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...
What nature means to an 89-year-old
Author Zoë and her granny standing beside Lake Ambleside in England. (Photo by Zoë Arnold/NCC staff)
At six months shy of 90 years of age, my granny Vera is a strong-willed (some might say stubborn) English woman. Each time she boards the double-decker bus, she insists on climbing the narrow, winding stairs up to the top deck. As the bus begins...
Leave only footprints: Minimizing your impact in nature
Grace and Pepper exploring the winter wonderland (Photo by NCC)
Nature has been my greatest teacher. As a child growing up in the semi-desert of the Okanagan in British Columbia, I learned not to touch prickly pear, which plants smelled the most like sage and to move away from the warning rattle of a...
Uncovering the magic of winter wildlife
Meeting Lake 03, SK (Photo by NCC)
While attending college in Winnipeg, my classmate and I used to walk north from the campus at the corner of Shaftesbury and Grant streets to explore the different sections of Assiniboine Park. As the school year was between September and April,...
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...
The silence of the hillsides
Fort Ellice, Riding Mountain (Photo by NCC)
For the past six months, I’ve worked as an assistant conservation biologist with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) in Riding Mountain Natural Area in western Manitoba. I found that a summer in the area challenged me to reconsider how I...
From one NCC intern to another
Bourgeau Lake in Banff National Park (Photo by Sophia Yang/NCC)
One of the main reasons why working for the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is so rewarding is because of all the wonderful people that make the work possible. At the forefront are NCC’s interns. Whether it’s spending days at a time...
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...
