A glimpse into a hidden refuge for nature: Volunteering at Severn Woodlands Nature Reserve
Volunteers at Severn Woodlands Nature Reserve, ON (Photo by Nicole Evelyn Senyi)
“Are you sure this is the right road?” I ask as I pull onto a heavily rutted dirt road that winds through thick forest. “I think so,” responds my passenger, Pia Kaukoranta, major gifts coordinator for the Nature...
Barnacle Bill: The loggerhead turtle of Belize
Left to right: Will Cascadden, the divemaster and Katie Cascadden (Photo courtesy of Katie Cascadden)
Last May my dad and I took a trip down to the beautiful country of Belize for a diving trip. Once at the docks off of Belize City, we had a two-hour boat ride we arrived at the Blackbird Caye of the Turneffe Atoll. Two days later on our second...
The Toronto Carrying Place and the Happy Valley Forest
Four Oaks Corner, Happy Valley Forest, ON (Photo by Dr. Henry Barnett)
In my late thirties one day in the halls of the Toronto General Hospital, I was sought out and challenged by the great neurosurgeon Harry Botterell to accept the fact that if I was to be so dedicated and single-minded about neurology and busy in a...
Why I'm hooked on birding at the Tatlayoko Lake Bird Observatory
Avery Bartels with a sharp-shinned hawk (Photo by Kristie Foster)
Many years before I was born my parents bought eight acres (three hectares) with a small cabin on it near Nelson BC. As their family grew, so did their humble abode to accommodate my four siblings and me. From as early as I can remember I have...
Mother’s Day
Canada geese (Photo by Denise Harris)
When I think of a mother I think of my own mother who gave selflessly and tirelessly her entire life. My mother worked from dawn ‘til late every night, 365 days of the year. She was always busy with an endless list of chores. From growing...
From Austin to Ottawa, we are ALL connected!
Bufflehead duck (Photo by Karol Dabbs)
I grew up in Charleston, South Carolina. I live in Austin, Texas, and I support conservation work all over Canada! You may be wondering, "WHY?!" The answer is very simple: I love nature, and I really love birds! Even more than that, I love making...
What’s the buzz on bees at the Cowichan Preserve?
Cowichan Garry Oak Preserve flowers, BC (Photo by Tim Ennis/NCC)
You’ve probably seen it in the news: bees are in trouble. There has been a lot of press about managed honeybees that have been introduced to North America for pollination and honey. Unfortunately, we also know that many wild bees are also...
Love is in the air
Swift fox (Photo by Clio Smeeton)
Now is the time of year when, as the old song goes, "A young man's fancy lightly turns to love." When it comes to swift foxes, their hearts definitely do. The female swift fox, or vixen, holds court in her den while her suitors, dog foxes, come...
The year the bluebirds stayed the winter
A pair of western bluebirds is spotted in March prospecting for nest boxes at a territory that has not been used by bluebirds since 2013. (Photo by Trudy Chatwin)
In Canada, conservation activities for the western bluebird normally begin in earnest in late March or early April, timed with the arrival of the first birds returning from migration to their breeding grounds. But it was only mid-January when we...
Why I volunteer with the Nature Conservancy of Canada
Ellen and Heidi explore a crevice in the alvar landscape (Photo courtesy of Ellen Weatherbee)
The combination of being a botanist and owning land on Cockburn Island has been a natural fit for doing work with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC). I have concentrated on doing what I do best — surveying the plants and their...
