This past Saturday, August 12^th, we ran our first weed pull at the Riverton Sandy Bar since 2021. Last year, the water levels on Lake Winnipeg were so high that the Sandy Bar was underwater – instead, we ended up doing a purple loosestrife pull at Oak Hammock Marsh, and shoreline clean-ups at Delta Beach and Lockport. This year, the water levels cooperated and we were able to do a weed pull once again. The purpose of our weed pulls is to restore habitat for Piping Plovers (an Endangered species) as well as other shorebirds, gulls and terns. The Riverton Sandy Bar was designated as a Special Conservation Area because Piping Plovers have nested here in the past. Piping Plovers prefer open sandy areas to nest, so by removing the vegetation, we hope that one day these birds will nest in this area once again.

Thank you to Joanne, Allan, Lynn, Judy, Lorraine, and Carson, for joining Aynsley and I to pull weeds for the Piping Plovers!

Our weed pull events are notorious for attracting interesting weather. On the drive there, many of us encountered pockets of pouring rain… Fortunately, though ominous rain clouds often surrounded us throughout the morning, the rain never reached us. The cool dry weather (around 15 degrees) ended up being perfect for pulling weeds.

We met in the parking lot bright and early, at 8 am. After chatting and fuelling up on snacks and coffee, we began the approximately 1 km trek to the weed pull area. We loaded up a wagon with the essentials (coffee!!!), which was quite easy to pull along the packed wet sand. Our group took turns teaming up to carry the wagon over a few more challenging sections of terrain.

Once arrived, we got to work. The main type of vegetation we were pulling was the invasive Sweet Clover, which is quite easy to pull and makes for a satisfying experience. From our starting point, volunteers spread out in different directions – some worked towards the southwest, while others worked towards the northeast. Throughout the morning, our group shared lots of stories, jokes and laughter. What a lovely way to connect, while contributing to conservation.

All in all, we managed to remove 20 full bags of weeds from the Sandy Bar! It was very satisfying to see the clear difference in the amount of vegetation after our hard work, compared to before. Though many of us felt like we could have continued to weed all day (it’s so hard to stop once you start), we wrapped up around noon.     

While pulling weeds, we also had our eyes and ears open for birds. Highlights included a Bald Eagle flying around in the distance, pelicans, and Semipalmated Sandpipers. After the pull, Joanne went for a walk to the end of the spit for some extra birding. She compiled our bird sightings for the morning into an eBird checklist – thanks Joanne!!

Here is the full species list:

Species	Count
Canada Goose	42
Mallard	8
Green-winged Teal	12
Semipalmated Plover	1
Baird’s Sandpiper	4
Least Sandpiper	3
Semipalmated Sandpiper	24
Greater Yellowlegs	3
Lesser Yellowlegs	4
Bonaparte’s Gull	3
Ring-billed Gull	21
Herring Gull	2
Common Loon	1
Double-crested Cormorant	11
American White Pelican	24
Northern Harrier	2
Bald Eagle	6
Merlin	1
Eastern Kingbird	1
American Crow	2
Tree Swallow	1
Barn Swallow	1
Marsh Wren	2
Gray Catbird	1
Cedar Waxwing	4
Song Sparrow	2
Swamp Sparrow	1
Yellow Warbler	6
Total # of species	28
Total # of individuals	193

This event was funded by Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Habitat Stewardship Fund.

Thanks again to our volunteers, we couldn’t do this without you! If you have any questions or if you would be interested in participating in events like this in the future, you can get on our mailing list by emailing iba@naturemanitoba.ca!

-Marissa