Paintings from the river’s edge
Riverdale resident, Richard Dixon is a professional fine artist of 32 years experience. His upcoming publication features paintings created as a method of sharing the beauty and wonder of the river valley through which many travel, but few really stop to experience.
“The featured scene is a short walk from my home along the river,” said Dixon. “After my first spinal surgery of many, the ability to walk to this site was my goal in learning to walk, move my arms and speak. It took a year to walk there, 5 minutes away, and another year to be able to carry an easel to the site to paint the scene. The new growth of life being a representation of my own new life.”
“Watching individual trees grow from saplings to become 30 foots poplars in which live generations of robins and sparrows. Following geese and coyote families through the years. Living with the magpies, ravens and crows as they crate their unique sounds of life. The valley is a living world to which the city’s human residents have access at their doorstep, only if they are willing to experience it.” See his work at http://www.edmontonrivervalley.com/richard.html
This mammal found everywhere in Canada
Red foxes are resourceful and have earned a reputation for being cunning and intelligent. They adapt to living in many environments, including busy cities, and have excellent senses of vision, smell and touch. Foxes use scent-marking to communicate to other foxes. These scents can often smell skunky.
The red fox has a litter of one to ten pups between March and May every year. The young are born blind and can’t open their eyes until they’re about two weeks old. After a month, fox pups are weaned off their mother’s milk and start eating pre-chewed food. After seven months, young red foxes can hunt on their own and leave their parents in search of their own territory. Foxes have been known to travel up to 250 km to find a suitable home.
Foxes only use dens when they are breeding. When the red fox is not breeding, it sleeps in the open and keeps warm by wrapping itself with its long bushy tail. Unlike other mammals, the red fox can hear low-frequency sounds which help them hunt small animals, even when they’re underground!
The red fox preys primarily on small animals such as voles, mice, lemmings, hares and rabbits. They also like the taste of chicken and have been called chicken thieves by many farmers. The red fox doesn’t just eat meat, though. It also likes to eat plants, fruits and berries. Learn more at https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/animal-facts-red-fox
Alberta’s provincial tree - lodgepole pine
This tree recognized by its tall, straight, narrow crown can grow up to 30 meters and live up to 200 years. One of the most drought-tolerant of our native conifers, it is found on a wide range of soils.
These trees provide excellent habitat for birds, small mammals, insects, and other animals. Birds not only build nests in trees, but woodpeckers hollow out nesting cavities in dead trees. These and other birds use lodgepole pines as a source of food, probing underneath the bark to discover juicy insects. Lodgepole stands also provide important, spacious habitat for larger mammals such as deer, moose, elk, and bears.
Lodgepole pine colonizes recently burned areas because of an abundant seed supply in the closed cones. Most stands are created as a result of fire, as the heat melts the resin bonds on the cones, allowing for seed dispersal. Large, pure stands are common, and their density sometimes restricts normal growth. Some stands have over 100,000 trees per hectare.
First Nations Peoples found a use for every part of the tree. As the name implies, these trees were used as poles to support lodges and teepees. The wood was considered a good fuel sources as it is very resinous and burns even when it is green. Lodgepole pine resin was used to waterproof canoes, baskets and moccasins, and as a natural glue. Coil baskets were fashioned from the roots. Read more at http://plantwatch.naturealberta.ca/choose-your-plants/lodgepole-pine/
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/
