Remembering his cedar canoe
![My grandfather's canoe, his pride and joy. Our neighbours out for a paddle in the canoe (Photo courtesy of Asha Swann/NCC intern)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/blog/asha-grandfathers-canoe-thumb.jpg)
My grandfather's canoe, his pride and joy. Our neighbours out for a paddle in the canoe (Photo courtesy of Asha Swann/NCC intern)
The cedar canoe hanging from my grandparents’ garage roof stands out for good reason. A dusty photo album in the basement with “1993” scrawled in my grandmother’s cursive tells me that this canoe is older than I am, though...
Outside my window: Nature hidden in suburbia
![Oblique streaktail on my wild nodding onion plant (Photo by Wendy Ho/NCC staff)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/blog/Zoomed-in-hoverfly-for-iNat-WendyHo-thumb.jpg)
Oblique streaktail on my wild nodding onion plant (Photo by Wendy Ho/NCC staff)
Over the summer, I’ve tried to be attentive and notice the nature in my eight-square-metre backyard. It’s where I can make unhurried observations without the looming thought of hogging the trail from fellow hikers. And you know what?...
Cockroaches and colours: Exercises in attention on Pelee Island
![Woodburnings of some my favourite species on Pelee Island: the eastern banded tigersnail, broad-banded forestsnail, and striped whitelip. These snails are all nationally endangered and threatened by a range of factors including climate change, habitat loss and competition from introduced snails and slugs. (Photo by Hashveenah Manoharan/NCC intern)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/blog/woodburnings-of-snail-species-hashveenah-profile.jpg)
Woodburnings of some my favourite species on Pelee Island: the eastern banded tigersnail, broad-banded forestsnail, and striped whitelip. These snails are all nationally endangered and threatened by a range of factors including climate change, habitat loss and competition from introduced snails and slugs. (Photo by Hashveenah Manoharan/NCC intern)
On one of my first days working for the Nature Conservancy of Canada as conservation intern on Pelee Island, a cockroach had nestled itself into my copy of Mary Oliver’s collection of poems, Devotions. As a lifelong urbanite, my instinct was...
Reflections from 500 days of birds: A story of citizen science
![Me and my birding sidekick (Photo by Jodi Elchyshyn)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/blog/Landlines_Elchyshyn_01-thumb.jpg)
Me and my birding sidekick (Photo by Jodi Elchyshyn)
Following the announcement of the COVID-19 pandemic in early March 2020, many of us faced new challenges during these unprecedented times. As a recent graduate and working biologist, I was lucky to be able to work remotely from my apartment in...
Ode to a nature commute – part 4, summer
![A bee on wild bergamot plant (Photo by Gayle Roodman/NCC)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/blog/bee-on-bee-balm-gr-ncc-thumb.jpg)
A bee on wild bergamot plant (Photo by Gayle Roodman/NCC)
This is part four of a four-part series on bike commuting through nature. Read part one – fall here, part two – winter here, and part three – spring here. Silly me, hoping that for part four of this blog I’d be back on...
The Wildflower Blog: Three favourite wildflowers to grow
![Bloodroot (Photo by Thomas Noland)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/blog/bloodroot-flower-thomas-noland-thumb.jpg)
Bloodroot (Photo by Thomas Noland)
Bloodroot, Dutchman's breeches and Virginia bluebells are three lovely spring-blooming wildflowers that are worthy of any flower garden, not just a wildflower garden. In my garden, its always a race between bloodroot and Dutchman's breeches for...
My best Canada's Parks Day wishes!
![Penouille Beach, Forillon National Park, QC (Photo by François Duclos/NCC staff)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/blog/Penouille-2020-Francois-Duclos-NCCstaff-thumb.jpg)
Penouille Beach, Forillon National Park, QC (Photo by François Duclos/NCC staff)
It was summer of 1983, or maybe 1984. I was six or seven years old, and this is the earliest memory I have of a national park experience. I vividly remember standing in the cold waters of the Bay of Gaspé, with the water just above my...
The calming effects of natural soundscapes
![Birds, wind, rain – these sounds enrich our experience of natural landscapes. (Photo by André Cook, Pexels)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/blog/picture-forest-pexels-andre-cook-thumb.jpg)
Birds, wind, rain – these sounds enrich our experience of natural landscapes. (Photo by André Cook, Pexels)
Birds chirping, wind brushing through treetops, the babble of running water — nature’s music is abundant and has long been a source of comfort for humanity. Shakespeare noted the beauty of nature’s sounds in The Tempest: The...
Keep your coffee mug covered: How spongy moths put a lid on my camping trip
![A caterpillar crawling on my pants (Photo by Jensen Edwards/NCC staff)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/blog/caterpillar-on-tarp-JE-thumb.jpg)
A caterpillar crawling on my pants (Photo by Jensen Edwards/NCC staff)
As a west-coaster, I’ve come to relish the soothing splats of raindrops on my tent — so long as, of course, I am dry and warm inside. That sound, that damp smell that steams up from rainforest ferns, they awaken in me memories of...
Wild about chickens
![Lacy Mae and Matilda (Photo by LM Neilson/NCC staff)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/blog/Lacey-Mae-and-Matilda-lmn-ncc-thumb.jpg)
Lacy Mae and Matilda (Photo by LM Neilson/NCC staff)
Today it starts at 5:36 a.m. The rusty cackle slides in through my open window with the early morning light. I pause for a brief second to make sure I really heard the sound before opening my eyes and swinging my legs over the edge of the bed. The...