This program has been sponsored by Southern Health-Sante Sud Public Health, Healthy Living and Healthy Together Now funding.

This program has been sponsored by Southern Health-Sante Sud Public Health, Healthy Living and Healthy Together Now funding.

Residents and landowners of the Rural Municipality of Stuartburn are being invited to share their perspectives in a new Species at Risk community survey.

The survey, conducted by Probe Research on behalf of the RM of Stuartburn and its Shared Legacy partners, builds on original research completed in 2020. That earlier study established baseline information about community awareness, attitudes and priorities regarding the region’s tall-grass prairie ecosystem and conservation efforts.

Six years later, organizers say the follow-up survey will help determine how public understanding and attitudes may have evolved between 2020 and 2026. The findings will help guide future planning, community engagement, and stewardship initiatives in the region.

“Residents and landowners of the RM of Stuartburn are invited to share their views in a new community survey being conducted by Probe Research on behalf of the RM of Stuartburn and its Shared Legacy partners, said Monique Chenier, Economic Development and Tourism Manager for Sunrise Corner Economic Development. “This follow-up survey builds on the original 2020 Species at Risk research, which established important baseline information about community awareness, attitudes and priorities related to the tall-grass prairie and conservation in the region. Six years later, this new survey will help us understand how attitudes and understanding may have evolved.”

All residents are encouraged to participate. The survey takes approximately 15 minutes to complete, and responses will remain confidential. Participants can complete the survey online via a QR code available on community posters, the RM of Stuartburn newsletter and the Shared Legacy Partnership Facebook page, or by visiting ca1.voxco.com/S2/291/Stuartburn/. Paper copies are also available by contacting maryagnes@probe-research.com or calling/texting 204-470-8862. Mailed surveys include a stamped return envelope.

As an incentive, participants may enter to win one of three $150 prizes, each consisting of $100 cash and $50 in local gift cards. The survey remains open until March 25.

Shared Legacy is a cooperative working group led by the RM of Stuartburn and The Nature Conservancy of Canada, in partnership with Sunrise Corner Economic Development and the Province of Manitoba. The initiative is funded by Environment and Climate Change Canada and aims to advance understanding of Manitoba’s Tall Grass Prairie Natural Area, its relationship with agriculture, and the natural heritage that benefits residents across the region.

March 20th is the spring equinox, which officially means we can welcome back spring to the tall-grass prairie! It is on this date that in the Northern Hemisphere we have equal parts daylight and darkness, and going forward, daylight increases.

Community members are in a more cheerful mood as we move into longer days, which are also slowly getting warmer. We look forward to beginning all the spring chores, followed by summer vacations. If we consider the wildlife members of our community, this time of year poses many changes and challenges for them to overcome. Depending on how Mother Nature acts, spring can be a reprieve from winter or a final obstacle that is too hard to get through.

I don’t have any official numbers in front of me, but in my opinion this winter has been erratic. We have had weeks of -40 degrees Celsius followed by above 0 degrees Celsius. Warmer temperatures brought multiple days when we had winter rain! Rain in December and January is not something I remember much of as a kid. Compared to the last few years, we have also received a fair amount of snow as well.

This type of weather can negatively impact grazing animals, as rain or warm-weather melt can create a layer of ice that makes it very hard to get to food sources underneath. This is one of the reasons species like white-tailed deer switch from being grazers in the summer to browsers in the winter, focusing on the easier-to-reach woody browse such as buds, twigs, and bark. This woody forage is hard to digest and not as nutritious compared to what they would be focusing on in the summer, so they will slowly lose weight. Simply walking in this terrain can be exhausting as well; crunching through that ice layer while still having to punch through a deep layer of snow will burn calories that wouldn’t be an issue in better terrain.

On the other hand, a hard winter can benefit certain species. For example, the white-tailed deer, who are becoming weaker with each passing day, become an easier target for predators like coyotes or wolves. Winter-killed wildlife also means scavengers like ravens will have an easier time finding a meal. Nature has a way of balancing out, and different species have adapted to make the best of others’ misfortune.

Spring weather has a huge impact on how the rest of the year will shape up for many of our tall-grass prairie species. Warm, sunny weather will help with a quick “green up,” which will benefit a lot of the struggling herbivores; however, if we get a cold, snowy March, this could be the tipping point on whether certain animals make it or not. With spring migration, birthing season, and just a general increase in wildlife activity, I would urge everyone to give wildlife the space it needs to get through this time of the year so they can enjoy the beautiful tall-grass prairie summer ahead of us.

