Bird Watching No. 2 hobby in Canada

By Robin Galenza. Canadian

Wildlife enthusiasts will soon be able to enjoy the beauty of the Camrose Creek valley and it may turn into a major tourist attraction if the Rotary Club of Camrose has its way.

The Rotary Club of Camrose broke ground on its butterfly garden, hummingbird sanctuary and crocus meadow June 26 after months of planning and discussions with experts in the field.

“The number one hobby of Canadians is gardening and number two is bird watching. At one time the Battle River valley had more songbirds than any other valley in Alberta and we would like to return to that... We are not here looking for funding, we’ve had extensive discussions with Leisure Services and with the Wildlife Stewardship project,” Rotarian Dan Olofson explained during a presentation to city council to outline the project last year.

The Rotary Environmental Park will include a butterfly garden, hummingbird feeders on the front of the teahouse and a crocus meadow. In addition, Olofson said they would like to develop the teahouse into an interpretative centre.

The club hopes that the camping area would continue to be used, but by attracting hummingbirds and butterflies to the area tourists will follow. In addition, converting the teahouse into an interpretative centre would attract school tours, turn the facility into a rest centre for trail users, provide food services for campers and attract tourists and people who like to look at gardens.

...tea houses, butterfly park and humminbird feeders will sure attract people for bird watching...

Camrose Canadian, Camrose, AB

technorati tags:bird, watching, birdwatching, Canada, hobby, Battle, River, Valley, songbirds, Alberta, Wildlife, Stewardship, Project, Rotary, Environmental, Park, hummingbird, feeders