Earth Day. April 22. Earth Day, what does it mean to you?
Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed
Mahatma Gandhi
Did you know that the City Nature Challenge is 4 days April 29 – May 2 to be inspired for nature – for biodiversity around the world?
A great Nature Watch
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April 29 – May 2
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Planet Earth, the World, is in our HandsWorld Conservation EffortsiNaturalist Observation with smart phone connecting with nature, supporting vital conservation research worldwide.
Celebrate 50 years! Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional park were planted to trees in 1972, 50 years ago. Come out and say Happy Birthday!
“Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward. Bend to the winds of heaven.
Richard St. Barbe Baker
SaskEnergy sponsor and supporterSaskPower_PoweringOurFuture_City of Saskatoon.Saskatoon and Area City Nature Challenge April 29-May 2, 2022Eco-Friendly Sask. CA Sponsor Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Clean Up 2016 Saskatoon, SK CA
What will you find, today, April 14, Look Up at the Sky Day? Take a break, and discover a whole new experience! While you are outside have a great time experiencing our Land of Living Skies in Saskatchewan, take some pictures of the geese flying overhead. Download the free iNaturalist app, and share the migratory birds you see with everyone!
Remember, also to look up at the sky between April 29 to May 2 and wonder at the songbirds, and butterflies you may see overhead. What do you think of the population count of these high fliers? This is what the City Nature Challenge will help specialist scientists around the world discover. April 29 is 16 days away, are you ready? Do you know where you are going to explore?
Are butterflies and their morphological changes on cue for the passing of the seasons? Are birds migrating at the same time as last year? Is the range of various species of songbirds shrinking or expanding? Is the number of bird species and butterfly species shrinking or expanding.
Your input to iNaturalist is important! Taking action locally can make a difference for a specialist scientist using iNaturalist to track trends and changes in our biodiversity. Become a citizen scientist helper for specialist scientists the world over.
Species at risk: Mormon Metalmark (Apodemia mormo) butterfly depends on buckwheat host plant. Goldenrod Gall Fly Eurosta solidaginis Conservation Status: imperiled (S2S4) in Saskatchewan, CA (NatureServe)Red-Winged Blackbird. West Swale Wetlands Chappell Marsh. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Saskatoon, SK Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) habitat is in cattail marshes such as Chappell Marsh in the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. The female is not a brightly coloured as this male.
Birds learn how to fly, never knowing where the flight will take them.
Mark Nepo
Celebrate 50 years! Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional park were planted to trees in 1972, 50 years ago. Come out and say Happy Birthday!
“Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward. Bend to the winds of heaven..”
Richard St. Barbe Baker
SaskEnergy sponsor and supporterSaskPower_PoweringOurFuture_Saskatoon and Area City Nature Challenge April 29-May 2, 2022City of Saskatoon environmental leadership at the afforestation area cleanups, arranging Loraas bin, and lending advice for environmental and community safetyEco-Friendly Sask. CA Sponsor Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Clean Up 2016 Saskatoon, SK CA
April 13 is a marvellous day! A day to appreciate plants, and what a better time to appreciate plants than when spring comes, and the Prairie Crocus pops up, and the Spring Avens also blesses our meadows and grasslands in Saskatoon and area.
It is now 15 days from the City Nature Challenge, a fantastic 4 day International Bio Blitz to take action for global biodiversity between April 29 to May 2. Today, download the iNaturalist app, and wander outside locally and take some glorious pictures of plants as you are celebrating the outdoors. By sharing them on the free iNaturalist app, the world will know the beauty you have found in our area of the universe.
No other life is as pure as the plants. It is no wonder we cannot understand them.
Robert Black
City Nature Challenge CNCYXE Saskatoon area versus YQRCNC Regina and area in a mini SK challengeYellow Sunflower Moth
Stiria rugifrons on top of Curlycup Gumweed Grindelia squarrosaRed-blue Checkered Beetle Trichodes nuttalli on a Missouri Goldenrod
Solidago missouriensis at the afforestation areaImage taken by Shweetha Gopinath, eco-photographerCaragana Flower Blooom FRichard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK CA
The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.
“Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward. Bend to the winds of heaven.
Richard St. Barbe Baker
SaskEnergy sponsor and supporterSaskPower_PoweringOurFuture_City of Saskatoon environmental leadership at the afforestation area cleanups, arranging Loraas bin, and lending advice for environmental and community safetySaskatoon and Area City Nature Challenge April 29-May 2, 2022Eco-Friendly Sask. CA Sponsor Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Clean Up 2016 Saskatoon, SK CA
National Big Wind Day is observed each year on April 12. The speediest natural wind speed was recorded by Mount Washington Observatory on April 12, 1934. The winds were blowing at 3735 km per hour (231 miles per hour)!
While talking about wind, do you know about susurration? Susurration is the absolutely beautiful sound of leaves in the wind. Many people have listened to the sound of our Trembling Aspens across the prairies. Poplars which are also native trees have their own distinct song.
Thomas Hardy wrote in his book “Under the Greenwood Tree” about the various sounds made by each individual type of tree.
To dwellers in a wood almost every species of tree has its voice as well as its feature. At the passing of the breeze the fir-trees sob and moan no less distinctly than they rock; the holly whistles as it battles with itself; the ash hisses amid its quiverings; the beech rustles while its flat boughs rise and fall.
During the City Nature Challenge between April 29 to May 2, come out to the afforestation areas, and hear the Trembling Aspen. Be one of the people to support and listen to the Green Ash and American Elm now on the The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN)Red List of Threatened Species. Find out how the Spruce and Pine sing in the wind. Discover the sound of the tall Poplars, the tallest deciduous trees of the afforestation areas. It is truly a magical experience. Just download the free iNaturalist app, find it, snap it, share it.
The trees would love to meet you. Come to a group meet up at the afforestation areas during the City Nature Challenge.
Fraxinus_pennsylvanica Green Ash Opposite leaves which are pinnately compound with 7 to 9 serrate leaflets that are elliptical to lanceolate to elliptical in shape, entire leaf is 6 to 9 inches long, green on the top of the leaflets and silky smooth to silky-pubescent and paler below. Margins of the leaflets are either smooth or coarsely saw-toothed. Each leaflet has a short stalk or may be sessile and the leaf has a much longer stem. The little leaflets at the base are the teensiest of the leafletsElm LeavesTrembling Aspen Leaf with dew drops, Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CALinden Tree Linnaeus familyCaragana arborescens, the Siberian peashrub, Siberian pea-tree, or caragana
“Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward. Bend to the winds of heaven..”
Richard St. Barbe Baker
SaskEnergy sponsor and supporterSaskPower_PoweringOurFuture_City of Saskatoon.Saskatoon and Area City Nature Challenge April 29-May 2, 2022Eco-Friendly Sask. CA Sponsor Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Clean Up 2016 Saskatoon, SK CA
The Journal of Orthoptera Research published an article recently: Discovering insect species based on photographs only: The case of a nameless species of the genus Scaria (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) submitted by University of Croatia students and their professor including Niko Kasalo, Maks Deranja, Karmela Adžić, Roberto Sindaco, Josip Skejo. They were looking at iNaturalist photos, and discovered a very beautiful observation of a pygmy grasshopper (family Tetrigidae) posted near Yambrasbamba a district of Bongará Province in Peru. Where the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) does allow naming from photographs should there be sufficient reason to persude this course, in this case, the pygmy grasshopper remains as “Nameless Scaria” because it is a symbol of all those species worldwide that have not been named and discovered, and perhaps have gone extinct without even being known. By publishing this article on this new species not only delved into the problem and the usual modus operandi, but also enabled inspiration into further research. In the same area, a search was made for the genus Scaria, and three new species were found, albeit not another matching “Nameless Scaria.”
The find went viral in the scientific community. Robert Sindaco, a naturalist has interests in biogeography, and sytematics of the Palearctic reptiles and lizards of Eastern Africa has published scientific papers as a specialist scientist. It was Sindaco or @sindic who uploaded this Peruvian observation to iNaturalist.
From iNaturalist came a great discussion, and interest in the genus Scaria, and attention for the students and their professor out of the University of Croatia.
