songbirds – Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. George Genereux Urban Regional Park.

Nearing the end of the first day of the CNCYXE2022!

Nearing the end of day one of the City Nature Challenge. Quite a few waterfowl are back, and a lovely array of dark-eyed junco are seen. Some amazing pictures making the scene, two turkey vultures soaring overhead, and a cute playful North American River Otter peeking out of the water giving a smile! A mourning cloak butterfly loved the warm weather today. So these are just some tidbits of what has been seen during the Saskatoon City Nature Challenge! And the rabbits cannot make up their mind. A white rabbit was seen and a brown rabbit, so will we get more snow or not. Usually the color of the rabbits confirm spring once they are brown. The songs of the songbirds is quite amazing and what a treat for International Dawn Chorus Day which is the first Sunday of May! Our hint for the CNCYXE2022, remember to record the songs of the songbirds! Take photos of seeds and pine cones on the ground. Remember the trees are starting to flower. Bugs are just waiting to peek out if you move some of the leaves on the ground. The CNCYXE is very important this year. Citizen Scientists can document if the Avian flu is affecting our bird population. What will you see?

City Nature Challenge

Take part outside in nature

With the inaturalist app

Find it

Snap it

Share it

What will you discover?

April 29 – May 2

City Nature Challenge

More information

Friendsareas.ca

YouTube Video

Canada City Nature Challenge with all the cities across Canada

World Wide City Nature Challenge with all global cities participating.

Help show the world what Saskatoon’s biodiversity looks like – and sounds like—grab your smartphone, the free @inaturalistorg app, & join this year’s #CityNatureChallenge from April 29–May 2! Great for all ages; find details at FriendsAreas.ca #CNCYXE

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!

YouTube

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 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!

Donations can be made through Paypal, Canada Helps, Contact Donate A Car Canada, SARCAN Drop & Go 106100594 for the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc.

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

“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

We need your help!

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
– Gandhi

During this National Volunteer Week, April 24 – 30 celebrate the theme; ‘Volunteering is Empathy in Action.’

Have empathy for the very last time you may see a species at risk if action is not taken. Have empathy for the declining songbird population. Have empathy for the many organisms in the insect and fungi taxons which have not even been named yet, and which may go extinct before people pay attention to them.

Your contributions as an observer during the City Nature Challenge taking place April 29 to May 2 does take action to support global conservation efforts! Just download the free iNaturalist app and sign in, then;

Find it!

Snap it!

Share it!

“You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.”
Winston Churchill

What can you give to protect Mother Earth? The City Nature Challenge is your way to take action, so that you can answer I took action!

Taking a photo of mushrooms (fungi) with a smart phone

Mushrooms, Grasshopper, Caterpillar, Fungi — Taking a photo of mushrooms (fungi) with a smart phone

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!

YouTube

Donations can be made through Paypal, Canada Helps, Contact Donate A Car Canada, SARCAN Drop & Go 106100594 for the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc.

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

“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

Safety in the Forest

Safety in the Forests

Blue-winged mallard

Child running through the forest having a great time connecting with nature

The “Safety in the Forest” campaign from Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas is raising the necessary funds to provide wildlife friendly motorized vehicle barriers to mitigate illegal trash dumping, as part of our Great Canadian Giving Challenge campaign.

Donations will help support the work required to install Jersey Barriers with gates for legitimate motorized vehicle users, allow safe passage for users into a greenspace who appreciate an urban regional park and wetlands inside of the City of Saskatoon, and minimizing future damage.

Every $1 donated* to the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc in June earns the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc a chance to win a $20,000 donation (minimum $3 donation required) (* Every $1 donated is an automatic entry for the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas to win a $20,000 donation (minimum $3 donation required).
And…That’s not all, because we are a charity and you get a charitable tax receipt, you get 53% of your donation back on your Canadian Income Taxes at tax time!!! Woo Hoo!!

Challenge begins June 1, 2020 at 9:30 p.m. Central Standard Time(midnight Newfoundland Daylight Time (NDT) and ends on June 30, 2020 at 1:59:59 am Central Standard Time ( 11:59:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time (PDT)
Grand prize draw is on CANADA DAY, July 1, 2020 – $20,000 will be donated to the winning charity

Can you help ? Any size donation to the Great Canadian Giving Challenge is awesome!!! And this is a great opportunity to participate in a fund raising challenge for a chance to win $20,000 and build a parking lot to park the motorized vehicles!