Adventures with Nature Norm
If you are looking to welcome back spring, please join me on the next Adventures with Nature Norm, March 28th, 10am-12pm at the Weston Family Tallgrass Prairie Interpretive Centre. We’ll be on the lookout for the first signs of spring and saying goodbye to the past winter. For more information, please contact info@sharedlegacymb.ca. I hope to see you there!

This follow-up survey builds on the original 2020 Species at Risk research, which established important baseline information about community awareness, attitudes and priorities related to the tall-grass prairie and conservation in the region. Six years later, this new survey will help us understand how attitudes and understanding may have evolved between 2020 and 2026. The results will guide future planning, community engagement, and stewardship initiatives in the region.

All residents are encouraged to participate. The survey takes approximately 15 minutes to complete and responses are confidential.

How to Participate

Online: Scan the QR code (on the community poster, mailed postcard, RM of Stuartburn newsletter, and Shared Legacy Partnership Facebook page) or visit ca1.voxco.com/S2/291/Stuartburn/

Paper copy: Contact maryagnes@probe-research.com or call/text 204-470-8862 to request a mailed survey with a stamped return envelope.

As a thank you, participants can enter to win one of three $150 prizes ($100 cash and $50 in local gift cards).

The survey is open until March 25.

Community input is essential. Whether you completed the survey in 2020 or are participating for the first time, your perspective will help shape how conservation, agriculture and economic development move forward together in Stuartburn.

Shared Legacy is a cooperative working group led by the Rural Municipality of Stuartburn and The Nature Conservancy of Canada along with partners Sunrise Corner Economic Development and Province of Manitoba, funded by Environment and Climate Change Canada. The goal of the Partnership is to help advance understanding of the wonder of Manitoba’s Tall Grass Prairie Natural Area, its relationship with agriculture, and the natural heritage that benefits all residents.

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Media Contact:
Monique Chenier, Economic Development Manager
Sunrise Corner Economic Development
monique@sunrisecornermb.ca
www.sharedlegacymb.ca

This program has been sponsored by Southern Health-Sante Sud Public Health, Healthy Living and Healthy Together Now funding.

This program has been sponsored by Southern Health-Sante Sud Public Health, Healthy Living and Healthy Together Now funding.

SPECIAL NOTE: This is also Vita & Area Winter Festival weekend, so plan to come out and spend the rest of your day in Vita enjoying dog sled races, curling, kids activities and so much more.

The next Adventures with Nature Norm session will focus on overwintering birds in the tall-grass prairie and how residents can support them through the colder months.

Helping overwintering birds

Norm Gregoire from Shared Legacy says these non-migrating birds are well adapted to harsh prairie winters, but there are still ways people can help.

“If you’re a nature lover why not feed the birds by providing a nice fat-rich diet to them when they’re sort of struggling. A lot of times they can be in a calorie deficit, we can really help these birds survive. Without this food source maybe some of them wouldn’t make it.”

Feeding guidelines

Gregoire encourages bird lovers to follow a few simple rules when feeding birds. The first is to provide quality, nutrient-dense food.

“A lot of times we’ve seen the movies and that sort of thing where folks are throwing out things like pieces of bread and scraps out for the birds. That’s not recommended. Bread especially is really bad for birds. It’s just high sugar. It fills them up and gives them no nutritional value.”

He adds, “If you’re going to feed them, invest in something like black oil sunflower seeds is very common in our area. We can pick them up in all sorts of different stores. That’s a really good one.”

His second rule is to keep feeding them consistently throughout the winter.

“If all of a sudden you stop, let’s say in a month’s time, your, your bag of bird seed runs out. Well, those birds, those local birds you have in your area are going to be so conditioned they’re coming to get their food source from your feeder, all of a sudden we get a cold snap of negative 40 in February, and they have no food to rely on. And that can be really damaging to the birds.”

The final rule is to keep feeders clean, especially closer to spring.

“There’s a lot of different diseases that can be spread and a lot of things like mold build up when you’re starting to go freeze thaw, freeze thaw, and that can be harmful to the birds as well. So, a nice little cleaning every once in a while will help keep your bird friends safe.”

How overwintering birds survive

Gregoire says overwintering birds use several strategies to cope with extreme cold, such as growing a thicker layer of feathers and increasing their body fat.

