Are there really any effects of Climate Change on birds? Miners observed the ‘canary in the mine’ as an indicator of the health status in their area, and if they – the miners- were safe or not. The state of the air would affect a small animal such as a bird first before a large animal such as a human. So…what is the declining numbers of birds telling us? Or are we ignoring the ‘canary in the mine’ today?
Whooping crane
Bobolink_female_CC2-0_GregTheBusker.
Grasshopper_Sparrow CC2.0 dominic sheronY
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana)
Savannah sparrow Passerculus sandwichensis
Audubon suggests there are measures that can be taken to help protect birds, as they have made observations of how the “warming temperatures, shifting seasons, changing precipitation, and rising sea levels are disrupting the behavior of our feathered friends and the ecosystems that support them.” Did you know that the American Robin and Sandhill Crane are among two birds which Audubon has listed as bird species at risk. Birds are experiencing phenological changes. What will it mean if birds nest, and lay eggs earlier, or migrate sooner in the spring? Will it mean that there will be no food for them to eat? The environment is not catching up to the changes in the bird’s adaptation lifestyle. Nature Canada suggests that “climate change will put large numbers of birds at risk of extinction.”
COVID-19 health specialists provided projections in regards to the numbers of people who may be infected, and how hospitals and health care facilities will be impacted. National Geographic and the US Forest Service have also made projections about climate change and the bird populations. Humans, rallied, and followed protocols, to level the COVID-19 pandemic results. Where, human lives were at stake, there was an impetus to move swiftly, decisively and fast. Governments issued large fines for anyone not taking the appropriate safety measures to flatten the curve. This worked well for humans. Can we do the same thing for our feathered friends? Will governments stand by environmental policies? As you are taking measures to self-isolate, and social distance, are you also writing letters to your federal, provincial or municipal governments to see what can be done for birds?
A few ideas which you can take personally, are protecting birds from window strikes, and keeping your pet cat indoors. If you do not have a pet cat, plant a bird friendly yard. Other suggestions are to take action on climate change at a local level, and plant native plants and trees.
Today on “Go Birding Day” follow health protocols for COVID-19. If you are self-isolating write letters, and learn about the birds seen at the afforestation areas. Listen to bird calls online, and study the predicted migration patterns.
“Some people are very competitive in their birding. Maybe they’ll die happy, having seen a thousand species before they die, but I’ll die happy knowing I’ve spent all that quiet time being present.” ― Lynn Thomson
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
Please help protect / enhance 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!
“Climate change is the environmental challenge of this generation, and it is imperative that we act before it’s too late.”- John Delaney
“Saving our planet, lifting people out of poverty, advancing economic growth… these are one and the same fight. We must connect the dots between climate change, water scarcity, energy shortages, global health, food security, and women’s empowerment. Solutions to one problem must be solutions for all.” – Ban Ki-moon
“Climate change is happening, humans are causing it, and I think this is perhaps the most serious environmental issue facing us.” – Bill Nye
A universal need. It embodies the spirit of service to mankind in attempting to provide a means of supplying forever a necessity of life .
The Great Blue Heron Ardea Herodias, a wondrous marvel to behold, and yet did you know it is rated as “uncommon” albeit with a very large range. In the West Swale wetlands and Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area in Saskatoon, quite a remarkable phenomenon has occurred. Generally speaking one heron will not take habitat where there are other herons, and yet here there is the Great Blue Heron in the same West Swale wetlands as the Black Crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax ) ~ the Black-Crowned Night-Heron is introduced in The Outlook for Wildlife.
Never was there a greater difference in herons as you observe them in the West Swale wetlands. the Great Blue Heron, tall and elegant has a height of 42 – 52 inches (105-130 cm) standing fully grown. So here is this heron on long legs with long long neck reaching 4 feet high. The Black Crowned Night Heron, is 23 – 28 inches (58-70) cm with short yellow-green legs, and not only is he smaller, but this heron also sets down hunched or hunkered down, as if to shorten his 2 foot stature.
But could there be a better locale than the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area for these two disparate herons? Both require woodlands, the trees for roosting in. The Great Blue Heron nests within the branches of trees, and yet if one was to see a Great Blue Heron, it would likely be when they are standing still, patiently fishing concealing themselves within the rushes, sedges and cattails of the marsh shorelines. This behavior is also seen in the Black-crowned Night-Heron who also nests and roosts in trees, and if one was to keep their eyes wide open at dusk, and set very quietly it may be possible to sight or perhaps even to hear a Black-crowned Night-heron flying out from the forest to forage at the water’s edge, as they feed nocturnally.
There is also known another species, the Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea), however the range of this smaller heron 24 inches (60 cm) does not extend as far as central Saskatchewan.
