Getting your hands dirty: How to build a contemporary chickadee nest box
Black-capped chickadee (Photo by Bill Hubick)
Ever since I started working for the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), where I was exposed to the world of conservation science and communications, I grew fond of birds and wanted to share this newfound interest with my family. My dad was an...
Beak to beak: The importance of Bird and Biodiversity Areas and Migratory Bird Sanctuaries
Semipalmated plover, Johnson's Mills, NB (Photo by Mike Dembeck)
Protecting land is critical to the survival of Canada’s natural world. With approximately 80,000 known plant and animal species, many of which are in decline, it is no wonder that the protection of wildlife habitat has never been more...
Parenting tricks from the wild
Baby elephants playing (Photo by Wikimedia Commons)
Parents everywhere would agree that raising children is no easy feat. New challenges come with every stage of development, from the newborn stage of learning how to eat and sleep, to the more advanced skill of communication. It wasn’t until...
My 2017 Ontario birding “Big Year”
Violet-green swallow at Thunder Bay Marina, Ontario's third ever record of this species. (Photo by Jeremy Bensette)
Last year was a pretty “big” one for me, birding-wise! I committed to completing a "Big Year," a quest to see as many bird species as possible in one year in my beautiful home province of Ontario, and held onto that goal until dark on...
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...
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 ...
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...
Tracking eastern loggerhead shrikes
Eastern loggerhead shrike (Photo by Dave Menke, courtesy of USFWS)
Driving past the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) Napanee Plain Alvar Nature Reserve, north of Napanee, Ontario, you might not notice anything overly special about the site. In fact, if you didn’t stop to have a closer look, you might not...
The incredible migration at Johnson's Mills Shorebird Reserve
Semipalmated sandpiper (Photo by NCC)
From late July to mid-August, the scene at the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) Johnson’s Mills Shorebird Reserve on the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick is awe-inspiring. There are days when as many as 140,000 semipalmated...
Tracking wood thrush through Ontario forests
Adult wood thrush at her nest (Photo by Sue Hayes)
Each year, the wood thrush travels thousands of kilometres from its over-wintering habitat in the tropical regions of Central America to its breeding habitat in forests throughout southern Ontario. This medium-sized songbird, like many other...
