NSRVCS News - March 26, 2020

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June 5, 2020

Trembling aspen common tree in river valley
Edmonton is in an ecoregion known as the Aspen Parkland, a transition zone between prairie grasslands to the south and boreal forest to the north. This region is characterized by open grasslands alternating with groves of trees, the most dominant tree species being the trembling aspen.

The trembling aspen gets its name from its leaves which move in even the lightest breeze. This is due to the leaf petiole, the stalk that connects the leaf to the branch, which is flattened. The flattened leaf petiole along with the trees oval and rigid leaf blades produce a sound that has been described as a soft whispering rustle.

A unique characteristic of this tree is in the way it can reproduce. While many trees rely solely on seed production and dispersal to produce offspring, the trembling aspen sends up new sprouts from its root system. This form of reproduction produces new trees that are genetically identical to the parent plant.

In Saskatchewan, a genetic mutation is believed to be the cause of the crooked growth of the trunks and stems of a trembling aspen colony. Vegetative reproduction has allowed this trait to be passed on, and much to the delight of curious visitors a grove of crooked aspens has grown. Learn more at https://natureedmonton.wordpress.com/2013/06/14/trembling-aspen/

Muskrat a cattail connoisseur
Although the muskrat builds lodges near water and is an accomplished swimmer, it is not a close relative of the beaver. Nor is it a true rat. Instead, it is basically a large field mouse that has adapted to life in and around water.

In winter, muskrats live in domes made from frozen vegetation over holes in the ice. They keep the domes open throughout winter by continually chewing away the ice and pulling up underwater vegetation to build an insulated dome. These miniature lodges are used as resting places during underwater forays and as feeding stations.

Cattails are preferred as food. However, muskrats thrive equally well on a diet of bulrushes, horsetails, or pondweeds, the last two constituting the basis of the diet in northern latitudes. They also eat a variety of other plants including sedges, wild rice and willows. When normal food is scarce, muskrats are known to be carnivorous eating fish, frogs and clams.

Muskrat’s front teeth are modified for underwater chewing. Their large incisors (or cutting teeth) protrude ahead of their cheeks and lips so they can close their mouths behind their teeth! This makes it possible for under water eating without swallowing water. Read more at https://www.hww.ca/en/wildlife/mammals/muskrat.html

Epic Films for the Great Indoors
The Banff Centre is bringing the epic adventure of its Mountain Film and Book Festival to you. It is providing a program of free festival films available online for you to watch at home. These award-winning films provide adventure and inspiration and were all finalists in the 2019 and 2018 festivals in Banff.

More films will be added on a regular basis. Stay strong, stay inspired and enjoy the films at https://www.banffcentre.ca/film-fest-at-home

Townend’s Solitaire a juniper berry aficionado
Solitaires are slim, long-tailed thrushes and as the name suggests, they are usually seen alone. The Townsend’s Solitaire is an elegant, wide-eyed songbird of western-mountain forests. Though considered a migratory bird in our neck of the woods, they are regularly observed in Edmonton’s Christmas bird count.

Their drab gray plumage gets a lift from subtly beautiful buffy wing patches and a white eyering. Though they're thrushes, they perch upright atop trees and shrubs to advertise their territories all year long and can easily be mistaken for flycatchers. In winter they switch from eating primarily insects to eating fruit, particularly juniper berries.

If you ever thought that you liked berries, check out a Townsend's Solitaire's appetite. One study suggested they would need to eat between 42,000 and 84,000 juniper berries to survive the winter. If you want to entice a Townsend Solitaire to visit during the winter, plant a couple juniper trees in your yard. Learn more at
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Townsends_Solitaire/overview

Share river valley event, job posting, or news
If you have a river valley event, job posting, or news that you would like to see published in this newsletter, please send the info to nsrivervalley@gmail.com

Sincerely yours,
Harvey Voogd
North Saskatchewan River Valley Conservation Society
780.691.1712
nsrivervalley@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/NSRVCS/
http://www.edmontonrivervalley.org/

Guest User

June 5, 2020

NSRVCS News - March 19, 2020

Guest User

June 5, 2020

We need not only nature but the wild and it needs us
We know that nature is a vital part of maintaining our well-being. Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, says spending time in nature is not just important for our health it can also help us develop empathy for the natural world.

Louv believes cities, including Edmonton with its river valley, can become engines of biodiversity. We should plan the best approaches to re-nature the city and our neighbourhoods. A healthier habitat increases human-nature social capital for everyone’s benefit.

Both domestic and wild animals can have a profound impact on us. They help us every day, even when we are not aware or do not acknowledge that help; they expand our senses, teach us empathy, communicate with us in ways that science is only beginning to understand. Read more at https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/we-need-wild-and-it-needs-us

Pasque flower our first beloved harbinger of spring
Pasque flowers pop their furry heads through the snow across the prairies as early as late March or April. The bell-shaped flowers grow up to 30 centimetres tall on small clumped plants which are ideal for rock gardens, sunny beds, and anywhere you want to find your first smile of spring. It never gets out of hand, making it a desirable plant in any gardener’s flower bed.

It carries one flower with purple petals and yellow stamens, on top of each stem. The pasque flower’s abundant pollen attracts bees, which are eager for a food source at this early part of the spring. The flowers are also a place for small insects to warm up, thanks to the arrangement of its sepals, which reflect sunshine, increasing the temperature by several degrees.

