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
Monday August 24th – Sunday 30th Sign up for Nature Conservancy of Canada’s Backyard BioBlitz on iNaturalist, and earn prizes. Complete a row in the bingo card out at the afforestation areas and automatically be entered into the prize draw! Download iNaturalist to your smart phone, and make 30 observations at Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and/or George Genereux Urban Regional Park.
There are five different themed bingo cards that you can (optionally) choose to use to help guide your bioblitz adventures! Everyone who submits a completed bingo card (a straight or diagonal line) and/or submits at least thirty observations in total at the end of the week will be entered to win a prize.
Can you do it? Good Luck!!
Grasshopper_Sparrow CC2.0 dominic sheronY
Make A Wish Day
The Trembling Aspen is also referred to as the Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx) May 25, 2019
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 / e-transfers)
JackRabbit West Swale Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA
Ruddy Duck. Chappell Marsh. West Swale Wetlands. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA
At the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, SK Construction Discards and Hazardous Waste. Before the 2016 Community Clean Up
Clean Up Volunteers at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestaton Area, Saskatoon, SK 2016 Community Clean Up
Species at risk: Mormon Metalmark (Apodemia mormo) butterfly depends on buckwheat host plant.
It’s biodiversity decade 2011-2020. What is biodiversity? Biodiversity is species biodiversity, ecological biodiversity, and genetic biodiversity.
At the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation area, there is a great diversity of ecosystems and habitats. There are native and modified grasslands, native and afforested woodlands, as well as the West Swale wetlands, including the north segment of Chappell Marsh.
Flora and fauna species biodiversity abounds within each of the biomes of the afforestation area mentioned above.
Genetic biodiversity, which encompasses those differentiation within a species. ” All dogs are part of the same species, but their genes can dictate whether they are Chihuahua or a Great Dane. There can be a lot of variation in genes – just think about all the colors, sizes, and shapes that make up the genetic diversity of dogs. NWF” Consider hybridization of tree species in the afforestation area.
“About a third of assessed species worldwide are threatened with extinction in the wild. Ecosystem diversity is also vulnerable”NCC.“ The Nature Conservancy of Canada, states that the Canadian Prairies are the “world’s most endangered ecosystem…. temperate grasslands are endangered…[they] are faced with continuing habitat loss, fragmentation and desertification, impacting both biodiversity and local people that rely on healthy grasslands for their livelihood.”NCC.” NCC realizes the plight of temperate grasslands, as do the International Union for the Conservation of Nature the Journal of Ecological Letters and the journal Science magazine all have reported on the dire straits of the prairie grasslands. What will be the domino effect on flora and fauna, on the natural wildlife habitat which relies on native grasslands? Ranging across the prairies, the plains bison, swift fox, greater sage grouse, Baird’s sparrow, Sprague’s pipit and chestnut-collared longspur, for example, are few and far between.
Do you value your naturalized areas?
Are you part of the management of your local heritage?
Do you treasure your woodland, wetland, river, and grassland areas?
How can do you help?
Did you know that “Legacy pollution refers to any pollution that remains from past activities where there is no immediately responsible party who can be held liable for the pollution and compelled to carry out remediation…1) Accept the problem and establish responsibility and leadership. Targeting”
“It is important to remember that when combined each local effort has the power to change the world. Without such changes, our children may never know the rich biodiversity we experience today.Clean UP. “
Remember to support your local bio-diversity;
International Day of Forests March 21
World Water Day March 22
Earth Day April 22
International Day for Biological Diversity May 22
World Environment Day June 5
National Forest Week is the last full week of September
National Tree Day (Maple Leaf Day) falls on the Wednesday of that week.
Do you have an avid interest in the first arrival of spring’s robin? The pelican? The pasqueflower, or spring crocus? The Meadowlark? These true harbringers of spring rely on your active engagement to protect biodiversity locally in your area!
