The hummingbird's igloo
Sweetiebird, an Anna's hummingbird, in her igloo. (Photo by Eric Pittman)
I always thought of hummingbirds as warm-weather birds. So I was surprised to see an Anna's hummingbird building a nest in early February. I was even more surprised because it was its sixth nest in a year, built in our yard. I live in Victoria,...
Heard it from a Scout: A beginner's guide to winter camping
Scouts pitch insulated tents to keep warm in winter. (Photo by Scouts Canada)
During the winter months, most Canadians dream of flying south to escape the snow, ice and below-zero temperatures. Scouts, on the other hand, like to get outside by heading to campgrounds to enjoy all that nature has to offer. A scout’s...
Out of sight, out of mind
Greater sage-grouse (Photo by Gordon Sherman © Audubon Canyon Ranch)
Now and then, I look out my living room window and begin to search. I am not searching for anything in particular, it is simply by habit. I can spend 20, or even 30, minutes just gazing here and there at just about anything. Little brown birds...
Natural Continuities: Connecting to nature through photography
Looking out over a pond at the MacMillan Nature Preserve. (Photo by Sara Schiavello)
This month, our class from Mr. Senisi’s Grade 12 photography class at St. Jean de Brebeuf Catholic High School in Woodbridge, Ontario, hosted a photography exhibit called Natural Continuities: A Photography Exhibit in Honour of Lyn...
Greenspace makes for great headspace
Hikers in Happy Valley Forest, ON (Photo by NCC)
The natural world has always been my fall-back position. Whenever life got too busy, scary or stressful or even when it was at its most fulfilling, I seemed to want, in fact to need, to find some green space to process it all, for a while. As a...
Speaking to scientists: Kristyn Ferguson
Kristyn Ferguson, program director, Georgian-Bay Huronia (Photo by Mike McGahon).
We at Earth Unfiltered were very lucky to have a conversation with Kristyn Ferguson, a program director from the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC). Kristyn is a Toronto-born nature lover who completed her bachelor's degree in environmental...
Canada's bats in crisis
Little brown myotis (Photo by Brock Fenton)
I’ll never forget the first time I saw a cloud of little brown myotis bats flying in broad daylight at the coldest time of the year in January. There was something vaguely disturbing and peculiar about seeing them fluttering around against a...
An ode to whale (Part Two)
Blue whale (Illustration by Denise Wong)
morning! /he takes in the salt /retiring to depth / (Inspired by Eden Killer Whale Museum) Facts: Baleen, also known as whalebone, is not bone. Baleen is the bristly drapery that lines the mouth of a dozen species of whales, including the...
Beech bark disease in Canada
Roots of an old American beech tree at Clear Creek Forest (Photo by NCC)
While hiking through some of Ontario’s forests, you may notice that the beech trees look infected by something. During my undergraduate studies in biology at Western University (formerly known as the University of Western Ontario), I learned...
Bees and wasps a buzzin'
Bees have a good reason to be wary of crab spiders. (Photo by Dr. Diana Bizecki Robson)
Through social media, I learned about the humble bumblebee’s need for drinking water. A need, no doubt, that has arisen as a result of prolonged droughts, loss of wetland habitats and loss of biodiversity. I was asked to incorporate a bee...
