REGINA – Wings over Wascana aims to educate the public about the natural ecosystem living amongst the urban population.
Wascana park is Canada’s fourth largest urban park.
It measures larger than Stanley Park in Vancouver as well as New York’s Central Park.
Wascana is a natural gem which is home to many species, and conservation specialists want it to stay that way.
“We’ve got birds that nest here, there’s been deer sighted in here, there’s beavers,” explained Kim Mann, an organizer of the outdoor festival.
Kelsey Marchand is a masters student at the University of Regina. She was teaching in the turtle section of the park. Marchand said Wascana marsh is native to a world record holding turtle.
“I was able to catch a turtle who is now named Olga, and she was the largest western painted turtle ever recorded in literature. Her carapace length which is the shell is 26.6 cm.”
Olga beat her own worlds record from the previous year. She and many other turtles are banded to keep tract of behavior.
Birds in Wascana park are also banded for research purposes. A net, held in the middle of a forested area humanely traps the birds for researchers to find.
“We have the bird, they hit the middle area of the net, they fall down into this pocket here, we check this net every 30 minutes and we have 10 around Wascana.”
Explained Alisha Triff, a member of the Wascana monitoring avian productivity and survivorship program (MAPS).
After being caught in the net, birds are enclosed in small bags. The dark helps them relax. MAPS said they are banded and then released immediately. This is done to track information and various species, like a rare seven year old bird which was found Saturday afternoon.
Organizers hope this was inspiration enough to keep the park beautiful and natural for years to come.
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