President’s Message

Here we are – closing in on the end of 2025 and what a year it’s been! First off, I want to thank Heather Brenneman our vice-president for stepping in as I took a bit of a holiday! Thanks Heather, you did a great job! Much appreciated!!

Exciting news too as our membership stands at 488. This is the highest it has been in many years and Jan, our membership coordinator, reports that we are having record numbers of new members signing up because of word of mouth – we are our best advertisers!

Lots of news over the past few weeks. I am glad to see the provincial government withdraw its intentions to amend the Environmental Management Protection Act this fall; it may come back next year though so we should be prepared for that! Also, there is not much in the federal budget for nature – we were hoping for good things such as some funding announcements for the Saskatoon National Urban Park – no word on that yet!

We have been asked by Nature Canada to sign on to their request to Ministers Dabrusin, Guilbeault, and Secretary of State Provost, urging the Government of Canada to continue supporting the Bird Friendly Cities Program. Since 2020, the Bird Friendly Cities movement has grown to include 37 certified municipalities, representing nearly 10 million Canadians. Together, 466 organizations including ours have collaborated to protect birds from window collisions, habitat loss, pesticides, and free-roaming cats, to help restore local natural habitats for birds and to educate the wider community about their importance.

I should note that the Saskatoon Bird Friendly team received a $3000 grant from Nature Canada this fall to help establish Saskatoon as a Bird Friendly City. As a result, we now have a part-time co-ordinator for the next 5 months – Sabine Kirsch. She will help us with much needed organization to move forward. Saskatoon Bird Friendly’s email is birdfriendlyyxe@gmail.com – send us a note. I also want to thank Mercy Harris for her incredible leadership for our meetings with City Hall committees, urging them to fix the north side windows of City Hall. Mercy has been hard at this since spring, and I think she is having an impact – we await further word. And thanks to all who sent in supportive messages as well.

 We are excited to hear that Nature Sask has released the long-awaited Saskatchewan Butterflies. It is available now at local bookstores including Turning the Tide and McNally Robinson. Saskatchewan Butterflies illustrates the colour, variety and allure of all 158 butterfly species found in the province. Donna Bruce and Anna Leighton were very actively involved in this project – very worthwhile to check out especially with Christmas coming up!

I was also delighted to deliver our first contribution of $7500 to NCC as part of our renewed partnership agreement regarding the Asquith Destination property – a very critical conservation endeavour!

It’s official – Saskatchewan’s first-ever Breeding Bird Atlas has landed! This critical new resource is the result of one of the largest volunteer-driven conservation efforts in the province’s history. Explore the Saskatchewan Breeding Bird Atlas: https://sk.birdatlas.ca

Our Kids in Nature grant application deadline is coming up really quick on January 15, 2026. If you know of a group that could use some extra support, please direct them to our website or show them the KIN ad in this newsletter. We want to strengthen initiatives that connect youth in the Saskatoon area with nature so get your applications in!

My book of the month is Trish O’Kane’s Birding to Change the World – a fascinating and inspirational read for all of us who are attracted to the avian world! Her premise is that if we take care of the birds and their world it follows that our own world will be so much better! Trish’s life story is quite a tale, starting out as a journalist in war-torn Nicaragua in the mid 1980’s, not an easy place for an American. Then by chance she started anew by teaching at Loyola in New Orleans in the fall of 2005, just as Hurricane Katrina hit, a very powerful personal experience where she became connected to birds in that devastated city in an odd way. She later decided to get her PhD in Madison, Wisconsin and fell into a local group of conservationists/birders and there was no turning back! I highly recommend this book – it is so timely for us in Saskatoon as we work towards our bird friendly designation making our own city better for birds! Birding to Change the World is in our library – check it out!!

Finally, as you will see in this newsletter, we are starting to get ready for the annual Christmas Bird Count. It will be our 71st – an amazing milestone! Be sure to volunteer and see how you can help out!

Again – all the best as we close out the year, hopefully the weather will be kind!

David Forbes