Its leaves and stems are typically left alone due to the plants’ toxicity. In the past, humans used pasque flower to treat ailments including those of the eye, respiratory and reproductive systems, and it is similar to the European plant Anemome patens, which is used in homeopathic remedies. Learn more at https://cwf-fcf.org/en/resources/encyclopedias/flora/pasque-flower.html

2020 Edmonton Camino in June
The Third Annual Camino Edmonton will be June 19 to 23. Participate for 5 days of walking from Devon to Fort Saskatchewan through the gorgeous North Saskatchewan River Valley. You are welcome to come for one day or a few or all five. This walk is free and informal; we are not an organized group but simply a group of friends doing this for fun. We provide a route and company; you provide the rest!

Day 1: Bunchberry Meadows to Lion's Campground, Devon (10-15 km)
Day 2: Cameron Heights/West Henday Bridge to Whitemud Creek/Rainbow Valley (15 km)
Day 3: Whitemud Creek to Highlands Golf Course (18 km)
Day 4: Capilano Park to East End Trailhead (Quarry Golf Course 18 km)
Day 5: Riverside Nature Trail (Twp. Rd 540) to Turner Park, Fort Saskatchewan (15 km)

Please contact Sheila Thompson hawkthom@telus.net if you would like to join or need more information.

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June 4, 2020

NSRVCS News - March 12, 2020

Guest User

June 4, 2020

River Valley provincial park future uncertain
The Strathcona Science provincial park in the east river valley is one of 164 parks listed in the Alberta Government announcement of changes to the province's parks model. Two organizations affected are the Edmonton Nordic Club which runs the Biathlon Centre and Sunridge Ski Area which uses it as a ski hill overlooking the North Saskatchewan River.

Nordic Club president Chris Hanstock said the group wasn't consulted and he noticed the park on the list after reading a news story. "Total shock really. I mean it was totally out of the blue," Hanstock said. "It makes it very uncertain. I mean, we've obviously invested tens of thousands of volunteer hours into this facility."

The group has grant funding for upgrades to the Biathlon Centre but will hold off, until its future at the site is clear. Recently, close to 200 provincial athletes competed at the Edmonton Nordic Biathlon Centre in Strathcona Science Provincial Park. Learn more at
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/biathlon-parks-alberta-government-1.5487718

Want to express your concern about these changes? Sign the petition titled Protect our parks – don’t let Kenny privatize nature https://act.leadnow.ca/dont-let-kenney-privatize-nature/

City tree management policy update
On March 16, City Council’s Urban Planning Committee will consider a revised Corporate Tree Management Policy which affects all City owned trees. In April 2019, Council directed Administration to conduct further public engagement on the policy, with a focus on natural areas.

The key policy changes include adding “stewardship” and “public education and engagement opportunities” to the policy statement and purpose. Stewardship incorporates public and stakeholder feedback that emphasizes the importance of responsible care for Edmonton’s natural stands. Participants expressed the importance of education and engagement for the public and communities to better manage, grow, preserve and protect our Urban Forests.

To access the report and its four attachments, click on agenda item 6.5 at
http://sirepub.edmonton.ca/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=2655&doctype=AGENDA

People attracted to river valley since time immemorial
Early peoples were attracted to the river valley for the same reasons as animals: it offered shelter, fuel, and game in the winter; diverse plant resources in the spring, summer, and fall; and water and fish throughout most of the year. The valley’s geological history further enhanced its attractiveness by providing flat, well-drained sites for camping and a ready supply of quartzite for making stone tools.

When one looks at the size and incidence of archaeological sites within the Edmonton area, there is little doubt that early peoples preferred living near the North Saskatchewan River or along the edges of major creeks like Whitemud and Blackmud than in areas away from waterways. This pattern of land use appears to have persisted for thousands of years which forces one to question the traditional, Eurocentric portrayal of Edmonton as a wilderness prior to European settlement.

The Cree were experts at constructing and utilizing birchbark canoes and fish made up an important part of their diet. Anthony Henday reported that a small Cree band with whom he was traveling spent the winter hunting buffalo in the parkland before moving to an important canoe building site in the river valley just downstream of Edmonton.

Henday observed the Cree gathering bark from stands of birch, building canoes, socializing with a steady stream of newcomers, and going on short hunting trips. By the time his party was ready to depart on the long canoe voyage down the river to York Factory on Hudson Bay, the canoe-building site had grown into a large camp, which may well suggest that the Greater Edmonton area was an important gathering and staging place for Aboriginal groups. Learn more at
https://www.edmonton.ca/documents/PDF/Rossdale_Historical_Land_Use_Study_Feb_2004.pdf

Looking at the world upside down better for this bird
Like all nuthatches the Red-breasted Nuthatch has short legs, a flat body, and a large head. Its strong, rather long bill is slightly upturned. It inhabits mixed-wood and coniferous regions, preferring spruce-fir forests. This bird lives mostly on the branches of trees instead of on the trunks, and in this way resembles a chickadee.

The Nuthatch gets a special view of things by looking at the world upside down. It can descend head downwards on tree trunks and branches. This is how they search in nooks and crannies in bark for tiny organisms overlooked by other birds that glean food while moving in an upright fashion.

The seeds of conifers make up a large part of the Red-breasted Nuthatch winter diet. The bird pries open the scales of cones with its strong bill and extracts the winged seeds, which it eats after discarding the wing. Chopped nuts, seeds, and suet readily attract nuthatches to feeding trays in winter, and the birds often hoard this food, stuffing it in crevices in the bark of nearby trees. Learn more at https://www.hww.ca/en/wildlife/birds/red-breasted-nuthatch.html