Seeing a large bird in flight, and wondering if it is a crane or a heron, it is good to note that the heron will fly with its head tucked back, extending the chest forward. The cranes, such as the Sandhill Crane (Gus canadensis) with a similar size 40-48 inches (100-120 cm) will fly with its neck stretched out and elegant. The Whooping Crane (Grus americana) is also about the same size, 50 inches (125 cm) however there are not nearly as many of these amazing white birds to be seen, though they are bounding back from the brink of extinction. Watch carefully flight of Sandhill Cranes overhead, as a solitary endangered Whooping Crane may flock with the Sandhills. There are only around 200 Whooping Cranes left, however due to conservation efforts and public awareness of their plight, their numbers are slowly climbing.
The Sandhill Crane is also a long legged long necked grey bird, but differs from a Great Blue Heron as the Sandhill will have a bald red crown atop its head, and the Great Blue Heron will have a very dark to black coloured plume of feathers extending out at the back of his head rather like a backwards baseball cap. The Sandhill Cranes often frequent the fields and meadows in and around the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area seeking food in the autumn months during the migratory season.
What can you do for the “uncommon” Great Blue Heron and “endangered” Whooping Crane to protect and aid in conservation? How can you reduce the decline, and eliminate some of the threats posed for the Great Blue Heron and the Whooping Crane
? How can you celebrate the centennial of the migratory bird convention?
First of all become a citizen scientist, and participate in a bird survey. Expand your knowledge on conservation efforts. Learn bird songs, and bird calls. Discover how to identify birds.
Secondly, protect the habitat, find out how you can volunteer, support conservation groups and become involved.
It is important, thirdly, to reduce hazards, become actively engaged marking your own house and business windows, stop using pesticides which eradicate the forage of the birds, and reduce pollution in the environment by participating in clean ups and calling Saskatchewan environment TIPPS line to report environment violations and polluters.
Let others know about what you have learned about birds and their habitats and how to protect them. Share and expand the knowledge you have learned with others. Celebrate International Migratory Bird Day (second Saturday in May), The United Nations General Assembly World Wildlife Day on March 3, National Tree Day September 21.
Find local, provincial, federal and international agencies and associations who are native prairie stewards, those that conserve native prairie, those who may restore native prairie, green groups for wildlife and habitat management, environmental organisations who may seek to manage water, wetlands and riparian management.
Make a personal commitment to maintain, conserve and restore a piece of native prairie.Determine what actions you can realistically make to achieve your goals, then monitor and evaluate your progress. As you establish your values as a wildlife habitat and native prairie steward, preserve and respect archeological and historical resources.
“Birds contribute to our pleasure and standard of living. But they are also sensitive indicators of the environment, a sort of “ecological litmus test.”~Roger Tory Peterson. Peterson p.432
“This , then, is the task: nothing less than reclaiming water as a commons for the Earth, and all people that must be wisely and sustainably shared and managed if we are to survive.” ~Maude Barlow. Barlow. Page 175
“Canadians Love Our Water Heritage. This may be true in our imaginations and in our literature. But is seems not to be in reality, for if we loved our great water heritage, we would take better care of it.” Maude Barlow. Barlow. Page 181.
“Canada – and we as citizens – must act now if we are to carve out a coherent set of rules governing our water resources. Our country is in urgent need of a national water policy and strategy to protects its water, ecologically and jurisdictionally. To be effective, this policy must be developed among all of the different levels of government ~ federal, provincial, territorial, municipal and aboriginal.” Maude Barlow. Barlow. Page 206
“The rule of no realm is mine…But all worthy things that are in peril as the world now stands, those are my care. And for my part, I shall not wholly fail of my task,…if anything passes through this night that can still grow fair or bear fruit and flower again in the days to come. For I also am a steward. Did you now know? ~ J.R. R. Tolkein Barlow.Page x
“The science of forestry arose from the recognition of a universal need. It embodies the spirit of service to mankind in attempting to provide a means of supplying forever a necessity of life and, in addition, ministering to man’s aesthetic tastes and recreational interests. Besides, the spiritual side of human nature needs the refreshing inspiration which comes from trees and woodlands. If a nation saves its trees, the trees will save the nation. And nations as well as tribes may be brought together in this great movement, based on the ideal of beautifying the world by the cultivation of one of God’s loveliest creatures – the tree.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Barlow, Maud. Blue Covenant. The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water. Is Canada’s Water for Sale? McClelland and Steward Ltd. Toronto, ON. 2007.ISBN 978-0-7710-1072-9
Moen, Jim. Managing Your Native Prairie Parcels Your Guide to Caring for Native Prairie in Saskatchewan. 1998. Saskatchewan Wetland Conservation Corporation. Regina, Sk ISBN 1-896 793-19-3.
Peterson, Roger Tory. Western Birds. 1990. Houghton Mifflin Company Massachusetts. ISBN 0-395-51749-4 ISBN 0-395-51424-X pbk.
Sibley, David Allen. The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America. Chanticleer Press, Inc. New York. 2003. isbn 0-679-45121-8.
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
Please help protect / enhance 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!
What was Richard St. Barbe Baker’s mission, that he imparted to the Watu Wa Miti, the very first forest scouts or forest guides? To protect the native forest, plant ten native trees each year, and take care of trees everywhere.
