That friggin' phrag
Shoot of alien species of phragmites poking through (Photo by Bill Moses)
Are you aware of the phragmites problem? We all know that at one time our native species thrived in a balanced ecosystem that is now being compromised by the rapid spread of some non-native plants. Phragmites australis (also known as common reed)...
Reptiles and amphibians of the Happy Valley Forest
Red eft (the immature form of the spotted newt) are the commonest reptile in the Happy Valley Forest and crowd the forest trails during egg-laying time. (Photo by Dr. Henry Barnett)
The reptile species in the Happy Valley Forest number 19. The area provides one of the last redoubts for the threatened Jefferson’s salamander. Red efts are common, red-backed and spotted salamanders will be regularly seen in the but the...
The rocky intertidal: Starring Pisaster ochraceus
The sea star team (from left to right: Maggie Cascadden, Marianna DiMauro, Chloe Boyle, Aimee McGowan, Mike Huck) (Photo by Anne Salomon)
Between ocean and land exists a remarkable place unlike any other in the world: the intertidal zone, where marine ecosystems are both exposed to air at low tide and under water during high tide. This unique space where land and sea meet is...
The Traills at Rice Lake
A view of the former home of Canadian author Catharine Parr Traill taken on Friday, September 19, 2014 on Smith Rd. in Lakefield. (Photo by Clifford Skarstedt/Peterborough Examiner/QMI Agency)
Ontarians usually associate Catharine Parr Traill with her book, The Backwoods of Canada. Those backwoods were located near Lakefield where she and her husband Thomas first pioneered on land just to the south of what is now Lakefield College...
Conserving Canada's natural capital
Lusicich, Crowsnest Pass, AB (Photo by NCC)
It might be hard to imagine that there's a close connection between my job as an economist at TD and my passion for the great outdoors — camping, hiking and canoeing being among my favourite pursuits. But there is. Over the past two years,...
My way of giving back to the community: Picking up!
Bunchberry Meadows Conservation Area, AB (Photo by Kyle Marquardt)
I have always enjoyed walking for exercise. I enjoy walking around the city pathways, walking to and from work, hitting nature trails out in our national parks and walking to do small tasks such as banking or picking up a few items at the grocery...
Wetlands update from the Cowichan Garry Oak Preserve
First light on the Garry oaks. (Photo by Ren Ferguson)
The morning was a beauty, with mist rising from Quamichan Lake illuminated in the rich sunrise. I was in for a treat. As I walked through the fields past huge Garry oak trees, I saw a fine black-tailed deer buck with shiny antlers and muscles...
Mammals of the Happy Valley Forest
White-tailed deer thrive in Happy Valley Forest wintering in the Hemlock areas of relatively less snow. (Photo by Dean Mullin)
In the wintertime the mammals are the most conspicuous form of life in the forest. The largest is the white-tailed deer, of which as many as nine have appeared below our feeder. Squirrels are the commonest mammal, with the black and its colour...
It’s nice to be on a little island: Reflections from the NCC 2015 Sandy Point cleanup
The shores of Sandy Point. (Photo by Kim Olson)
It’s nice to be on a little island. That was one sentiment shared by a Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) Conservation Volunteer at the annual Sandy Point cleanup; one that seemed to be shared by the dozen volunteers who joined that day. We...
The day peace was announced
Graduation day June, 1944. Five lieutenants in the RCAMC (left to right: Crawford, LaPierre, Barnett, Wells, and Smyth). Headed for junior internship then army officer training camps, graduating as captains.
I graduated from an abbreviated Toronto medical course in June of 1944. My real interest as a youth was to become an ornithologist but that did not resonate well with my father or the culture of the times. Instead I decided upon medical school and...
