The Great Backyard Bird Count: Snow, Silence, and Feathers of Defiance in Saskatchewan
There’s a particular sort of quiet that comes with a Saskatchewan winter. Not the cosy, muffled hush of a light frost, but the big, ringing silence that settles over the land when the snow is deep, the air is sharp, and even your thoughts seem to crunch as you walk. It’s the kind of winter that makes you wonder—briefly—whether anything with feathers and a pulse could possibly still be out there.
And yet, they are.
From February 13–16, 2026, the Great Backyard Bird Count invites you to step into that snow-bright stillness and discover just how alive winter really is—especially in places like your back yard, along a trail, or in the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional Park, where trees, trails, and tangled shelterbelts become lifelines for birds tough enough to call Saskatchewan home in February.
The idea is simple, even heroic in its modesty. Spend a little time—fifteen minutes is plenty—watching birds in your favourite place. Identify them. Count them. Then share what you’ve seen. That’s it. No need to thaw your fingers for hours or trek heroically into a blizzard (though points for commitment if you do).
In winter, every bird feels like a small triumph.
Winter Birding: The Art of Paying Attention
Birdwatching in a snowy Saskatchewan park isn’t about abundance; it’s about clarity. Leaves are gone. Sounds carry. Movement stands out starkly against the white. A Black-capped Chickadee appears like a flying punctuation mark. A Downy Woodpecker taps with quiet determination. A magpie sweeps across the snow, all swagger and monochrome elegance, as if winter were merely an inconvenience for other species.
In the Afforestation Area, those planted forests—so carefully imagined decades ago—now shelter flocks of redpolls and grosbeaks, birds puffed up like animated mittens. In George Genereux Urban Regional Park, where city and nature politely overlap, you may find nuthatches creeping headfirst down trunks, or a Sharp-shinned Hawk slicing through the cold air with purposeful menace.
These are not birds passing through. These are birds staying put….enjoying winter with you!
One Province, One Planet
What makes the Great Backyard Bird Count quietly astonishing is that while you’re counting chickadees under a prairie sky, someone else is counting sunbirds in Africa or parrots in Australia. Same four days. Same shared effort. Your Saskatchewan winter list becomes part of a global portrait of bird life—one that scientists rely on to understand population changes, migration shifts, and the growing pressures birds face worldwide.
You can submit your sightings using eBird, or identify birds with the wonderfully helpful Merlin app. If you already use either, you’re already contributing—any observations logged during those four days automatically count toward the GBBC.
This is community science with snow on its boots.
New to Birding? Perfect.
If you’re thinking, I wouldn’t know where to start, you’re in excellent company. The GBBC is designed for beginners as much as seasoned birders with notebooks that smell faintly of damp wool.
There’s an upcoming live, one-hour webinar (Feb 5 or 11)to get you ready—friendly, encouraging, and refreshingly free of birding snobbery. Members of the GBBC team will share practical tips, while author and birder Julia Zarankin explores the joy of beginner birding and the quiet magic of noticing birds right where you live—even in winter.
Consider it a gentle invitation rather than a lesson.
A February Challenge
So here’s the challenge. Bundle up. Walk the familiar trails of Richard St. Barbe Baker or George Genereux, look in the trees or find those bird feeders in the forest, peek out your window at your favourite bird feeder. Let the snow squeak under your boots. Stop. Listen. Watch.
You may not see many birds—but every one you do see will matter. Merlin will hear and identify the birds for you. On eBird you can mention how many you saw each time you are observing. Each observation is a small vote of confidence in a living world that carries on, even when temperatures plunge and breath hangs in the air like a thought bubble.
Count what’s there. Share what you find. And take a moment to admire the sheer stubborn brilliance of birds that sing, forage, and survive through a Saskatchewan winter.
The planet is counting on them.
And for four days in February, it’s counting on you too.
Part SE 23-36-6 – Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063
Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area or
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot
Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com
Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map
Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)?with map
Blogger: FriendsAfforestation
Tumblr friendsafforestation.tumblr.comFacebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park
Facebook: StBarbeBaker Afforestation Area
Facebook for the non profit Charity Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. FriendsAreas
Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Support via Zeffy
Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail / e-transfers )
Donate your old vehicle, here’s how!
Support using Canada Helps
Support via a recycling bottle donation and Join the plastic-recycle challenge!
United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
- Use the UN Decade’s Visual Identity
- Make it your own
- Spread the word about the UN Decade
- Let’s Bring Back Forests
- Let’s Green Our Cities
““Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward. Bend to the winds of heaven..”
Forests of Memory. Forests of Learning. Forests for Life. 