I had the pleasure of attending the 2026 Meadowlark Nature Festival over the May long weekend. Originally, I was planning to visit Kelowna. An internet search for things to do in the area led me to the festival!
The annual Meadowlark Nature Festival is presented by the Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Alliance and offers over 50 tours that explore the natural environment of the Okanagan Similkameen with an ecological and cultural focus.
It was certainly hard to choose which tours I wanted to attend, but ultimately, I selected three:
- Hummingbird Tea, Talk, and Walk
- Similkameen Cottonwoods
- Birding for Beginners: An Introductory Workshop
Hummingbird Tea, Talk, and Walk
This tour was hosted by Alison Moran, the coordinator of Rocky Point Bird Observatory’s Hummingbird Project. She has been studying hummingbirds since 1997! I’ve only seen hummingbirds a handful of times in my life (once in California and three times during this festival), so it was a treat to listen to Alison tell us all about the unique traits of these tiny birds. The most influential part of her talk was how she spoke about the recent decline in insects, which has caused a decline in hummingbirds. Alison asked us to think about the number of dead insects we found on our windshields from past road trips. Nowadays, there are far fewer dead insects. I drove to Dinosaur Provincial Park during undergrad, and I remember taking my car immediately for a post-trip wash. On this most recent trip to B.C., I didn’t need to take my car to the wash at all. It is anecdotal evidence of the decline in insects.
Following her talk, we had the chance to explore the Linden Gardens, and we were hopeful that we would see hummingbirds in action. While we had no luck with hummingbirds, the gardens were still beautiful, and I saw California quail for the first time! I chatted with other garden visitors, and they exclaimed “you have never seen a quail before?!” I came to realize later in the trip that the quail are everywhere in this region. I imagine this is how people from Ontario feel when they visit Alberta and see magpies.
Similkameen Cottonwoods
The second tour that I attended was Similkameen Cottonwoods, led by wusxnalqs, Rheana Marchand-Edward, and Kasey Moran. We had an interesting conversation on how these trees prevent erosion along riverbanks, but how they also rely on flooding for soil moisture, nutrient replenishment, and seed dispersion. I also learned that an individual cottonwood tree can be more genetically diverse within itself than different cottonwood trees are to each other.
While this tour was focused on the cottonwoods, the experts shared so much about other plants and animals that I left with more than I had expected! Some invasive plants in B.C., such as dalmatian toadflax, thrive in disturbed soils. So, pulling them from the ground has unintended consequences and helps them spread more!
Birding for Beginners: An Introductory Workshop
The last event I attended was Birding for Beginners. I’ve had a keen interest in birds since taking a bird taxonomy course during my master’s degree. Since then, I have taken great pleasure in bird watching and learning about different species and their quirky behaviours.
I am more familiar with bird species in Alberta, so learning about the B.C. species from Khalid Boudreau and Trenton Schulz-Franco from the Special Bird Service (SBS) was amazing. We spotted 48 different bird species and a snake during the workshop! What a pleasure it was to spend the morning slowly in nature. Sometimes, it is so easy to get caught up in the busyness of our lives, so the workshop was a reminder of how beautiful it is to slow down and appreciate the nature around us.
Final Festival Thoughts
Absolutely incredible. I had the most fun weekend out in the Okanagan Similkameen. I left feeling energized by all the amazing experts and feel thankful for their knowledge sharing and storytelling. Speaking with other festival attendees, it appears that the consensus is that all the tours were high quality, informative, and a fun way to connect with nature. I hope that I can attend again next year as my experience was really special.
Bonus
After the festival, I made my way down to Osoyoos from the recommendation of many festival attendees. This is where I saw my first three hummingbirds in Canada!
Christine Song 