Thanks!

White Rose National Day of Remembrance & Action on Violence Against Women

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:

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

Pinterest richardstbarbeb

Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Facebook: StBarbeBaker

Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Facebook: South West OLRA

Instagram: St.BarbeBaker

Twitter: StBarbeBaker

You Tube Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

You Tube George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Please help protect / enhance /commemorate your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail / e-transfers)

Canada Helps

1./ Learn.

2./ Experience

3./ Do Something: ^***

We owe it to ourselves and to the next generation to conserve the environment so that we can bequeath our children a sustainable world that benefits all.~ Wangari Maathai

“ If a nation saves its trees, the trees will save the nation. ” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker.

Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes. Carl Jung

Wild Vision Designing

What is your new year’s resolution?

“We sited all the buildings on site, by hand. Believe it or not, some designers will draw a footprint on a plan, and the contractor will lay the structure out on the site and just build it. A better way to do it is to stand on the site with the drawings, look for places where you can avoid major trees and watercourses, put flags in the ground where you want buildings to go, get the flags surveyed, and make any adjustments to avoid significant trees or patches.” Margie Ruddick page 157

In a city owned afforestation area, can you recognize these animal footprints?

“When faced with a project where that sense of place- the sense of a landscape as part of a larger water world, for instance – has been lost, it sometimes helps to start with just the idea of place and see what we can do to restore that. This kind of visioning process may lead to the actual restoration of a riparian landscape.” Margie Ruddick page 113

Mallard Ducks Chappell Marsh. West Swale Wetlands Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA

Chappell Marsh. West Swale Wetlands. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA

“Okay, I thought, we are all “designing green,” but unless we completely change the way we live, the landscape as we know it is not going to survive. Much as my profession might spend its time trying to make beautiful places for people to connect with nature and each other, we are still totally steeped in the culture of consumerism, held back by our own bad habits.” Margie Ruddick page 34

“I have started to make the connection between being wild and delving deeper into what it means to be environmentally oriented. I am starting to believe that there is something about how unruly our process is, how rich and full of life our landscapes can be, that points us toward environmental health. It has less to do with thinking about best practices in our heads than with experiencing wildness on a physical level…It is the messy undergrowth beneath the trees that allows life to thrive; life happens in the places you do not keep well manicured and chemically treated. ” Margie Ruddick page 34

A bit of fog and hoar frost in the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

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.

Horned Grebe Podiceps Auritus breeding colours

“What are the measurable effects of designing wild landscapes, beyond just appealing to people like me? There are three key perceived benefits to making wild landscapes. One is obviously the habitat they provide for species other than humans. Another is a benefit to humans and wildlife: the way in which wild landscapes promote stewardship.” Margie Ruddick page 35

“We have to remember that the end product of all our work is pleasure in our surroundings, relief from stress, and connection to something bigger than ourselves…Once your have shifted into the mindset that does not isolate what is wild from what is design, the beauty of each species seems as intentional as the most formal of gardens. Bringing these two scales together – the scale of the designed landscape and the scale of a single species – is our challenge for the next decades.” Margie Ruddick page 230

The Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional Park are amazing forested areas. Learn more as the City of Saskatoon, and surrounding area developed by the Partnership for Growth P4G partners move forward growing to 1/2 million people. P4G is made up of a collaboration between the Cities of Saskatoon, Martensville and Warman, the Town of Osler and the RM of Corman Park #344. ”

Saskatoon Growth Plan to Half a Million.”

City of Saskatoon future growth maps

P4G maps.

Bibliography:

Ruddick, Margie. Wild by Design. Strategies for creating life-enhancing landscapes. Island Press. 2016

Planting and growing increasing quantities of trees is the scientific solution to Earth’s environmental dilemma. Richard St. Barbe Baker

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

P4G Saskatoon North Partnership for Growth The P4G consists of the Cities of Saskatoon, Warman, and Martensville, the Town of Osler and the Rural Municipality of Corman Park; planning for areas around the afforestation area and West Swale outside of Saskatoon city limits

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

Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Facebook: StBarbeBaker

Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Facebook: South West OLRA

Twitter: StBarbeBaker

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!