When opening the Loraas bins lids at the South Saskatchewan River weir it was indeed found empty?!?!?! Does this imply that a huge amount of volunteers have been out which is fantastic and the Loraas bin has been emptied, Wow! Or does it mean that no one has been cleaning around the weir and area, arrggghhh.
Kudos and congratulations to all those volunteers who have filled the Loraas bins at Meewasin Park north to overflowing, what a testament to cleaning up the river, and the shoreline.
“Threats to biodiversity include habitat loss, …and breaking the connectivity among ecosystems.Threats “
Cardinale, Bradley J., J. Emmett Duffy, Andrew Gonzalez, David U. Hooper, Charles Perrings, Patrick Venail, Anita Narwani, Georgina M. Mace, David Tilman,, David A. Wardle, Ann P. Kinzig, Gretchen C. Daily, Michel Loreau, James B. Grace,
Anne Larigauderie, Diane S. Srivastava, & Shahid Naeem. Review. Biodiversity loss and its impact on mankind. Cardinale et al Nature 2012. doi:10.1038/nature1148
Targeting Legacy Pollution Tools Available to Governments to handle Pollution from Legacy Problems. Guidance Note on Legacy Pollution.
United Nations on Biodiversity 2011-2020 Convention on Biological Diversity. Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. World Trade Centre. Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Two decades ago, at the first Earth Summit, the vast majority of the world’s nations declared that human actions were dismantling the Earth’s ecosystems, eliminating genes, species and biological traits at an alarming rate. This observation led to the question of how such loss of biological diversity will alter the functioning of ecosystems and their ability to provide society with the goods and services needed to prosper”.Cardinale
For more information:
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!
Membership : $20.00 CAD – yearly
Membership with donation : $50.00 CAD
Membership with donation : $100.00 CAD
“It would seem that the West is heading for a precipice. When a blind man is walking towards a precipice, a friend will seize him and turn him around and set him walking in the opposite direction…Already half the human family is on the verge of starvation, for man breeds and lives beyond the limits of the land. “~ Richard ST. Barbe Baker
“All Canadians are invited to join in supporting and implementing this strategy for the benefit of the Loggerhead Shrike Prairie subspecies, and Canadian society as a whole” ~ Environment Canada
Loggerhead Shrike Lanius ludovicianus
Loggerhead Shrike Lanius ludovicianus
“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.”~Richard St. Barbe Baker.
It is not at all meaningless to speak about the Prairie Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus excubitorides). This unique small passerine bird is listed as threatened / critically endangered as the population has been steadily decreasing since the 1960s.
The Loggerhead shrikes love scattered shrubby growth, and will nest in Caragana, Manitoba Maple, and thorny vegetation such as Buffaloberry shrubbery. The Shrike breed along shelterbelts and riparian areas of the prairies. In this south west sector of the city of Saskatoon, botanists have confirmed that this species is documented for this region wherever there may be wetlands combined with open areas and tall shrubbery.
In order to thrive, and be resilient, the Shrike requires an open grasslands area to forage with elevated perches or lookout points about 4 meters high upon which to sit to facilitate their hunting activities.
The Loggerhead Shrike is quite unique in its dietary habits, as it does not confine itself to seeds, berries insect grub and larvae, but as a carnivorous bird, will capture amphibians, lizards, small mammals such as mice, and small birds. Due its small size, it impales its prey on barbed wire or the thorns of the Buffaloberry bush, which grows around the Chappell Marsh and West Swale wetlands. Though, the main food are grasshoppers, beetles, and rodents. It is only when these are hard to find, that the Loggerhead Shrike will forage for other animals.
How to identify the Loggerhead Shrike:
The wings are coloured black, with a white patch, and the head is quite unique with a mask across the eyes similar to a raccoon. The main colour of the Shrike is grey, with a white or pale breast. Shrikes are about 9 inches in length, and weigh in at 45-60 grams. The Loggerhead Shrike migrate here in March and April leaving after the breeding season from September to November. These birds will migrate nocturnally.