The City Nature Challenge happens April 29 to May 2 in Saskatoon. What will you discover? Download the free iNaturalist app, find a wild organism of nature, find it, snap it, share it. It is easy to take part.
There are a couple of entomology or insect discussions coming up virtually
“Nameless Scaria” Observer Roberto Sindaco iNaturalist Curator. Family Tetrigidae Pygmy Grasshopper. Citizen Science discovery and naming in Journal of Orthoptera Research
My dear young fellow,’ the Old-Green-Grasshopper said gently, ‘there are a whole lot of things in this world of ours you haven’t started wondering about yet.
“Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward. Bend to the winds of heaven..”
Richard St. Barbe Baker
SaskEnergy sponsor and supporterSaskPower_PoweringOurFuture_City of Saskatoon.Saskatoon and Area City Nature Challenge April 29-May 2, 2022Eco-Friendly Sask. CA Sponsor Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Clean Up 2016 Saskatoon, SK CA
Today is a fun day – it is “Name Yourself Day!” Doesn’t that sound like a great spot of fun as you introduce your name to friends and families!
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
William Shakespeare
Finding out the name of things is very rewarding. “What is it?” YouTube Video delves into how to find out the name of all the various organisms of nature around you by using iNaturalist.
Enjoy the outdoors whilst supporting vital conservation research by making observations April 29 to May 2 on the iNaturalist app during the City Nature Challenge
BE THE REASON NATURE BELIEVES IN HUMANITY
Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.
Henry David Thoreau
LichenCity Nature Challenge CNCYXE Saskatoon area versus YQRCNC Regina and area in a mini SK challengeCity Nature Challenge CNCYXE Saskatoon area versus YQRCNC Regina and area in a mini SK challengeYellow Sunflower Moth
Stiria rugifrons on top of Curlycup Gumweed Grindelia squarrosa Regina YQRCNC vs Saskatoon CNCYXE SK mini Challenge for the City Nature Challenge
“Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward. Bend to the winds of heaven..”
Richard St. Barbe Baker
SaskEnergy sponsor and supporterSaskPower_PoweringOurFuture_City of Saskatoon environmental leadership at the afforestation area cleanups, arranging Loraas bin, and lending advice for environmental and community safetyEco-Friendly Sask. CA Sponsor Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Clean Up 2016 Saskatoon, SK CASaskatoon and Area City Nature Challenge April 29-May 2, 2022
when the alchemy of Nature transmutes the sylvan landscape to one vivid and almost homogeneous mass of green;…in such surroundings the mind loses its perspective; time and space become trivial and unreal, and echoes of a forgotten prehistoric past beat insistently upon the enthralled consciousness.
Here at your fingertips is a literal book extravaganza! These books have the potential to be life changing, and it is a pleasure to draw attention to the value that these books bring to homes, schools, and communities as truly, “nothing else takes bookworms on such magical, extraordinary and exciting adventures”~WBD National book tokens.
White-tailed Deer Fawn. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA
Red-Winged Blackbird. West Swale Wetlands Chappell Marsh. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Saskatoon, SK
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, SK, CA
Colorado Blue Spruce Cone. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, SK, CA
American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) Courtesy D. Gordon E. Robertson
Richard St. Barbe Baker, himself, was a notable author, writing books as a way to raise money in an effort to save forests and trees around the world. There is a personal warmth in all the books that Baker wrote, in his speeches, and public appearances and it is felt that we knew him in a sort of personal way, as if we had shaken hands with him, and heard his voice; and we always have a feeling that he is addressing us in our own person.
If you were to walk in nature, and write a book, what is your story, your most vivid memory of your natural world? Here is an introduction to other writers, authors, and publishers who also have written about biodiversity, wildlife, nature, and the province of Saskatchewan we have all grown to know and love.
“I believe in the Oneness of Mankind and all living things and the interdependence of each and all.”~ Richard St. Barbe Baker
Saskatchewan Breeding bird Atlas in the process of compilation as we write this. Citizen scientists and professional bird watchers between 2017-2022 will collaborate to map the distribution and relative abundance of breeding birds in Saskatchewan.
