November 2010Newsletter Nature Prince Albert

Nature PA, Box 235, Prince Albert, SK S6V 5R5www.natureprincealbert.ca

David Stevenson inspects the inside of a puffball mushroom during awalk with Nature Prince Albert on Oct. 27 at Kristi Lake.

Stevenson walks after the mushroom talkBy Ruth Griffiths

David Stevenson, a forest renewalexpert, was the guest speaker at theSeptember meeting of Nature PrinceAlbert.

Stevenson showed photos anddescribed boreal mushrooms ... catego-rizing them as yummy, kind of yummyand not yummy. He displayed severalsource books:• Mushrooms of North America byRoger Phillips - good illustrations• Mushrooms of the Boreal Forest byEugene Bossenmaier - local mushrooms• Mushrooms of the Northwest North

America, Lone Pine PublishingHe warned against eating any mush-

room you cannot absolutely identify.On Sept. 25 Stevenson led a field trip atKristi Lake Trail. It was a lovely after-noon and several prospective membersparticipated.

In one hour, the group progressed lessthan lOOyaws, but Stevenson was ableto identify many fungi including rust onraspberry leaves, black knot of cherry ,and Earth ears, a type of coral fungus.He showed how one type of fungus eatslignin and another eats cellulose, break-ing down wood in differing ways.

November speaker will describe role of bird area caretakersAt the Nov. 16 meeting of Nature

Prince Albert, Karen McIver ofNature Saskatchewan will talk aboutImportant Bird Areas and how youcan become involved.

Nature Saskatchewan is setting upan Important Bird Areas CaretakersNetwork in Saskatchewan. TheImportant Bird Areas program is aninternational effort to identify, con-serve, and monitor a network of sitesthat provide essential habitat for birdpopulations. The goal for theCaretakers Network is to have a vol-unteer caretaker assigned to eachImportant Bird Area to watch forchanges in bird populations or con-servation threats, conduct outreachand raise awareness about their site,and undertake on-the-ground stew-ardship if needed.

Volunteer caretakers will be theeyes, ears and hands on the groundfor the 53 Important Bird Areas

Bird feedersfor saleOn behalf

of Nature PA,Keith Dodge is

selling three-leggedtray-type bird feeders.The feeders cost $10each. Contact Keith at

764-1749.

(IBAs) in Saskatchewan.Important Bird Areas

The Important Bird Area programis an international non-governmentconservation initiative of BirdLifeInternational, a partnership of over100 countries seeking to identify andconserve sites important to all birdspecies worldwide. By encouragingprotection of birds and habitats, italso promotes conservation of theworld's biodiversity.

There are currently IBA programsin Europe, Africa, the Middle East,Asia, and the Americas. TheAmericas IBA program includesCanada, the United States, Mexico,and 17 countries in Central and SouthAmerica.

The Canadian BirdLife co-partnersare Nature Canada and Bird StudiesCanada (BSC). BSC is primarilyresponsible for site identification anddesignation under the IBA protocols.

Nature Canada facilitates conserva-tion planning and implementation,working with its provincial partnersto create a national CaretakersNetworkIBAs in Saskatchewan

The IBA program was initiated byBirdlife International in the 1980sand came to Canada in 1996. InSaskatchewan, the IBA program isco-ordinated by NatureSaskatchewan with support fromnational partners Nature Canada andBird Studies Canada. The primarygoals of the Saskatchewan programare the establishment of theSaskatchewan IBA CaretakerNetwork, monitoring of sites, andpublic education.

For more information aboutImportant Bird Areas contact KarenMcIver, Conservation and EducationManager, 306-780-9481 or e-mail tokmciver@naturesaskca.

Saskatoon Nature Society upcoming field tripsSaskatoon Nature Society will go

birding at Pike Lake Nov. 21, 2-5 p.m.They will look for winter visitors to thepark Wear warm clothing. he chick-adees will gratefully accept donations ofsunflower seeds.

