Sora Photo: John Conkin
Welcome to MarshWatch – Prairie Canada Edition!
MarshWatch is a new pilot program focused on wetland birds and amphibians for beginners.
The focus is on species occuring in Prairie Canada, but there is broad overlap with species found across Canada.
Virtual webinars along with self-guided activities slowly build your identification skills without getting overwhelmed. The ultimate goal is to give you the skills to confidently submit a checklist of birds from a visit to a wetland of your choosing.
Live webinars take place every Wednesday evening, starting March 27 and run for 10 weeks, ending May 29. We encourage you to visit a wetland each week – there really is no better way to learn than to be out with the birds!
Submit Observations on NatureCounts
Upcoming MarshWalks
Follow the links for details as they are finalized
Events Calendar
Presentations, webinars, in-person events and more
MarshWatch acts a stepping stone for the Marsh Monitoring Program, a citizen science program returning to prairie Canada in 2024, by teaching the necessary identification skills without the pressure of a formal survey.
We hope you join us!
In case you missed it live, you can watch past webinars below:
Webinar 1 – The Wonder of Wetlands
Webinar 2 – Bird ID Basics and ID Session 1
Species covered: Canada Goose, Mallard, Northern Shoveler, Red-winged Blackbird, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Sora, Boreal Chorus Frog, Wood Frog.
Webinar 3 – Bird ID Session 2 + Wetland Plants
Species covered: Northern Pintail, American Coot, Red-necked Grebe, Pied-billed Grebe, Killdeer, American Avocet, Black-necked Stilt, Northern Leopard Frog
Plants covered: Cattails, Bulrushes, Common Reed (Phragmites), Duckweed, Carex sedges, Rushes, Spike Rushes
Webinar 4 – Bird ID Session 3
Species covered: Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal, Horned Grebe, Eared Grebe
Wilson’s Snipe, Black Tern, Spring Peeper, Gray Treefrog, Cope’s Gray Treefrog.
Webinar 5 – Bird ID Session 4 + Invasive Wetland Plants
Species covered: Gadwall, American Wigeon, Great Blue Heron, American Bittern, Least Bittern, Wilson’s Phalarope, Canadian Toad, American Toad
Plants covered: Phragmites, Flowering Rush, Purple Loosestrife
Webinar 6 – Bird ID Session 5
Species covered: Canvasback, Redhead
Lesser Scaup, Greater Scaup, Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck
Webinar 7 – Bird ID Session 6
Species covered: Sedge Wren, Marsh Wren, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Harrier, Common Tern, Forster’s Tern, Willet, Marbled Godwit, Western Tiger Salamander, Eastern Tiger Salamander
Webinar 8 – Bird ID Session 7
Species covered: Virginia Rail, Yellow Rail, LeConte’s Sparrow, Nelson’s Sparrow, Western Grebe, Clark’s Grebe, White-faced Ibis, Plains Spadefoot, Great Plains Toad
Webinar 9 – Bird ID Session 8 – The Big Review
All birds and amphibians reviewed!
Webinar 10 – Program Wrap-up and Soundscapes
In this final webinar we review some plant ID, listen to soundscapes, and wrap-up the program!
Looking for the 2023 webinar recordings? View them on our MarshWatch YouTube playlist here!
Be sure to check out the Bird Identification for Beginners webinar!
MarshWatch Supporters
