Ten of nature's weirdest courtship rituals
Greater prairie chicken (Photo by Ron Knight/Wikimedia Commons)
Much like humans, other animals have evolved ways of wooing or courting potential mates, whether it’s singing a love song, doing a sensual dance or giving a thoughtful gift. With love in the air this Valentine’s Day, here are 10...
Counting crows: A winter walk reveals an abundance of birds in the Fraser River Estuary
Conservation Volunteers ready for birding (Photo by Fiona Walsh)
For more than a century, an ongoing citizen science survey has taken place during the holiday season. Known as the Christmas Bird Count, the first survey was initiated by ornithologist Frank M. Chapman on Christmas Day in 1900. One hundred and...
What's so special about Kenauk?
Osprey nest on Lac Papineau in Kenauk, viewed by several participants in the 2016 survey (Photo by Richard Gregson)
Kenauk is big. Really big! In terms of surface area, it’s the largest conservation project ever undertaken by the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) in Quebec, and certainly one of the largest in Canada. The site, located about eight...
How species survive the winter: Skin breathing and antifreeze
Northern leopard frog (Photo by NCC)
Previous blog posts have discussed how small songbirds and big brown bats survive the winter. Those blogs briefly covered some strategies used by birds and mammals. But what about amphibians? How do frogs survive the many months of sub-zero...
A mega-rare mistle thrush visited my mountain ash
Mistle thrush (Photo by Peter Gadd)
On Christmas Day 2017.... It is here! It is here in the mountain ash tree at the crack of dawn. It is a brief appearance, as it turns out, but one long enough to perhaps sense it is sending a Christmas greeting. A bird, once known as the ...
In search of my totem
Great blue heron spreading its wings (Photo by Lorne)
I frequently awaken with pre-set routines and their parameters dancing in my head — actions and reactions caused by billions of neurons sending and receiving electrochemical signals to and from my brain. Whether stretching and slowly...
Identifying bats by their distinctive voices
Big brown bat (Photo by Brock Fenton)
Having studied bats for more than a decade, I have been fortunate to be able talk to students in their classrooms while doing bat presentations, or to landowners while I trapped bats on their properties. Everyone has a bat story. Everyone loves...
The 12 birds of Christmas
Mourning dove (Photo by Ken Schneider)
On the 12th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…fun bird facts! To celebrate the holidays this year, here are some interesting tidbits about 12 different birds found in Canada, some of which are featured in the 12 Days of Christmas...
A soft spot for the infamous predator: Wolves
Gray wolf (Photo by Mike Dembeck)
The timber wolf, also known as the gray wolf, is common in northwestern Ontario, where I have worked and lived for nearly 40 years. Common, but not always safe. I have a soft spot for predators such as wolves. In part because they are beautiful...
On a quest for the alluring swift fox
Swift fox cub and its mum (Photo by Catriona Matheson, Cochrane Ecological Institute)
My unsuccessful search for the elusive swift fox has spanned nearly a decade.It was 2008, the winter semester of my first year at Lakeland College in Vermilion, Alberta, when I first learned about the history of swift foxes in Canada. The smallest...
