The great Canadian lizard hunt
![Eastern short-horned lizard (Photo by Leta Pezderic/NCC staff)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/species/amphibian-reptile/eastern-short-horned-lizard-By-Leta-Pezderic-47-thumb.jpg)
Eastern short-horned lizard (Photo by Leta Pezderic/NCC staff)
One of the privileges that come with working for the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is the opportunity to explore some of our country’s most endangered ecosystems and — if you’re lucky enough — encounter some of the...
Saving wonder
![One of my most treasured photos of my kids discovering a turtle when they were little (Photo by Dan Kraus/NCC staff)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/blog/dan-kids-holding-turtle-thumb.jpg)
One of my most treasured photos of my kids discovering a turtle when they were little (Photo by Dan Kraus/NCC staff)
“I caught a turtle!” The call rang out repeatedly over the lake near Algonquin Park, where my family has a cottage. It was early, my teenage boys were still in bed, when the turtle-catching alarm came. It was from across the lake, in a...
Call of the Wetland
![Volunteers search the wetland shoreline for amphibians. (Photo by Melanie Rathburn)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/blog/Call-of-the-Wetland-volunteer-at-an-urban-wetland-melanierathburn-thumb.jpg)
Volunteers search the wetland shoreline for amphibians. (Photo by Melanie Rathburn)
Have you ever heard frogs or toads calling in an urban environment? Or spotted a secretive salamander as it makes it way to an urban pond? If you live in Calgary, the Miistakis Institute is interested in your observations! With Miistakis’...
One million steps: A hike to honour the legacy of conservation (Part two)
![Snow-covered trail sign at Hockley Valley, ON (Photo by Dan Kraus/NCC staff)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/blog/snow-BT-sign-DK-thumb.jpg)
Snow-covered trail sign at Hockley Valley, ON (Photo by Dan Kraus/NCC staff)
Hiking north, we crossed the height of land that defines the watershed between Lake Ontario and Lake Huron. This landscape includes Hockley Valley and Mono Cliffs, provincial parks I had only rarely visited in the past. Over a century ago, much of...
One million steps: A hike to honour the legacy of conservation (Part one)
![Rockway Conservation Area, a conservation area that NCC helped the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority protect in the 1970s. (Photo by Chris Knaggs)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/blog/Dan-at-Rockway-Conservation-Area-thumb.jpg)
Rockway Conservation Area, a conservation area that NCC helped the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority protect in the 1970s. (Photo by Chris Knaggs)
I’ve been working at my dream job at the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) for 15 years. In addition to the deep satisfaction of lasting conservation impacts, NCC is also a great place to work. One of the opportunities NCC provides is that...
So you think you can...mate? Bird edition (Part two)
![Greater sage-grouse (Photo by Gordon Sherman © Audubon Canyon Ranch)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/species/bird/greater-sage-grouse-Gordon-Sherman-Audubon-Canyon-Ranch-thumb.jpg)
Greater sage-grouse (Photo by Gordon Sherman © Audubon Canyon Ranch)
The plight of many grassland species, and species at risk in general, has been treated in depth or at least mentioned often over the past few years, including in Land Lines (e.g. “Why Canada’s prairies are the world’s most...
So you think you can...mate? Bird edition (Part one)
![Wideview, SK (Photo by Bill Armstong)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/land/sk/wideview-bill-armstrong-thumb.jpg)
Wideview, SK (Photo by Bill Armstong)
Spring is in the air…finally! The calendar on my wall has been lying to me for a month. It's spring, you say? Tell that to my toes ― I'm sorry, but sub-zero (Fahrenheit!) temperatures, snow on the ground and second-degree frostbite feel a...
The Swishwash Island bioblitz
![L-R: Shannon, Robin and Dave (Photo courtesy of BCIT students)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/blog/IMG_9870.jpg)
L-R: Shannon, Robin and Dave (Photo courtesy of BCIT students)
We are three students in our final year of the fish, wildlife and recreation program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. We were excited to choose Swishwash Island for our final research project because it gave us the opportunity to...
It's complicated, honey
![Sweat bee on Flax (Photo by Marika Olynyk/NCC staff)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/species/insect/sweat_bee_marika_olynyk_thumb.jpg)
Sweat bee on Flax (Photo by Marika Olynyk/NCC staff)
Spring draws nigh: the season of the birds and the bees. Birdsong is a welcome gift, but where would we be without bees? Their obsessive quest for pollen and nectar keeps much of Alberta’s native flora alive. There would be fewer willows,...
What the meadowlark sang to my grandmother
![Western meadowlark (Photo by Allison Haskell)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/species/bird/western-meadowlark-by-Allison-Haskell-thumb.jpg)
Western meadowlark (Photo by Allison Haskell)
I am not a professional biologist or a fanatical birder like many of my colleagues. I feel like I am surrounded — I mean, it’s Saskatchewan, so it’s tough to feel surrounded by much of anyone or anything — by highly trained...