Field work season is here! EALT staff and volunteers have been hard at work looking after our conservation lands. Here is a glimpse of the work done throughout the past couple of months.
Preparing JBJ McDonald Conservation Land
Preparing a newly secured land to be open to the public requires lots of visits by EALT staff. During these past couple of months, staff have scouted the existing trails and human activity on the land, installed signs, and collected data for the baseline documentation report. This initial report will inform future EALT monitoring and stewardship that will continue on this land. Below are some snapshots of the land and tasks conducted by EALT staff. You can expect more updates about JBJ McDonald Conservation Land this summer, including its official opening date!
Volunteers
This month included one of the last training workshops for Conservation Land Stewards, but the work doesn’t stop there! Conservation Land Stewards are very important for keeping up with the growth of invasive plants and the cleanup of trails. Thanks to Alberta Ecotrust for supporting the Conservation Land Steward program. Here are a few snapshots of their visits
Volunteer events this time of year focus on managing invasive plants and maintaining trails. Glory Hills had a few events for these activities. Volunteers came to Trim the Trails on a trail that had become quite overgrown with young trees and shrubs. What a difference a few hours made! The trail was once again easily walkable, and the team had enough time to install a couple of nest boxes and put up fence reflectors as well. In June, volunteers Beat the Burdock by pulling up the large, heart-shaped leaves, and roots of wooly burdock that grow in some patches on this land.
Common Tansy is another invasive plant that needs to be managed at both Pipestone Creek and New Jubilee Conservation Lands. While New Jubilee is a conservation easement and is not normally open to the public, this event was held to assist the land owners in tackling these weeds. Volunteers swiftly moved through both of these lands to pull the common tansy that was found.
We would also like to say thank you to the Alberta Fish and Game Association’s Minister’s Special License Program for providing additional funding for controlling invasive plants..
Citizen Science
Citizen Science volunteers are out on the trails! You may run into someone conducting a loon survey, amphibian survey, or possibly even someone setting up in the evening for monitoring our bat boxes. EALT staff were happy to spot a Boreal toad at one of our lands (photo above); one of the species that we hope to see recorded by citizen scientists as well.
Another exciting citizen science activity for EALT staff and volunteers is a new Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) bird banding station southwest of Edmonton. Volunteers will be banding birds for ten sessions throughout the summer, collecting more information about breeding bird populations in the Edmonton area. Some birds banded include Least Flycatchers, Cedar Waxwings, Black-capped chickadees, and a Rose-breasted Grosbeak!
Thanks to the Edmonton Community Foundation, Alberta Conservation Association, the Ontario Bird Banding Association, and Birds Canada for funding our Citizen Science program.
EALT staff are looking forward to the rest of the summer season. Stay tuned for more field notes blog posts by subscribing below!