QR Code FOR PAYPAL DONATIONS to the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. — Paypal

Payment Options

Membership : $20.00 CAD – yearly
Membership with donation : $50.00 CAD
Membership with donation : $100.00 CAD

1./ Learn.

2./ Experience

3./ Do Something: ^***

The simple act of planting a tree, which is in itself a practical deed, is also the symbol of a far reaching ideal, which is creative in the realm of the Spirit, and in turn reacts upon society, encouraging all to work for the future well being of humanity rather than for immediate gain. Richard St. Barbe Baker

Paragon of the Beholder

Bumblebee on dandelion

Red-Winged Blackbird. West Swale Wetlands Chappell Marsh. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Saskatoon, SK

Canada Geese West Swale Wetlands. Chappell Marsh. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, SK, CA

“I love to see, when leaves depart,
The clear anatomy arrive,
Winter, the paragon of art,
That kills all forms of life and feeling.
Save what is pure and will survive.”
Roy Campbell

And yet, now the leaves are coming back. The leaf roller and the tent caterpillar have gorged, the feast has ended with the last leaf. It is now the era for the trees to once again send out their leaves and green again.
It has been a better year for some insects. Still the bees are not hovering as much as yore. The butterflies have made a small comeback. Will the abundance of tent caterpillar and leaf roller be a sign of times to come, and hope that all insects may thrive again?

What a piece of work is a man,
how noble in reason,
how infinite in faculties,
in form and moving how express and admirable,
in action how like an angel,
in apprehension how like a god!
the beauty of the world,
the paragon of animals. ~William Shakespeare

And would you agree with Hamlet, is man the paragon of animals? The ornithologist may pass his life in one place, but he can never say “I have finished” and though they have traveled nought, they know the morrow may bring some new bird or new fact. The astute observation, ahd attention to detail this association with the birds adds to the joy of life! How is spring set apart from autumn, what new meanings comings and goings of the waterfowl, the songbirds, raptors and all give to the changing seasons; the very air is made eloquent by their calls and songs. Why should we not all be gladdened and “come at these enchantments”?” It is impossible for us not to love whatever is lovely, and of all living things birds were made most beautiful ~ says the bird watcher.
And yet~ recent researches and news stories have emphasized the practical importance to human society of entomological study, and insects will always be a source of delight to the lover of nature. Among the manifold operations of the myriad of living creatures few have more strongly impressed the casual observer or more deeply interested the thoughtful entymologist than the transformations of insects. Everyone is familiar with and can ramble on at length the main facts of such a life-story as that of a moth or butterfly.
And now~ have ever when out in nature, have you become aware of another, one who is taking time to behold mankind. When you are out truly there is a pace, and nearer to wildlife, they do not let others draw across that distance, yet, although their curiosity about humans was great. Have you been out, and seen that from the way they go circling round, stretching their necks to get a good view, and one might only feel and perhaps come to the conclusion that mankind perchance was of a different species of animal from those with which they were familiar.
The seasons come and go. Summer turns to fall. “What a piece of work is a ____________, the paragon of animals.” Is it truly that man is the paragon of animals? What do you say? Is it truly in the eyes of the beholder? Or is it what they focus upon? Or what they can see?

Will the entymolgist spy the metamorphic rock of the geologist? Can the ornithologist spy the butterfly cocoon of the entymologist? Will the artist behold the scene with the same eyes as the surveyor? The seasons come and go. Winter turns to spring. Does the paragon of animals ever change? “What a piece of work is a ____________, the paragon of animals.”

Nature’s beauty is a gift that cultivates appreciation and gratitude. Louie Schwartzberg Mwanner

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

Pinterest richardstbarbeb

Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Facebook: StBarbeBaker

Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Facebook: South West OLRA

Twitter: StBarbeBaker

Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail / e-transfers )

Canada Helps

1./ Learn.

2./ Experience

3./ Do Something: ^***

See how nature – trees, flowers, grass – grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence . . . We need silence to be able to touch souls. ~Mother Teresa

“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

Stand firm. Grip hard.
Thrust upward to the skies.
Bend to the winds of heaven.
And learn tranquility.
~Richard St. Barbe Baker

Twitter: St Barbe Baker

Pinterest richardstbarbeb

We feel that our greatest victory remains to be won when man will realize his oneness with the trees, the creatures and with all living things, not ours to destroy, but to be handed on for the enjoyment of future generations. – Richard St. Barbe Baker.

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