“We stand in awe and wonder at the beauty of a single tree. Tall and graceful it stands, yet robust and sinewy with spreading arms decked with foliage that changes through the seasons, hour by hour, moment by moment as shadows pass or sunshine dapples the leaves. How much more deeply are we moved as we begin to appreciate the combined operations of the assembly of trees we call a forest.”~Richard St. Barbe Baker
Saskatoon is changing. It’s how we manage change that is important.
As plans were being made to organise the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area clean up, the City of Saskatoon Shaping Saskatoon concept made a huge impact.
Online, the City of Saskatoon Communication Division invites feedback from the residents of Saskatoon in order that the various and several departments may make informed and wise decisions in management and design of civic services.
What is Shaping Saskatoon all about? This is where projects and discussions undertaken by the City of Saskatoon are presented for feedback from the public. “The more public input we receive the better Shaping Saskatoon can become.”~source
Projects such as the Active Transportation Plan are outlined online. The City of Saskatoon has designed unique surveys. Ongoing discussions on a wide variety of subjects come online.
The very marvelous thing is that to get involved in shaping Saskatoon, as a citizen of this fair city, there is also an invitation to email communication division and share your feedback; “Better services start with you.”source
Please take time to view the Saskatoon Speaks You Tube video inviting you to make comments about what is important to you as the City of Saskatoon grows to 1/2 million by the year 2023.
Over the next few days, the results of the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area clean up will come online – how many kilograms of trash removed, how many tires were removed, were there any needles found, what else was uncovered during the clean up, what was the most interesting thing found during the clean up, what were the numbers of volunteers engaged in the clean up, and where did the volunteers come from?
A number of community associations in the south west area of the city of Saskatoon were contacted to help get the word out about the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area clean up, in addition to environmental green groups. Youth groups and churches were contacted who kindly placed the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area clean up in their newsletters and mentioned the clean up at their meetings. Sports and bicycle groups were engaged in the planning process.
What were the results of the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? What was discovered and found out about the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and what will follow the clean up effort which began with the set up at 6:30 a.m., volunteers arrived at 8:00 a.m. and the clean up effort lasted until the tires were deposited for recycling at 5:30 p.m. with the last of the volunteers arriving home around 6:30 p.m. to unload the tents, banners, signs, and tables sitting down for supper at 7:00 p.m. It was a day in which the weather cooperated, and there was not a stitch of rain. Please stay posted as to what happened during this 13 hour day, and what is planned next for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area.
After months of planning, which began in May of 2016, to remove the trash from the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area On July 9, 2016 to celebrate the well established trees and forest of this urban regional park area what will happen next?. Following months of organising to restore the West Swale wetlands, what will be the follow up? With community engagement and feedback from community associations, hamlet residents, bicycle enthusiasts, environmental green groups for the clean up of the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, what will be the results? Upon discovering that the riparian forest and West Swale wetlands are home to the uncommon Mountain Bluebird, to find out that the wetlands are a unique habitat for the Ruddy Duck, after sighting flocks of Sandhill Cranes which quite often have flying alongside them the Whooping Crane, what are the plans for this one of a kind wildlife habitat corridor?
“Saskatoon is changing. It’s how we manage change that is important.” Source Growing Forward
“Planting and growing increasing quantities of trees is the scientific solution to Earth’s environmental dilemma.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker
American Pelican Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, SK, CA
Colorado Blue Spruce Cone. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, SK, CA
Chipping Soarrow. Spizella passerina. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, SK, CA
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
Please help protect / enhance 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!
What was Richard St. Barbe Baker’s mission, that he imparted to the Watu Wa Miti, the very first forest scouts or forest guides? To protect the native forest, plant ten native trees each year, and take care of trees everywhere.
“We stand in awe and wonder at the beauty of a single tree. Tall and graceful it stands, yet robust and sinewy with spreading arms decked with foliage that changes through the seasons, hour by hour, moment by moment as shadows pass or sunshine dapples the leaves. How much more deeply are we moved as we begin to appreciate the combined operations of the assembly of trees we call a forest.”~Richard St. Barbe Baker
“St. Barbe’s unique capacity to pass on his enthusiasm to others. . . Many foresters all over the world found their vocations as a result of hearing ‘The Man of the Trees’ speak. I certainly did, but his impact has been much wider than that. Through his global lecture tours, St. Barbe has made millions of people aware of the importance of trees and forests to our planet.” Allan Grainger
“The science of forestry arose from the recognition of a universal need. It embodies the spirit of service to mankind in attempting to provide a means of supplying forever a necessity of life and, in addition, ministering to man’s aesthetic tastes and recreational interests. Besides, the spiritual side of human nature needs the refreshing inspiration which comes from trees and woodlands. If a nation saves its trees, the trees will save the nation. And nations as well as tribes may be brought together in this great movement, based on the ideal of beautifying the world by the cultivation of one of God’s loveliest creatures – the tree.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker.
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. George Genereux Urban Regional Park. 