It’s been a hot and buggy summer, but EALT staff and volunteers have still been busy in the field working on stewardship activities from trail maintenance to citizen science. Read on to find out what we’ve been up to!
Conservation Land Updates
Staff have been out maintaining trails at Lu Carbyn Nature Sanctuary, Boisvert’s GreenWoods, and Coates this summer, ensuring that the trails are free of fallen logs and not too overgrown.
We’ve also been following leads for several new conservation lands, and working to assess the ecological features and conservation value of these properties. We are grateful to the Alberta Land Trust Grant and Environment and Climate Change Canada for grants to make this work possible.
Fall is a beautiful time to visit our lands, and we hope to see you out on the trails! Check our advisories and visiting guidelines before you head out.
Podcast Episode - Let’s Find Out - “Manifesting Peltigera Park”
Conservation Coordinator Meghan was a guest on Let’s Find Out, a podcast exploring aspects of Edmonton’s history through finding out the answers to questions by curious Edmontonians. Listen to the episode here to learn more about lichen, and discuss whether we should consider having a nature preserve for lichen!
Volunteers
It’s been a busy summer! We have hosted a number of volunteer events on our lands, and are grateful to all the volunteers that have come to help us manage invasive weeds. Through volunteer events, we have made a big impact on reducing oxeye daisy at Golden Ranches, and pulled white cockle and creeping thistle at Smith Blackburn Homestead in the pouring rain! Our Conservation Land Stewards have also been hard at work at their lands - maintaining trails, pulling weeds, and monitoring for changes.
There are still volunteer events planned for the remainder of summer and into the fall! Subscribe to our newsletter to hear about upcoming events.
Citizen Science
Citizen Scientists have been out at the lands doing loon monitoring, bat box exit surveys, and butterfly surveys. Through their work, we’ve gained valuable data that can be used by researchers to look at longer-term trends.
It was also an exciting and interesting summer at the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) field ornithology station at Bunchberry Meadows. Over six days throughout the summer, volunteers collected valuable data on local breeding birds populations which will be submitted to the Institute for Bird Populations and the Canadian Bird Banding Office for future access by researchers. Highlights included observations of clay-coloured sparrow, cedar waxwing, American goldfinch, Cooper’s Hawk, house wren, ovenbird, Swainson’s thrush, sharp-shinned hawk, Tennessee warbler, common yellowthroat, and yellow-bellied sapsucker.
Meet The Goats
On August 10, we held our “Meet The Goats” event for the first time. Despite the ominous storm clouds and threat of rain, almost 100 visitors came to Smith Blackburn Homestead for the opportunity to get up close and personal with approximately 650 goats and to learn about the work that the goats were doing to help control invasive weeds like creeping thistle, white cockle, and common tansy. We were also happy to be joined by folks from the Alberta Community Bat Program, Alberta Invasive Species Council, Land Stewardship Centre, and the Edmonton Native Plant Society, who shared their knowledge and expertise with the event.
Photo: Kevin Gedling (Alberta Parks)
Outreach
EALT staff were happy to be part of the Outdoor Expo for New Canadians. This event introduces new Canadians to some of the organizations in the Edmonton region that have outdoor activities and places to go hiking and exploring.
We were also excited to join other conservation partners in the Beaverhills Biosphere at the Pulling for Parks event on July 15th hosted by Alberta Parks at Waskahegan Staging Area. As well as having an outreach booth, we joined volunteers and visitors in pulling common tansy at the land. We were glad to have an opportunity to talk about the work that EALT does to conserve natural areas in the Edmonton region, and to talk more about how we manage invasive weeds on our lands.
The Canadian Birkebeiner Society hosted their first ever Biking Like a Viking bike race, which took participants on a beautiful route through the Beaver Hills Biosphere. One of the rest stop/aid stations was at Golden Ranches, an EALT land, and our staff were present to greet cyclists and share information about EALT while they rehydrated and enjoyed snacks.
Working with Beavers
In July, our staff attended the Working With Beavers Symposium, a networking event for environmental professionals and other guests interested in furthering our understanding of beavers - how to work with them rather than against them, and what they do for us. Hosted by the Miistakis Institute and Cows & Fish, this provided valuable insight into the lives of these remarkable rodents, and just how much they stabilize and help our ecosystems in the Parkland region of Alberta. Beavers are present on many of our lands, and with the knowledge gained from this symposium, we now better understand how to manage beaver-human conflicts where they occur.
Fall continues to be a busy time for us as we continue fieldwork that can only be done in the fall, and prepare for snowfall. Subscribe to our newsletters to stay up-to-date with what we are up to, and to learn how you can get involved!