lynx, moose, Boreal chickadees, elk, loons, Pileated woodpeckers, and many more. This is also great habitat for bears and other predator species.

In addition, the rich peatlands that this ecosystem supports are excellent at storing carbon. By protecting it, the ecological integrity of this unique habitat is maintained, thus allowing it to continue storing carbon: an increasingly important role as the climate changes. https://www.ealt.ca/sundew

Bank swallow, species at risk, has a colony in YEG river valley

Steven Sandor photo

The Bank Swallow is considered a species at risk. They collect in colonies and the birds drill holes in the cliff face for nests. They can transform a cliff into a natural apartment building. From one large group of nests on the shores of the North Saskatchewan River, they emerge and dive-bomb the water, searching for insects.

According to Birds Canada, the population of the Bank Swallow has declined by 98 per cent over the last 40 years. So, seeing a colony in action is something we should not take for granted. We should be celebrating the fact that these remarkable creatures have found sanctuary in our river valley.

The Bank Swallow colony is a prime example of Edmonton’s relationship with the river valley. We hike and bike next to it. We celebrate the parks that border it. We enjoy the views from the lookouts above. Yet very few of us get onto the river. We do not hear the thrumming of traffic as we float underneath a bridge. We do not think about the animals that make their homes in the river.

From our raft, we are treated to an air show. Birds fly around us, and there are splashes around our watercraft. And we are just a stone’s throw from downtown Edmonton. https://edifyedmonton.com/active/things-to-do-active/float-on-2/

Edmonton Cycle Club part of YEG’s golden age of bike racing

When the Edmonton Cycle Club burst onto the local racing scene in August 1935, they faced two entrenched opponents: the Golden Eagles and the Silver Hawks. Even still they made an impression. The new club’s first major outing came Labour Day.

In a race to Morinville, ECC member Donald Scotty McCaullum, who moonlighted as a Canadian Pacific Railway telegraph dispatcher, “outsped 35 other cyclists to win the 50 miles Edmonton-Morineville and return bicycle race.”

ECC began sponsoring its own races the following year, with their first major go taking place that Dominion Day. Up for grabs was the Eaton Trophy, “emblematic of the Alberta bike racing championship for the 25-mile distance.”

All the city’s biking clubs were hit hard by the Second World War and one-by-one they folded. In the post-war years some, like the Silver Hawks, returned. ECC was not so lucky. Ex-members and nostalgic fans failed twice, in 1946 and 1948, to revive the storied name. With that the ECC entered the realm of memory. https://www.forgottenedmonton.com/blog/edmonton-cycle-club

Untitled by Scott Sueme, Abbottsfield Recreation Centre

https://www.edmontonarts.ca/public-art/untitled-3

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

River Valley News - Feb 29/24

Some birds lay their eggs in winter

Gerald Romanchuk photo

Great horned owls, Alberta’s provincial bird, are an example of a species that lay their eggs in the winter. This gives the chicks a headstart in the year and an advantage over later nesters, as most birds delay breeding until later in the season when food sources are more reliable. 

However, for seasoned raptors like owls, this isn’t a problem. Owls hunt for their food, and there is a direct correlation between how early the owls hatch and the populations of snowshoe hares, with the earliest hatch times being recorded in years when the hare population peaks.

Great horned owls rarely put any effort into building or maintaining the nests they occupy, usually preferring to take over existing nests from hawks or corvids (crows, jays, magpies). They don’t tend to re-use nests since the hatchlings cause so much damage to the nests that they cannot be reoccupied.

Evidence suggests that Great horned owl pairs are exclusive to each other, share the responsibility of defending their nesting territory, and occupy the same areas multiple years in a row. https://www.ealt.ca/blog/feathered-fondness-in-february

Postmedia looks at the growth in tent encampments across Canada

Alexander Shamota photo

At least 35,000 individuals are homeless in this country on any given day, according to estimates from the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, though it will be experienced by more than 235,000 individuals in any given year. Upwards of 23 per cent of the homeless population stay in encampments, according to data from a 2022 national survey of Canadian municipalities. 

“Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, encampments have become more numerous, more densely populated, and more visible across the country,” explain the authors of a Canadian Human Rights Commission report offering an overview of encampments. 

In a nationwide project, titled Tent City Nation, Postmedia takes a look at the growth in tent encampments across Canada, and if there are solutions that might be found overseas.

https://edmontonjournal.com/feature/tent-city-nation?

Alberta updating its ferruginous hawk protection plan

Gordon Court photo

The ferruginous hawk has been part of southern Alberta’s grasslands for generations and is the largest hawk in North America but remains endangered under Alberta’s Wildlife Act. Under the 2014 original plan, the ferruginous hawk population has slowly stabilized and shown signs of increasing. However, the bird remains endangered, and an updated approach is needed if Alberta hopes to see a long-term recovery.

Through the new plan, the province will work to protect and support the hawk’s habitats, nest structures and prey needed to survive. Other important steps will also be taken in the coming years, including reducing human disturbance at nest sites and limiting the impacts of predators.

Ferruginous hawks require open habitat, including grassland, shrub-steppe or desert, typically nesting on elevated features such as trees or nest platforms. Its primary predators are great-horned owls; however, nestlings may be susceptible to predation by golden eagles, coyotes, badgers and foxes.

https://www.alberta.ca/albertas-species-at-risk-strategies

Running Track by inges idee, Terwillegar Recreation Centre

https://www.edmontonarts.ca/public-art/running-track

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