Friends of Wascana Marsh

01/13/2026

🎺 Hearing tiny trumpets coming from the trees? That’s a Red-breasted Nuthatch! Listen for their nasal, yammering ‘yank-yank’ calls to alert you to their presence.

Look for a small short-tailed songbird traveling headfirst down tree trunks. They can be identified by their black cap, black eye line, white eyebrow, and rusty underparts.

Their name is derived from “nut-hack”. Since they don’t have seed-crushing beaks, they have to be a little more creative to break the shells of nuts or seeds. They must wedge said nut into bark crevices and hack at it with their bill until it opens.

In winter, they will visit feeders taking peanuts, sunflower seeds, and snacking on suet. In summer they transition to insects and arthropods - yum! Nuthatches are cavity nesters. Uniquely, they smear the entrance of their nest cavity with sap to discourage predators from entering.

📢 Let us know if you see one this week! Comment your favorite Red-breasted Nuthatch photos and share any stories you may have!

01/11/2026

Check out this upcoming webinar from Meewasin!

Gardening in the Winter: Incorporating Native Plants into your Garden - January 20, 2026 (12:00 PM - 1:00 PM CST)

Join us for an exciting and informative webinar, hosted by Kelton Braun of Meewasin! Kelton will be discussing how to incorporate native plants in your garden and how to get your garden ready in the winter!

Native plants are an excellent choice for your garden if you are
interested in helping pollinators and growing plants that are resilient to our changing climate. Join Kelton Braun, a Meewasin environmental educator, to discuss the ways in which you can easily incorporate native plants into your flower garden. Native plants can be grown and enjoyed year-round, even in our harsh winters! Learn how to bring gardening indoors in the middle of winter by sowing seeds in milk jugs so they can germinate first thing in the spring.

Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdeAyOJYvbbnzQSU5QJToB6hNWbdQkAj9JTKNLezNR7pMrE5g/viewform

See their other lunch time webinars here: https://meewasin.com/volunteerschedule/

01/11/2026

01/09/2026

Join us for our January Native Prairie Speaker Series - Webinar!

Examining the impacts of climate change and habitat loss on the distribution of Long-billed Curlews, a species at risk in Canada

Tuesday January 27th, 2026 at 12:00pm CT

Speaker: Kelsey Freitag, Freitag Ecological Analytics

Register Free: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Pycg3cWkTdWW4G4ULfpvPA
Or https://shorturl.at/aepXg

About this Webinar:
Grassland birds are declining rapidly due to habitat loss and climate change, and the Long-billed Curlew, an at-risk grassland species, is no exception. Using two decades of survey data from British Columbia and eBird data across North America, this study examines how curlew distributions have shifted and what environmental factors are driving these changes. Results show a 177 km northward range expansion in British Columbia and a 228 km northward shift in the species’ continental population centroid. Regional shifts also occurred in several Bird Conservation Regions, likely tied to local habitat changes. In British Columbia, curlews were detected more often in agricultural areas, and occupancy modelling showed positive associations with agriculture and northern latitudes and negative associations with grassland habitats. Overall, climate change appears to drive broad northward expansion, while local habitat loss and gains shape finer-scale changes. Effective management should focus on grassland restoration using prescribed burns and the protection of key curlew habitats.

This presentation is FREE! Tune in from anywhere! Everyone welcome!
More Information: SK PCAP at 306.352.0472 or [email protected]

PCAP’s Native Prairie Speaker Series is a monthly webinar about prairie conservation or species at risk.
Hosted by: Caitlin Mroz-Sailer, Stewardship Coordinator, Saskatchewan Prairie Conservation Action Plan

Presented By: Canadian Forage & Grassland Association North American Helium
Pembina Pipeline Corporation Saskatchewan Cattle Association and SaskTel

01/07/2026

Join our own Emily Putz, Habitat Stewardship Coordinator, for a talk all about Monarchs and other pollinators on January 14 (6:30-7:30pm) at the Lumsden River Park Meeting Room.

Thank you to the Lumsden Garden Society for hosting this presentation!

01/06/2026

Happy National Bird Day! 🐦🦆🦅🐦‍⬛

Today ✨️ and everyday ✨️ we celebrate birds and all they do for us to keep our ecosystems healthy. With the decline of 3 billion birds across North America in the past 50 years, protecting birds has never been more important.