The Road is How: A Prairie Pilgrimage through Nature, Desire, and Soul
Grass, Sky, Song: Promise and Peril in the World of Grassland Birds
Saskatchewan: The Luminous Landscape, Prairie Light, Prairie Skies by Courtney Milne and Old Man on His Back: Portrait of a Prairie Landscape, which he co-authored with writer Sharon Butala. Both Milne, and his wife Sherill Miller worked alongside environmental green groups raising awareness, and reclaiming our natural biodiversity.
The Great Saskatchewan Bucket List,Photographer’s Guide to Saskatchewan and Western Canadian Farm Trivia Challenge Saskatchewan published by Robin and Arlene Karpan
Mixedwood Forest Society ”
A campaign to protect mixed forest, wetland, and river landscapes—and the unique species
they contain—in the Swan River & Porcupine Hills regions of western Manitoba.”
Saskatchewan Prairie Conservation Action Plan
“A project to increase conservation of native prairie and at-risk species within the Prairie Ecozone
in Saskatchewan”
So today, March 5, 2017 is World Book Day. How can we, the shepherds of the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area celebrate the authors, illustrators and books today? On this 20th anniversary of this United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Book Day celebrate, come together, and explore the pleasures of exploring nature, biodiversity, wildlife, the ecosystem to open your eyes and senses next time you are out in the afforestation area. If you are a primary school teacher or home school educator check out these fabulous activities and another 20 ideas.
Another marvelous concept would be to support a green group with a purchase of one of the books they have published as a fund-raising initiative as listed above. However, don’t stay inside too long. Don’t become Vitamin N deficient, or acquire Nature Deficit Syndrome. A most excellent way to be healthy, enjoy nature and its excellent bio-diversity would be to obtain one, two or more nature field guides as listed above, and set out on an explore!
Help create the Saskatchewan Breeding bird Atlas with your bird watching skills. Take out a field guide, and discover what wild plants and flowers are blooming this spring. Wander among the tall prairie grasslands and identify butterflies, trees, prairie grasses and sedges along the way with the help of a guide book or two. Reading can really help you open your eyes as to what you are seeing around you on your walks.
Please advise if there are any other most excellent books on the environment, nature, wildlife, flora and fauna which should be included to celebrate World Book Day this Sunday March 5, 2017. If we get reading now, while the snow whitens the ground, by the time the crocus pop up on April 16, 2017, oh, what amazing flora and fauna you may come to recognize by the time the Easter pasque flower shows its head.
“Mid-summer … when the alchemy of Nature transmutes the sylvan landscape to one vivid and almost homogeneous mass of green; when the senses are well-nigh intoxicated with the surging seas of moist verdure and the subtly indefinable odours of the soil and the vegetation. In such surroundings the mind loses its perspective; time and space become trivial and unreal, and echoes of a forgotten prehistoric past beat insistently upon the enthralled consciousness.”~H. P. Lovecraft
“There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
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 SW 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
Please help protect / enhance /commemorate your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)
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!
I believe in oneness of mankind and of all living things and in the interdependence of each and all. I believe that unless we play fair to the Earth, we cannot exist physically on this planet. Unless we play fair to our neighbour, we cannot exist socially or internationally. Unless we play fair to better self, there is no individuality and no leadership. ~Richard St. Barbe Baker.
“Kind people have been expressing superlatives on my work. But I can assure you that anything which I have been able to achieve has been team work. We have a motto in the Men of the Trees. TWAHAMWE. It is an African word meaning ‘pull together’ and I pass this on to all those concerned with conservation in this country. I would like to call you to silence for a moment with the words of Mathew Arnold:
“Calm soul of all things, make it mine,
To feel amidst the City ‘s jar
That there abides a peace of thine
Men did not make and cannot mar. ”
~Richard St. Barbe Baker
“I believed that God has lent us the Earth. It belongs as much to those who come after us as to us, and it ill behooves us by anything we do or neglect, to deprive them of benefits which are in our power to bequeath.” Richard St. Barbe Baker
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. George Genereux Urban Regional Park. 