In addition to hosting bird blitzes in IBA’s throughout the province, we also conduct habitat stewardship activities at various sites. In 2025, these events included a Weed Pull at the Riverton Sandy Bar IBA, and a shoreline clean-up along a section of the Red River in Lockport.

First up was the Riverton Sandy Bar Weed Pull on August 20. This is an event that we’ve hosted for a number of years, where we ask volunteers to help us remove invasive plants from the sand spit, which historically has been a nesting site for the Endangered Piping Plover.

14 volunteers braved the wind and the drizzling rain to help us remove weeds from the beach, and by the end of the day, the crew had filled 9 yard waste bags! Incredible work!

It wouldn’t be an IBA event without some birding! We saw 2 Bald Eagles flying overhead, one of which still had mottled white feathers on it’s wings, marking it as a juvenile eagle. Some other species that were spotted including 11 Common Terns, a Great Blue Heron, 5 American White Pelicans and a Merlin. Thanks to Dayle and Joanne for sharing your eBird list with us!

Our last event of the season was a shoreline clean-up along the Red River in Lockport on September 10. The targeted area was just downstream of the Lock and Dam, at the Lockport Heritage Park. Despite it being a very hot and sunny day, we had 17 volunteers come out and help us remove discarded fishing gear and other garbage from the Red River shoreline.

The low water levels in the river allowed volunteers to venture out onto the exposed rocks, where they had some close encounters with foraging shorebirds. Groups of American White Pelicans flew overhead, and a Common Raven came to see what all the action was. Thank you to our incredible team who braved the heat to help improve this section of shoreline habitat along the Red River.

With that, we have finished recapping our summer 2025 events. A huge thank you to everyone who volunteered for our events this summer, you make our work possible! These events were also made possible through funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Habitat Stewardship Program.

Keep a close eye on our Upcoming Events page, our social media, and your email inboxes for our 2026 events, coming soon! If you would like to be added to our mailing list, send me an email at iba@naturemanitoba.ca! We’re always looking for new volunteers, and all experience levels are welcome.

-Mackenzie