10 facts about Saskatchewan's species
Wideview, SK (Photo by Bill Armstong)
Located right in the middle of Canada, Saskatchewan is full of amazing species and ecosystems. To celebrate the prairie province, here are 10 amazing facts about species that you can find in Saskatchewan. 1. Prairie aerial acrobatics Songbirds...
Taking time for turtles
Blanding's turtle (Photo by Megan Quinn/NCC staff)
If you’ve been lucky enough to visit the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) beautiful eastern Ontario properties, you’ll know that they’re mostly made up of two things: large stretches of forest and seemingly...
Top 10 invasive species to stop this summer
Man fishing in New Brunswick (Photo by NCC)
Our Canadian summers are short and fleeting. Warm and sunny days are best spent enjoying the outdoors and connecting with nature. While you are out exploring nature’s wonders, you can also help control the spread of invasive...
When shorebirds and super moons collide
Flock in flight at Johnson's Mills, NB (Photo by NCC)
The moon on July 12 was a super moon, a time when the new or full moon is at its closest point in its elliptical orbit to Earth. Super moons appear brighter and larger than regular moons, thus their nickname. This summer, the unusually high tides...
When hope flies home: What the recovery of the peregrine falcon teaches us about endangered species
Peregrine falcon, ON (Photo by Brian Ratcliff)
There was a time when I never thought I’d see a peregrine falcon. I grew up in the 1970s, a time when the peregrine falcon was a poster species for wildlife loss. Hinterland Who’s Who told me it was already gone from eastern Canada,...
Call of the Wetland
Volunteers search the wetland shoreline for amphibians. (Photo by Melanie Rathburn)
Have you ever heard frogs or toads calling in an urban environment? Or spotted a secretive salamander as it makes it way to an urban pond? If you live in Calgary, the Miistakis Institute is interested in your observations! With Miistakis’...
So you think you can...mate? Bird edition (Part one)
Wideview, SK (Photo by Bill Armstong)
Spring is in the air…finally! The calendar on my wall has been lying to me for a month. It's spring, you say? Tell that to my toes ― I'm sorry, but sub-zero (Fahrenheit!) temperatures, snow on the ground and second-degree frostbite feel a...
The Swishwash Island bioblitz
L-R: Shannon, Robin and Dave (Photo courtesy of BCIT students)
We are three students in our final year of the fish, wildlife and recreation program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. We were excited to choose Swishwash Island for our final research project because it gave us the opportunity to...
Naturalists notice nature - even in winter
There may be a lot more happening than meets the eye in the dead of winter (Photo by Dispatches from the Field)
For some, it is easy during cold, snowy days (when it’s supposed to be spring!) to curl up with a cozy blanket, a good book, and a hot cup of tea. But where does the wildlife go at this time of year? Sure, some animals migrate to where it is...
Home tweet home: Making a bird feeder
Eastern bluebird (Photo by Cameron Curran/NCC staff)
One of my favourite memories of my mother is of her sitting on the back porch of our new home, looking out into the backyard. With a cup of tea in hand, the sun lightly dancing on her face, she excitedly whispered to me, “Look! Do you see...