On Thursday, July 10,th a cool and blustery afternoon and evening, Councillor Ben Henderson, at the invitation of the Edmonton Nature Club, took part in a walk in the Oleskiw River Valley along with Shirley Coulson (leader) and three other ENC members.
The purpose was to show the Councillor the various trail options that have been proposed by Edmonton Parks' for a paved trail connecting Fort Edmonton footbridge to the new Terwillegar Park footbridge under construction. We walked along the single-track river edge trail, the one favoured by Parks administration for paving but opposed by naturalists on account of the environmental damage this would cause, and returned along the open trail at the base of the escarpment.
The following birds were noted:
yellow warbler,
black-capped chickadee,
Philadelphia vireo,
song sparrow,
a sparrow frequenting grass,
American robin,
red-tailed hawk,
Franklin's gulls,
ring-billed gulls and
bank swallows.
A highlight of the observations was seeing three or possibly four ospreys circling high above the river and hearing their distinctive cries, right over where the footbridge is to be constructed.
(P.S. On a canoe trip (Sat, July 12th) on the N. Sask. River from the Anthony Henday Hwy (westend) to Goldbar (50th St) one osprey was observed carrying a huge stick (nesting material) across the river right at the Henday bridge and then a 2nd one was seen perching on a tree right by the pumphouse for the Golf & Country Club water intake. Anybody else has seen ospreys in this vicinity? HT)
Botanical highlights included noting two plants that are known to occur in the river valley but are not common: bracted bog orchid (Coeloglossum viride) in full flower, and ebony sedge (Carex eburnea), in fruit.
There were no fewer than four distinct bedstraws along the trails and in the meadow: two native species, northern bedstraw and sweet-scented bedstraw (Galium boreale and G. triflorum, respectively), yellow or lady's-bedstraw (G. verum), an alien species that is possibly restricted to that part of Edmonton but occurs there in large numbers, and a white-flowered bedstraw that could have been a cross between northern and yellow bedstraw and requires further investigation. Disappointingly, a rather large amount of caraway (Carum carvi) occurs in that area and as a weed should not be allowed to spread. The mystery climber, noted in the winter, turned out to be wild morning-glory, Convolvulus sepium, unmistakable with its big white trumpet flowers; it is not native, but can be seen growing in the ravines, presumably as a reject with garden refuse.
Reported by Patsy Coterrill , with input from Shirley Coulson and Hubert Taube