The Yellowhead Flyway Birding Trail Association (YFBTA) will be hosting the Nature Saskatchewan Spring Symposium June 19 to 21 in Saltcoats.
Martin Phillips said the Nature Saskatchewan event will take the place of the YFBTA’s usual spring symposium this year.
“Most of the events are Friday and Saturday,” he said.
Friday, at the event’s supper there will be a presentation on bees, said Phillips.
Dr. Sarah Wood will present a ‘A Field Guide to Bees’.
In addition Friday, outside the official symposium schedule, but dovetailing nicely, will be some activities with the local school.
“There’s stuff going on with the school. It’s not really with the event, but it fits in nicely,” said Phillips, who explained there will be some walking tours with students.
Saltcoats School principal Stephen Farquharson said the day will be a culmination of an in-school program revolving around the idea of an eco-museum.
“It’s a very big idea about bringing the idea of museums to life,” he said.
Farquharson said the idea is to look at almost anything around us and asking three questions; “Where have we been? Where are we at now? Where are we going?”
“To do that students in Grades 6, 7 and 8 at the local school “have been working on projects within Social Studies,” said Farquharson, adding many projects have proven to be cross-curricular touching on other subject such as science.
As an example, Farquharson said one area being looked at is hunting; how in the past it was a way for First Nations peoples to feed themselves, and how today it is more of a sport, yet plays a role in herd management as many natural predators are now gone.
Another is looking at birds, and discovering some dramatic changes such as purple martins no longer building natural nests because they are so used to manmade houses.
The various posters, and displays will be part of the program June 19.
Then on the 19th students will be visiting various ‘stations’ around the community to get a sense of history, present and future, offered Farquharson. Those stations will include; the fire hall, cemetery, water treatment plant, EMW as a local business, sheep production, and willow weaving.
Phillips said youth education is a big part of what the YFBTA does, and why they have accessed funds through the Painted Hand Community Development Corp., Sask Lotteries Community Grant Fund, Parkland Valley Sport Culture & Recreation District, to hire a summer student; Sarah Belontz.
With a vehicle supplied by Key Chev Olds in Yorkton, Belontz is working with Saltcoats, Calder, Churchbridge and Dr. Brass Schools to “provide activities for students,” said Phillips, adding those activities teach about nature, and the importance in maintaining our natural environment.
In the summer Belontz will work with groups such as 4-H, Scouts, Boys and Girls Club and seniors’ groups in a similar capacity.
“She’ll be offer programming to them, anything around and to do with nature, its importance and how to preserve it,” said Phillips.
Phillips said the student position will cost some $20,000 when everything is factored in, adding a major fundraiser for the YFBTA’s direct costs will be the silent auction held during the symposium.
Saturday there are two area tours planned for symposium participants to take part in.
“One group will visit wetlands and uplands south of Saltcoats (Maddaford Marsh area, historical Crescent Lake area, local landowners and possibly a swing through the Cutarm Creek area) with stops on the way for birding opportunities as well as visits to points of historical significance,” explains the group’s website at www.yfbta.com
“This is a tour of the Parkland area of the province with its diverse environment of prairie and wetlands.
“We will stroll a country trail near Saltcoats, then have lunch overlooking the Cutarm Creek, where we hope to find wildflowers on some small tracts of prairie. Then we will meander over to the Crescent Lake area to see the remnants of what was for a short time an active prairie town. We hope to have good bird viewing in the abundant wet lands surrounding a chain of lakes. There will be stops at any slough or pothole that has interesting wild life activity. Lastly, we will visit a local farm that has great shorebird viewing.”
A second group will explore areas west and north of Ebenezer.
The “tour to include hiking in the sand dunes of Good Spirit Provincial Park and visits to private lands in the vicinity with many opportunities for birding as well as visits to points of historical significance.
“The Good Spirit Area Tour will start from the Woodbird Farm owned by Kenn Wood and Nancy Bird. The farm and surrounding area are full of interesting and quirky sites. Kenn and Nancy are true stewards of the land. They have extensively studied their property and are dedicated to restoring it to health.
“Nancy explores it all by horseback. She knows where all the most interesting plants hide themselves.
“Kenn is a really enthusiastic storyteller. His passion at the moment is beavers …
“A tour of a variety of habitats within the aspen parkland adjacent to the Whitesand River and Cussed Creek (NW of Yorkton) is planned. Landscape features unique to this area include abundant glacial outwash deposits of sand and gravel, which in conjunction with glacial till, support diverse grassland, woodland and aquatic communities. Topics to be discussed include the importance of the cloven hoof to grassland ecology, the evolution of beaver habitat, and the historical significance of early settlement in the area.”
At the evening banquets Saturday Bill Waiser will make a presentation comparing the expectations had for Saskatchewan when it became a province in 1905, and what the reality is today, said Phillips.
Waiser is an author and historian specializing “in western Canadian history,” details his website. “He has published over a dozen books–many of them recognized by various awards, including a shortlist nomination for the 1997 Governor General’s literary award for non-fiction. Bill is a frequent public speaker and contributor to radio, television and print media. He has also served on a number of national, provincial, and local boards. Bill has been awarded the Saskatchewan Order of Merit, and elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.”
Registration for the weekend is $100 ($110 after June 12), or the Saturday banquets alone for $30. People can find forms and instructions for registration at www.yfbta.com. They are hoping for at least 100 participants.
An annual membership in the YFBTA is $30 per family, or $20 for an individual.