Meet at the intersection of CrerarDrive and Caen Street in MontgomeryPlace. Drive west on 11th St. West andturn left at Crerar Drive for one blockLeader: Hilda Noton (374-0674)

On Nov. 28, 2-3 p.m., SaskatoonNature Society will hold its Ante-GreyCup Celebration in President Murray

Park What birds will they find thisyear? Meet at the comer of Wiggins andColony.Leader: Jan and Stan Shadick (652-5975)

On Dec. 4, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m.Saskatoon Nature Society will go bird-ing at Gardiner Dam. They will look forducks, geese, gulls and eagles. Dresswarmly and bring a lunch.

Meet at the Western DevelopmentMuseum parking lot.

Leader: Frank Roy (374-8571)

Science of the Spheres: music and astronomyOn Nov. 21 at 3 p.m. a unique concert

will be presented at Gustin House, 51210th St. E. in Saskatoon.

The relationship between music and theheavens was a subject of consideration asfar back as the 6th century B.c.E., whenthe philosopher Pythagoras wrote: "Thereis geometry in the humming of the strings,there is music in the spacing of thespheres."

Stan Shadick, who teaches astronomy at

University of Saskatchewan, will speak onthe evolving understanding of stars, plan-ets and nebulae. Sylvia Shadick -Taylor,Edmonton pianist and composer, will per-form music based on the experience of theever-changing skies: ''Nemesis'' by PaulWilliam Pura, "Northern Lights" by R6miBouchard and "Nebulae" by Allan GordonBell Admission is $20. Reservationsrequired, due to limited space Call Walterat 373-9103 or wthiessen02@sasktel.net

More dates toremember:• Feb. 15, TBA• March 15, TBA• April 12, 6 p.m.Carpool,owlingtrip. April 19, 7:30p.m. Presentationon Owls of Sask.• May 16 AGM• June 2 and 9evening wildfloweridentification walks• June field trip toMacDowall bog

Whooping cranes feed in a protected area near Muskiki Lake. Nature PA members joined a lineup of pho-tographers. Bottom photo, Lorraine Brokop, Gwen Jones and Gail Syverson enjoy the warm morning.

Fall fowl field tripNature Prince Albert held a field

trip on Oct. 9. The highlight wasviewing 23 Whooping cranes plushundreds of Sandhill cranes atMuskiki Lake near Dana. Five par-ticipants continued on to DicksonLake near Crystal Springs.

Species of birds and mammalsseen on the trek included: Blue-winged Teal, Rock Pigeon, Black-capped Chickadee, HairyWoodpecker, Whooping Crane,Sandhill Crane, Horned Lark,Common Goldeneye, Black-billedMagpie, Canada Goose, Red-tailedHawk, Northern Harrier, AmericanTree Sparrow, Bonaparte Gull,immature; Brewer's Blackbird,Eared Grebe, White-fronted Goose,Hawk species, Northern Shoveler,Dark-eyed Junco, Lesser Scaup,Mallard, Snow Goose, AmericanCoot, Bald Eagle, Merlin,Bufflehead, Common Raven, RedSquirrel, Coyote.

Participants met at Prince AlbertTourism Centre and carpooled.Participants included CarmanDodge, Millie Fillmore, SandraJewell, Ruth Griffiths, LorraineBrokop, Gail Syverson, MichaelNewman, Gwen Jones, BeckyGillespie and her son, Dominique,Wanda Scissons, Marie Braaten,Gerald Murphy and his wife anddoge, Gene Slager and his daughterHolly.

November newsletter Page 4

Dutch Elm Disease marching westward along river valleysJeff Gooliaff from Ministry of

Environment, Forest Service,Forest Practices wasthe guest speaker atthe Oct. 19 meetingof Nature PrinceAlbert. He describedhis work with Dutchelm disease

Gooliaff said Dutchelm disease was first Gooliaffidentified in theprovince in Regina in 1981. It ismoving from east to west along theriver valleys.