“They’re going to be trying to get a higher body fat percentage. That’s why I say fatty foods are important for them. But then they also do simple things like huddling together in trees.”

He notes that some songbirds enter a short hibernation-like state called torpor.

“Even a bird like a chickadee can go into torpor for a day, two days to sort of get them through a really cold spell in the winter. So they’ll find a nice warm place and they’ll go into this sort of like hibernation.”

Birds to watch for

Manitobans may spot several notable species during the winter months, including the province’s own great grey owl.

“It’s just a stunning bird, and huge wingspan. You see them in the snow-covered trees out hunting for different rodents, that sort of thing.”

Snowy owls also make appearances.

“Which is a little bit more rare. It depends what part of Manitoba you go to. Some areas, it doesn’t take you long to find snowy owls. But in the tall-grass prairie, we see them sporadically. They are around. They’re always a treat to see, though.”

Event details

Residents can learn more at Gregoire’s upcoming event at the Weston Family Tall Grass Prairie Interpretive Centre on Saturday, December 20.

“We’re going to be going out about 10 o’clock, going for a little walk, and I’ll provide binoculars for folks, and we’re going to be taking our time going down the trail here, seeing what we can see.”

With files from Carly Koop

This program has been sponsored by Southern Health-Sante Sud Public Health, Healthy Living and Healthy Together Now funding.

Here it comes, winter in the tall-grass prairie! This is the time of year when nature starts to slow down, species go dormant or leave the frigid temperatures for warmer areas, and the outdoors gets quiet… mostly. Head outdoors, spend five minutes in a treed area, and more times than not you’ll be awarded with one of my favourite sounds: chick-a-dee-dee-dee! It’s during the long Manitoban winters that we can reconnect with the overwintering birds of the tall-grass prairie.

The easiest way to ensure that you stay connected with wildlife over the winter is to put up some bird feeders around your yard. Any standard bird feeder with a high-fat food source such as black oil sunflower seeds, nyger seeds, or peanuts works great for attracting black-capped chickadees, blue jays, pine or evening grosbeaks, and a host of other birds. Suet feeders work for a variety of woodpeckers and nuthatches.  

If you choose to feed birds during the winter, there are some general rules to follow. First off, use the above-listed high-fat foods and not things like bread. Bread is empty calories for birds and has the potential to do more harm than good. Secondly, it is important to clean your feeders regularly; this prevents the spread of disease and cleans up any potential mould growth when the weather jumps between freezing and thawing. A final and maybe most important recommendation for feeding birds in the winter is that if you are going to start feeding them, you must commit to feeding them right until spring! By providing a high-fat food source for these birds in a time when they need it most, they will begin to depend on it. If you take that food source away, especially during inclement weather, this could be devastating to the regular users of the feeder.

There are also birds that overwinter in the tall-grass prairie that don’t usually visit birdfeeders. One of my favourites, the common raven is often heard calling on the coldest days searching for carrion to fill up on.  A relative of the raven, the American crow mostly migrates south but can sometimes be seen during the winter, especially in urban areas. Ravens are larger with a wedge-shaped tail, whereas crows have a fan-shaped tail. Ravens have a “beard” when they call their typical deeper croaking call compared to a crow’s high-pitched caw. On the ground crows walk, whereas ravens hop.

I tend to see more owls in the winter compared to the summer. The most common that I see near the Manitoba Tall Grass Prairie Preserve would be Manitoba’s provincial bird, the great grey owl. Also seen throughout the winter would be the northern hawk owl, the great horned owl, and maybe the most impressive winter bird, the snowy owl. The short-eared owl, a species at risk, mostly migrates but from time to time can be seen over the prairie during the winter.

If you are looking to stay connected with nature over the long Manitoban winter, I highly recommend getting into bird watching. The spring may be when the colours are flashier and there is a higher variety in species; however, these overwintering birds are hardy and adaptable, and just like us, they call this beautiful area home when it’s at its harshest.

Adventures with Nature Norm

If you are curious about winter bird watching, please join me on the next Adventures with Nature Norm on December 20th, 10am-12pm. A birdwatching walk will be followed by an indoor presentation at the Weston Family Tall Grass Prairie Interpretive Centre. For more information, please contact info@sharedlegacymb.ca. I hope to see you there!

Photo: Black-capped Chickadee by Sunrise Corner