The people have spoken, and they chose the magpie!
Galen McDougall photo
You don’t have to look far to find Edmonton’s new city bird. Bird Friendly Edmonton announced on Saturday that the black-billed magpie won top spot out of six year-round resident birds who entered the ring in October.
Nick Carter, with Nature Alberta, said more than 40,000 votes were cast in two rounds of voting. “The magpie got almost 40 per cent of the votes out of the six candidate species,” he added. “People in Edmonton have definitely spoken and it seems like the magpie has really become embraced.”
According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, the magpie belongs to the crow family. Of the 20 magpie species known worldwide, only the black-billed magpie lives in Canada. The iridescent and intelligent bird beat out downy woodpeckers, red-breasted nuthatches, boreal chickadees, the blue jay and northern saw-whet owls.
In 2022, Edmonton became the eighth Canadian city to earn a Bird Friendly City certification from Nature Canada. The black-billed magpie will now represent the city’s ongoing commitment to making itself a safer place for birds.
“We are hoping to have the decision officially recognized by the City of Edmonton,” Carter said. “The magpie gets, I think, hopefully a little bit more respect in the community.” The announcement was made at Big Lake in Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park on World Migratory Bird Day. https://www.ctvnews.ca/edmonton/article/love-it-or-hate-it-magpies-crowned-edmontons-city-bird/
Fulton creek business proposal denied at public hearing
Fulton Creek Business Park photo
A rezoning application that would relocate a creek in southeast Edmonton and remove thousands of trees to allow for more industrial land failed at a public hearing at Edmonton's city hall last Wednesday. The vote ended in a 6-6 tie during the public hearing meeting.
City administration told council they were in support of the rezoning application after weighing the pros and cons of the project. An approved application would have seen an expansion of 4.9 hectares of land for industrial use and create up to 400 jobs.
Other public stakeholders like the Edmonton River Valley Conservation Coalition were staunchly opposed to the application. "We're very relieved that this proposal did not pass," Kristine Kowalchuk, coalition chair, told CBC in an interview.
"This landscape formed over thousands of years, and you can't just replace trees … you can't just replant them and redevelop an ecosystem, a functioning ecosystem, in 10 years," Kowalchuk said, noting the land was found to have at least 20 species of birds in an environmental assessment made public as part of the hearing at city hall.
"We did a site visit just a few days ago to take a look at this creek, and right now, the creek is full of frogs singing. So it's not a heavily degraded land. This is land that is functioning as important habitat and a wildlife corridor today." https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/business-park-proposal-that-would-relocate-fulton-creek-remove-6-900-trees-fails-to-pass-1.7529293
Hoary bat first identified in Pennsylvania by “Master Pancake”
Jose G. Martinez-Fonseca photo
The hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus) is a species of bat that lives throughout most of North America, including Edmonton. It was first described as a new species in 1796 by Palisot de Beauvois. Beauvois noted that the holotype was collected in the US state of Pennsylvania by an individual identified as "Master Pancake".
The hoary bat averages 13 to 14.5 cm long with a 40 cm wingspan and a weight of 26 g. It is the largest bat normally found in Canada. Its coat is dense and dark brown, with white tips to the hairs that give the species its 'hoary' appearance for which it is named. Their body is covered in fur except for the undersides of their wings.
The bat normally roosts alone on trees, hidden in the foliage, but on occasion has been seen in caves with other bats. It prefers woodland, mainly coniferous forests, but hunts over open areas or lakes. It hunts alone and its main food source is moths.
While not listed as threatened or endangered, hoary bats suffer significant mortality from wind turbines. Across the United States in 2005, 40% of all bats killed by wind turbines were hoary bats. One common theory explaining this is that bats are attracted to the tall structure, possibly believing them to be trees that can be used for rest. https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/40523-Lasiurus-cinereus
Time travel on May 24 with ANPC’s “Plants through Time” workshop
ANPC’s 2025 workshop is happening on May 24th in Red Deer, Alberta. Virtual attendance is also available at a reduced rate. Some of this year’s workshop will highlight how plants, habitats, conservation and people’s knowledge have evolved through time, from decades to thousands of years.
The Keynote Speaker will be Jenny L. McCune with the University of Lethbridge speaking on Plants through Time: From the Distant Past to the Invisible Present. She will be discussing her experiences studying plant communities, highlighting the challenges and intrigue involved in understanding the short-term and long-term history of plants, and discuss these challenges to plant conservation in Canada.
There will be a banquet dinner after the workshop and a short field trip the morning of May 25 to Morris Flewwelling Ranch, located in the Pine Lake Moraine. This is an approximately 30 minutes drive southeast of Red Deer. Find more information and a link to register athttps://anpc.ab.ca/?p=11502.
NSRVCS welcomes a new communications coordinator
Liz says "Thank you Harvey for your years of delightful communications about our wonderful river valley. It has warmed my heart and called me to be more often in the river valley. Thank you Brook Kelela for taking on this volunteer task. I look forward to reading your thoughts and joys about the river valley."
Vital Formation by Liz Ingram, City Hall https://www.edmontonarts.ca/public-art/vital-formation
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