New eBird Hotspot

Thank you to Meghan Mickelson who added an eBird.org hotspot for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. This is greatly appreciated and will help people document the birds arriving at the bird feeding stations which are located in the woodlands. As you explore the 326 acre greenspace can you locate all four bird-feeding station areas this winter?

This area is so very very large, and not many people are familiar with its 326 acre size which is 2 miles east to west and an irregular 1/2 mile north to south.

Due to the massive extent, there is a choice of eBird hotspots to assist you in your bird watching adventure!

REGION 1 WETLANDS AREA – OBSERVATIONS FOR ANY WETLANDS BIRDS AND WATERFOWL USING DUCKS UNLIMITED CHAPPELL MARSH CONSERVATION AREA AND THE CHAPPELL MARSH WETLANDS NORTH IN RICHARD ST BARBE BAKER AFFORESTATION AREAS INC.

Saskatoon–Chappell Marsh Conservation Area (south of Township road 362A but can include marsh on north side of road)

REGION 2 EAST OF WETLANDS TO BUS BARNS

Saskatoon–Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (from COC west to north Chappell Marsh, north of Twp Rd 362a)

REGION 3 WEST OF WETLANDS OUT TO THE SASKATOON ITALIAN CENTRE NEAR SASKATCHEWAN HIGHWAY 7

Saskatoon–Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (from Cedar Villa Rd east to north Chappell Marsh)

There are many naturalists who park on the Cedar Villa Road (Twp Rd 362-A) and make Chappell Marsh hot spot e-Bird observations of the waterfowl and wetlands birds on the north and south sides of the Chappell Marsh wetlands when they are not under ice. It doesn’t take much of a disturbance, and the birds fly to safety from one area of the water to the other across the roadway utilizing both sides of the wetlands.

The citizens of Saskatoon and area are so very lucky and fortunate for the environmental leadership shown by the City of Saskatoon Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area [north side] and by Ducks Unlimited Chappell Marsh Conservation Area in the RM of Corman Park 344 [south side] who are both preserving the wetlands of the West Swale.

The Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. as a new environmental non profit charity has learned quite a lot from the Meewasin Conservation Authority and how they are guided by their mission and five guiding principles. As the Meewasin manages a small portion of the two afforestation areas it is great to have a role model that the non profit environmental charity, the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc., can look up to and receive guidance from.

Now, thanks to Mickelson there is also a eBird.org hotspot for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. This act of kindness will go a long way to support the new bird feeding stations located in the forest, and the bird lovers who venture out that way in the city.

So now for birders there is more than one great method to document birds at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area! An e-bird hotspot for the wetlands of Chappell Marsh, and an e-Bird hotspot for the woodlands of the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Who could ask for anything more?

As a challenge for the Winter Staycation Take It Outside program, record on iNaturalist or the eBird hotspot for Chappell Marsh the wetlands birds which you have sighted. The International Day of Action for Rivers Pamphlet contains a water birds checklist as an indicator of what might be sighted. The Geese and some ducks are back already (March 11)

The Take it Outside Winter Staycation program has a winter bird checklist for download

We hope you have fun birding at the afforestation areas!

We wish you luck with what you spy with your little eye.

For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park
For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
For more information:
Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits
NEW P4G District Official Community Plan
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063
Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot
Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com
Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map
Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)?with map
Pinterest richardstbarbeb
Blogger: FriendsAfforestation
Tumblr friendsafforestation.tumblr.com
Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park
Facebook: StBarbeBaker Afforestation Area
Facebook for the non profit Charity Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. FriendsAreas
Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Facebook: South West OLRA
Reddit: FriendsAfforestation
Twitter: St Barbe Baker Charity Twitter:FriendsAreas
Mix: friendsareas
Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail / e-transfers )Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date! Canada Helps

United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

• Use the UN Decade’s Visual Identity 
• Make it your own
• Spread the word about the UN Decade 
• Let’s Bring Back Forests
• Let’s Green Our Cities

“To be standing together in a frosty field, looking up into the sky, marvelling at birds and revelling in the natural world around us, was a simple miracle. And I wondered why we were so rarely able to appreciate it.”

Lynn Thomson

“Creative expression, whether that means writing, dancing, bird-watching, or cooking, can give a person almost everything that he or she has been searching for: enlivenment, peace, meaning, and the incalculable wealth of time spent quietly in beauty.”
-Anne Lamott