Outlook for the Shrike
Though it is truly unknown what has caused the numbers of the Loggerhead Shrike to plummet, ornithologists hope that by studying the birds and their habitat, the cause for their decline can be ascertained. Currently listed as a threatened species by Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, COSEWIC. it is a mandate to place the environment of the Loggerhead Shrike safe from destruction by conversion or development which may alter their prey populations. Scientists have also decided to place the Prairie Loggerhead Shrike as Schedule 1, Threatened under the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA). It is also interesting to note that the International Union for the Conservation of Nature declared temperate grasslands the world’s most endangered ecosystem. * “Grasslands can also showcase how people and nature can coexist,” said Dan Kraus, a Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) scientist, “Among the last places on Earth to shelter grasslands at a meaningful scale are the grasslands of North America’s Great Plain…Endangerment comes down to risk — the risk of losing a species, habitat or ecosystem for future generations. *”
In the south west sector of the city of Saskatoon, it is a relief that remnant native grassland remains. Additionally, the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area affords wetland plant communities. The West Swale which passes through the large open wetlands and Chappell Marsh features many small scattered wetland areas, with more than adequate habitat and foraging for aquatic fauna, with belts of native and modified grasslands.
The Loggerhead Shirke, Lanius ludovicianus excubitorides during its breeding seasons, ie a “breeding Bird is characterized by: territorial behaviour; calling to competing male, mate or young; singing; courtship displays; carrying food or nest materials etc., and; presence of nest or young found incidentally. Between May 1 – Aug 15, the Loggerhead Shrike is protected 50 meters from low disturbance activity such as walking, and is protected for 250 meters from medium disturbances such as driving, and 400 m from roads, drilling, and other such high disturbance activity according to the Ministry of the Environment for Saskatchewan.
It is interesting to note how the City of Saskatoon’s citizens and residents regards conservation expectations or indifference to wildlife species such as the Prairie Loggerhead Shrike and their habitat. As Environment Canada states, “Success in the recovery of this species depends on the commitment and cooperation of many different constituencies that will be involved in implementing the directions set out in this strategy and will not be achieved by Environment Canada, Parks Canada Agency, or any other jurisdiction alone. All Canadians are invited to join in supporting and implementing this strategy for the benefit of the Loggerhead Shrike Prairie subspecies, and Canadian society as a whole.*”
“Man has lost his way in the jungle of chemistry and engineering and will have to retrace his steps, however painful this may be. In doing so, perhaps he may be able to recapture the rhythm of life and the love of the simple things of life, which will be an ever-unfolding joy to him.” ~Richard St. Barbe Baker
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 believe in the Oneness of Mankind and all living things and the interdependence of each and all. Richard St. Barbe Baker
Would you like to migrate to Mexico, to see the Monarch Butterflies ?
The Monarch Butterfly comes up to Canada in the spring, but the Monarchs are currently, right now down south. The Monarch Butterfly is listed under the Endangered Species Act in the USA, and a species of concern in Canada, find out what actions you, personally can take, to protect and conserve the habitat for this butterfly.
Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) photo credit William Warby
This January, Saskatoon is pulling out of the weather system known as a Mackenzie Clipper. David Phillips, the senior climatologist at Environment Canada, describes a Mackenzie clipper as a weather system similar to the Alberta clipper, however with the origins around the MacKenzie River. An Alberta clipper (or Canadian Clipper) is a fast moving low pressure area across the central provinces of Canada, through to the Great Lakes. Residents notice a sudden and drastic temperature drop, and increased winds such as those experienced on Wednesday January 11, 2017 when the temperature dove to -34.1 Celsius, with a wind chill of -47 Celsius. Snowfall and precipitation amounts are very small. Where an Alberta clipper originates when the warmer air of the Pacific Ocean meets with the Rocky Mountains.
Warmer weather has arrived at the end of January, with temperatures hovering around the freezing mark however the cold snap, just one week ago, makes this contest to Mexico, a treat. So now, before Sunday, January 29, please take the time to enter a contest to win a trip for two to the magical Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Mexico from February 16 to 25, 2017! Wouldn’t you love to see millions of butterflies in flight at the El Rosario and Sierra Chincua sanctuaries. These sanctuaries are part of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Read further, and find out what you can do for the butterfly habitat, can there be any more butterfly gardens, or sanctuaries in Canada?
Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) Photo credit Paul Stein
So what can you do to help the endangered species, the Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) ?
Contact Nature Conservancy of Canada NCC for Monarch butterfly programs this year, and for more information on Conservation Volunteer programs.
When the migration starts in Saskatchewan this summer in the month of August
report Monarch sightings by calling Nature Saskatchewan‘s toll-free line at 1-800-667-HOOT (4668).
low milkweed, (or “oval-leafed milkweed”) Asclepias ovalifolia thrives in moist mixed grasslands and parklands
showy milkweed, Asclepias Speciosa grows in mixed grasslands,
silky milkweed, (or “common milkweed,” tropical milkweed or Golden Butterflyweed) Asclepias curassavica a provincially rare plant that may be spotted in mixed grasslands
whorled milkweed, (eastern whorled milkweed, horsetail milkweed) Asclepias verticillata rare plant In Saskatchewan might be found in mixed grasslands
green milkweed, (Green antelopehorn) Asclepias viridis
Asclepias viridis Walter,Asclepias viridiflora a mixed grassland areas variety.
Walter V. Krivda states that milkweed favours the typical black soil of the prairies, but has been seen in gravel and clay railway embankments. If you are going to start your seeds indoors, select a date six to eight weeks before your last frost date, and one does not usually start indoor germination before the end of February. For example vegetable gardens are typically seeded in Saskatchewan, around the last week of May, which is usually safe and the risk of frost has passed. If you did not start your seeds last fall in your Monarch butterfly Milkweed garden, then talk to your nursery now, for best hints on how to grow your Milkweed plants successfully.
Contact the CBC morning edition with places where you can buy milkweed, such as Early’s Seed and Feed .
Look for butterflies at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, and at the afforestation area formerly called George Genereux Urban Regional Park. According to Weyburn This Week, “The yearly migration of these butterflies will take place in late August. It takes three to four generations of butterflies to complete the migration they undertake, and the final generation starts in Saskatchewan. …The last generation lives for up to nine months, starts far north in Saskatchewan, migrates south, overwinters in Mexico or California, and finally lays eggs in the spring.” Walter V. Krivda has found butterflies into September, and occasionally October, the Monarch, Danaus Plexippus (L.) leaves Canada when heavy frosts arrive.
There are butterfly look-alikes such as the Viceroy, Limenitis archippus. The Viceroy travels further north than the Monarch, but seeks the look-alike pattern of the Monarch for protection from predators. Viceroys are smaller than Monarchs; Viceroy: 2 1/2 – 3 3/8 inches (6.3 – 8.6 cm) Monarch: 3 3/8 – 4 7/8 inches (8.6 – 12.4 cm). Viceroy butterflies do not migrate, but rather they over-winter, so they emerge around the same time that willow and poplar leaves burst from their bud, the Viceroy caterpillar actually feeds on the salicylic acid from the Willow and Poplar. Whereas the Monarch caterpillar feeds on the milkweed. The markings of the Viceroy and Monarch Butterfly, though similar, difference can be found on their hind wings to distinguish one from the other with the human eye or camera.
Prest, Ashley and Kevin Rollason. Not seeing is believing Blizzard-like conditions, brutal winds, extreme cold wreak havoc on province. Winnipeg Free Press. January 12, 2017.
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!
Our task must be to free ourselves … by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.~Albert Einstein
“This generation may either be the last to exist in any semblance of a civilised world or that it will be the first to have the vision, the bearing and the greatness to say, ‘I will have nothing to do with this destruction of life, I will play no part in this devastation of the land, I am determined to live and work for peaceful construction for I am morally responsible for the world of today and the generations of tomorrow.’” ~ Richard St Barbe Baker
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. George Genereux Urban Regional Park. 