Here are simple actions you can take to help protect birds and the natural systems that sustain us all:
🪟 Make your windows bird-safe to reduce fatal window collisions.
🍂 Leave the leaves, they are vital habitat for so many critters!
🚯 Clean up litter, especially string and plastic.
🥖 Don’t feed bread to birds, it can make them sick.
🌱 Plant native species, they are the foundation of the food web.
🐈 Keep cats safe indoors, on a leash, or in a catio!
🔬 Join a participatory science project like e-bird, iNaturalist, or ProjectFeederwatch!

Every small change creates ripples! Follow Bird Friendly Regina as we dive into these tips over the coming weeks and explore how you can become a bird hero in your own backyard.

Which of these do you already do? Tell us below! ⬇️

01/05/2026

We are kicking our year off with the most famous bird of Regina. Our City’s own official bird, the one, the only *drumroll please* Black-capped Chickadee!

You will notice this curious bird all around Regina throughout the year. Listen for its cheese-burger song and chickadee-dee-dee call. They are incredible communicators, the more ‘dees’ they add to the end of their call, the higher the perceived threat level. Even other bird species listen for this cue.

Chickadees are a favorite to watch, especially as they hang upside down and navigate the tips of tree branches in search of food. Look out for a cute small songbird with an oversized round head with a black cap and bib, white cheeks, and gray back, wings, and tail.

❄️ In winter they are a common feeder bird and are attracted to sunflower seeds, peanuts, berries, and suet. Their spatial memory capacity increases greatly to remember all of the hiding places (called caches) where they store extra seeds to fuel their tiny bodies through the coldest of days. In summer, their diet switches to almost entirely relying on insects and spiders! 🕷

📢 Let’s show this wonderful bird some love! Do you know of more interesting facts? Please share! Are you excited about Chickadees? Let us know! Have a picture to share? Let’s see it!

01/05/2026

Many thanks to Nature Saskatchewan, Nature Regina, Bird Friendly Regina, Nature Canada and Birds Canada for running this fantastic event. It was great to see so many families connecting with nature in the heart of our city! 🦆

01/05/2026

❄️🌲 PRESCHOOL CLUB WINTER REGISTRATION IS OPEN! 🌲❄️

Looking for fun, active, outdoor learning for your little one this winter? Join us for the Get Outside! Preschool Club, an outdoor program for children ages 2–5 (including Kindergarten-aged children who are 6) and their parent/caregiver.

When you register, you’ll sign up for four outdoor sessions, spread over the next three months. Families can choose Session A, B, or C. Advanced registration is required.

🕙 Session A: Mondays at 10:00 a.m., starting January 19
🕦 Session B: Mondays at 11:15 a.m., starting January 19
🕙 Session C: Fridays at 10:00 a.m., starting January 9

Each month we’ll explore a different Regina park with nature-based play, games, and hands-on learning that supports early literacy, science, and math.

Winter adventures include:
🐾 Animal track exploration
❄️ Snow forts & winter kitchen play
🦊 Predator–prey tag games
🔍 Nature scavenger hunts & hikes
📖 Winter story walks
…and more!

👉 Register now:
Visit www.natureregina.ca/calendar and select Jan. 19 (for Session A or B) or Jan. 9 (for Session C)

Bundle up and come play—let’s get outside and enjoy winter together! 🌲❄️

Nature Saskatchewan
SaskOutdoors
Woodhaven Regina

01/05/2026

Announcing our 2026 NatureCity Conversations Lineup!

Join us for three free, nature-based webinars featuring local experts and community voices. We’ll explore what it means to be a bird-friendly city, discuss urban sprawl challenges, and learn more about local native plant nurseries.

➡️For more details and to register, head to our website: https://wildaboutsaskatoon.org/conversations/

January 29, 7-8pm. Befriending Urban Birds 🦆 Ever wondered what it’s like to be a bird in Saskatoon? Cities pose challenges for birds, but we can help! Learn about the Bird Friendly Cities program, meet the Bird Friendly Saskatoon team, and hear from experts on making our urban spaces safer for wildlife.

February 25, 7-8pm. The Costs of Urban Sprawl 🦊 Fiscal & Environmental Resilience: How Strong Towns Thinking can Advance Environmental Causes. Join us to explore urban sprawl, the planned Saskatoon Freeway, and how costly urban boundary expansions impact municipal budgets.

March 25, 7-8pm. Growing Native Plants: Learning to Partner With Mother Nature 🌼Join us to hear from two of Saskatoon’s native plant nurseries. Featuring Renny Grilz (Blazing Star Wildflower Seed Company) & Koren Vangool (A Prairie Bouquet). Learn about their work and join a Q&A on growing Saskatchewan wildflowers.

Note: If you are unable to attend these webinars they will be recorded and shared on our website!