DED is a fungal disease spreadby spores carried by three differentelm bark beetles, from tree to treealong the root systems and byhuman activities. The fungus canbe spread by pruning instruments.They should be disinfected with

50/50 bleach or methyl hydrate.The fungus blocks the movement

of water and nutrients the tree,causing leaves to wilt. It can kill thetree within three weeks, but maytake several years to kill the tree.There is no cure. The infected treesmust be destroyed.

American Elms and Siberian(Manchurian) Elms must not bepruned from April 1 to Aug. 31.Infected wood should be burned orburied. No elm wood may be usedwithout a permit.

Landowners are responsible forremoving infected trees. The treescan be tested at no charge atProvincial Crop Protection Lab,346 McDonald St., Regina, SKS4N OLl 306-787-8130.

All communities are responsiblefor their own DED surveillance. In

Prince Albert, contact the ParksDept. to sample trees.

Dutch Elm Disease (DED) hasbeen detected as close asChoiceland. There are no reportedcases in Prince Albert yet.

The province identified 220 casesof DED in 2010 but no new com-munities reported the disease thisyear. To control the spread of DEDfirewood with bark must not betransported. There is an increaseincidence of pests of several typesbeing transported in the bark oftrees and firewood. The generalpublic needs to be able to identifyelm by its bark

"Be careful out there," saidGooliaff. "There's a lot that couldbe lost if our trees are diseased."

For information call 1-800-Saskelm

You can participate in the historic Christmas Bird CountOn Dec.19, members of Nature Prince Albert will

co-ordinate a bird census in the Prince Albert area.This annual event, the Christmas Bird Count, is partof a North American wildlife survey that has been col-lecting data for more than a century.

Each year more than 50,000 observers participate inthis all-day census of early-winter bird populations.The results of their efforts are compiled into thelongest running database in ornithology, representingover a century of unbroken data on trends of early-winter bird populations across the Americas. Simplyput, the Christmas Bird Count, or CBC, is citizen sci-ence in action.

Prior to the turn of the century, people engaged in aholiday tradition known as the Christmas Side Hunt.They would choose sides and go afield with theirguns; whoever brought in the biggest pile of feathered(and furred) quarry won. Conservation was in itsbeginning stages around the turn of the 20th century,and many observers and scientists were becomingconcerned about declining bird populations.

Beginning on Christmas Day 1900, ornithologistFrank Chapman, an early officer in the then buddingAudubon Society, proposed a new holiday tradition -a Christmas Bird Census - that would count birds inthe holidays rather than hunt them. So began theChristmas Bird Count.

Thanks to the inspiration of Frank M. Chapman andthe enthusiasm of 27 dedicated birders. Twenty-fiveChristmas Bird Counts were held that day. The loca-tions ranged from Toronto, Ont. to Pacific Grove,Calif. with most counts in or near the population cen-ters of northeastern North America. Those original 27Christmas Bird Counters tallied a total of 90 specieson all the counts combined.

To participate in this year's bird count contactCarman Dodge at 764-2347.

On Sunday, Dec. 19, members and guest will meetfor breakfast or coffee at 9 a.m. at Smitty's restaurant.Each small group of people will be assigned an area inor around the city in which to record all the birds theysee. Everyone is welcome to participate.

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I You are invited i! Nature Prince Albert holds regular meetings on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. in Room 120 !! of SIAST Academic Centre. Members share wildlife observations, plan field trips and hear relevant speakers. !~ Membership is open to anyone. The annual fee is $10 per person or $15 for a family. This entitles you to ~~vote and receive four issues of this newsletter. ~! Purchase a membership in person at the meeting or mail your cheque to Nature Prince Albert, Box 235, !! Prince Albert, Sask S6V 5R5. Make cheques payable to Nature Prince Albert. !I ~.~~..~~~~.~~~~~~..~~~~~.~~.~~.~..~.~~~~..~~~..~~.~.~~~.~..~~..~.~~.~~~.~~~.~.~~.~~~~.~:~.~ ..1