An osprey family affair
An osprey soars around its nest (Photo by Lorne)
This journey of an osprey family, between early May 2015 and mid-August of the same year, is almost as much my journey as theirs. It begins as a young boy some six decades ago, when my maternal grandfather would pick me up to spend some quality...
Lending nature a hand
Northern leopard frog (Photo by NCC)
If you are a nature lover like myself, you may be interested in participating in one of the many yearly activities organized by the Quebec branch of the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC). The activities are open to all — you do not need a...
Visiting coastal heathlands on Walk With NCC Day
Walking on the Barrens in NS (Photo by NCC)
On a sunny October morning, a group of enthusiastic hikers enjoyed a fall walk through the coastal heathlands on the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) Dr. Bill Freedman Nature Reserve in Nova Scotia. Our walk started off with a...
The symbiosis of fashion and nature
Models dressed in fake fur as as their hemlines were soaked by the melting catwalk (Photo from Wiki Commons)
With Fashion Week coming to Toronto, Canadian designers from across the country will showcase their ready-to-wear fashions on the runways. This term, ”ready-to-wear,” means what you see on the runway can be worn in day-to-day life: in...
Paint your palette blue and grey
Old Man on His Back, SK, has just been named Canada's second Dark Sky Preserve (Photo by Alan Dyer)
There are some songs that you sing for years without really understanding the lyrics. Maybe the music is catchy and you mumble along or you even know the words, but never get the meaning. There is an old Don McLean song called Vincent that someone...
Update: Four-toed salamander discovery on NCC property in Quebec
Four-toed salamander (Photo by Brian Gratwicke)
Last year, I wrote about the discovery of four-toed salamanders on one of the Nature Conservancy of Canada's (NCC's) properties during a team retreat. Since then, great efforts have been made to learn more about the wetlands on the property that...
Cave diving in the Ottawa River, Canada
Dressed and ready to enter the water - note the yellow loggers on my right. (Photo by Cheryl Buzzacott)
Before coming to Canada I contacted renowned Canadian cave diver David Sawatzky, whom I knew had mapped these caves in the 1990s before moving to Nova Scotia. David kindly sent me his detailed map and some background information, including that...
Discovery of the yellow pimpernel
Prescribed burns on the Hazel Bird Nature Reserve are being used to restore native oak savannah and tall grass prairie. (Photo by NCC)
Prescribed burns are an integral part of the restoration plan for oak savannah on the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) Hazel Bird Nature Reserve. As part of the burning process, NCC staff set up plots to monitor short and...
Searching for skipperlings
Poweshiek skipperling in Petri dish. (Photo by Monica Reed)
It started with a lesson on the swoop and the drop net – methods that I would soon use while searching for the elusive Poweshiek skipperling butterfly. If captured, a careful transfer from net to a Petri dish allows for the butterfly to be...
Found it!
Our geocaching team: 141girls, named after our dorm room number. (Photo by Raechel Bonomo/ NCC staff)
Saturday August 15 is International Geocaching Day! Geocaching is a worldwide treasure hunt, with caches (or treasure chests) ranging from micro to macro in size hidden throughout various terrains outdoors. The caches are found by using GPS...
