Western University “BUGS” Students About the Environment
After months of hard work, the Western University BUGS’ Fundraising and Finance committee gather together after the talent show. (Photo courtesy Jenny Phan)
There’s a bevy of non-government organizations (NGO) supported at Western University, all with admirable objectives that fall on the grand spectrum of charity. Every academic year there is competition between clubs, each championing for...
Deciphering the nesting behaviour of barn swallows: What are THEY looking for?
Three barn swallow eggs spotted during a nest check in spring 2014! The nest cup edges and interior area are built up with mud pellets and beautifully lined with feathers. (Photo by Carolyn Zanchetta)
The unique song, fantastic flight pattern and beautiful colouration are just a few of the many wonderful features of the barn swallow that make it a favourite species to many bird watchers — myself included. Barn swallows are the most...
Up close and personal with a green heron
Green-backed heron (Photo by Keith Barr)
On May 07, 2014 I noticed a report on the Saskbirds website (a Yahoo discussion forum about the natural history of Saskatchewan's birds) of a green heron sighting at Dunnet Park near Avonlea, Saskatchewan. Two friends of mine went out to see the...
For the love of prairies: celebrating Native Prairie Appreciation Week
Missouri Coteau, Saskatchewan (Photo by Branimir Gjetvaj)
Uncultivated, wild prairie wool has a certain beauty and grace about it, and somehow also a sense of timelessness. Prairie landscapes are dynamic and always changing in subtle ways, yet remain unchanged in many other ways. There is an estimated...
Ol' Pop reflects on Father's Day and his family's respect for nature
Jeff and Mason Polakoff (Photo courtesy of Jeff Polakoff)
Anyone who knows me knows that my favourite place to be is surrounded by family at our cabin in Lake of the Woods; particularly with my wife Debbie, our daughter Jamie and her partner George, our son Mason and his wife Lindsay and our...
Acoustic ecology and ethical listening
Wind harp (Photo by Martin D, Wikimedia Commons)
This article is an abridged version of a piece originally published April 28, 2014 on the City Creatures blog for the Center for Humans and Nature. Using personal experiences of animal encounters in the urban wilderness as my starting point, I...
Robin
Robin (Photo by Lee Karney, USWFS)
When I was a year old my parents moved to a quarter section of bush where they built a farm. I would guesstimate that 95 per cent of what our family ate was grown on that farm. To build the nutrients up in the field’s clay soil Dad planted...
Good news for "The Grasses"! New study reveals presence of Newfoundland pine marten on NCC property
Cabin at the Grassy Place, NL (Photo by John Gosse)
It was a brutally cold and stormy day when local Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) steward Mike Targett and friend, Eddie Dempsey, escorted me to the upper reaches of Robinson’s River in western Newfoundland. The hour-long snowmobile trip...
Where the bears are: An update on the Wuikinuxv grizzly bear project
Grizzly bear (Photo by Vince Heney)
In the spring of 2013, I approached the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) about a project in Wuikinuxv Territory, in the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest, where grizzly bears and humans have shared the same riverbanks for thousands of years,...
Running for nature: How marathon training and conservation are very much alike
Running shoes (Photo by Jean-Yves Couput, Wikimedia Commons)
I used to smoke two packs of cigarettes a day. Then, at the age of 22, I was given an ultimatum involving kissing. At that point in my life it was the right motivation — more compelling than any arguments about heart health or cancer risk. I...
