Conservation starts at home!
Meet Melissa Penney
After spending years walking, hiking and driving to photograph birds Melissa tried something new in 2019. She decided to instead make the birds come to her! In the last four years she has had 99 species of birds visit her urban Edmonton backyard, and has 80 species visit in 2022 alone and 80 species again in 2023! Melissa's interests have expanded to gardening, native plants, lepidoptera and how it all works together. Besides her yard being a Canadian Wildlife Federation certified wildlife friendly habitat, she loves having a space for her amazing family to play, relax and visit with friends.
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When she isn't working on her own habitat she is a freelance photographer, a mom to three amazing and busy kids, and wife to a fantastic guy who understands her need to live outside more than inside.
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Rhianna
I am so glad I found out about Habitat YEG! Melissa is exceptionally knowledgeable and has provided many fantastic suggestions to get started with my backyard habitat. Melissa breaks down a large project into smaller manageable pieces with realistic and easy to implement strategies. If you’re looking to increase the diversity of birds in your yard, look no further than Habitat YEG!
TESTIMONIALS
Monica
Melissa was fabulous to work with. She provided creative, clear and enthusiastic advice on how to transform my deck into a hummingbird and pollinator sanctuary. I discovered new flowers that made a big difference in creating a colorful habitat that butterflies, bees and birds love. That I loved too. It was an immediate pay off with 5 steady hummingbird visitors my first year. I am looking forward to seeing what Spring brings back and what more I can do.
Kelly
I found Melissa on Instagram and instantly loved her posts. She had such a beautiful, thriving bird oasis in her yard right here in Edmonton! I reviewed further information she had on You Tube. I was envious and wanted so bad to have something similar but was a little unsure as to how to get started. So I reached out to her for a consult. Let me tell you, I was totally impressed and blown away by her knowledge of everything and anything bird related. Because I’m in a new subdivision it will take me a few seasons to get things going. My biggest and most important take away from our meeting was ensuring I plant native species, encouraging bugs, seeds and berries from my plants and having a water source. She is a fountain of useful, practical ideas, informative and extremely helpful for all of us right here where we live. I’m totally motivated by her enthusiasm and mirror a lot of things she suggests. Don’t hesitate to hire Melissa for your backyard (or front yard) consultation. You’ll be truly happy you did!
Watch me on CBC!
Why do this ?
According to Birds Canada there are 5 major threats to birds.
Habitat Loss
Pesticides and Contaminants
Invasive Species and domestic cats
Collisions
Climate Crisis
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We have the power to make a difference to all of the above. Not everyone is fortunate to have land they own to turn into habitat. Imagine if all our city yards were strung together how big that habitat would be?! I've seen what's possible and I want it for you!
Some of the visitors to my yard
It's really hard to choose which photos to put here. So many of my visitors have become my favourite!
