Why did the bird hit my window?
This American robin was an unfortunate victim of a window strike (Photo by Wendy Ho/NCC staff)
Last spring, when songbirds were migrating back to southern Canada from their wintering sites, I witnessed the victim of my first bird window strike — a juvenile American robin. My husband heard a “bonk” sound against the house....
Rhubarb and monarchs: an unlikely duo
Monarch butterfly on aster (Photo by June Swift)
June is my favourite month. That time of year when you’re on the cusp of hot summer weather, daydreaming of how you’ll spend the dog days of summer in some sort of lake or having a picnic in the shade. For gardeners like myself,...
The most majestic seagull
Bald eagle (Photo by Brittany Foster)
As a child, I split my time between a forested acreage and an old farmhouse in Nova Scotia surrounded by lush fields and cow pastures. From coyotes meandering up the driveway and bats roosting in the garage, to raccoons raiding the compost and...
Lovebirds: The day I broke a turkey's heart
Wild male turkey (Photo by Wayne Dumbleton, CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0)
One of my favourite field work stories comes from my very first field season. I’ll be the first to admit that I had no idea what I was doing back then. I couldn’t identify most plants, was slightly scared (ok, terrified) of dragonflies...
Digging badgers: A close encounter
A badger at its burrow. (Photo by J. Sayers, Ontario Badger Project)
“A badger? On my property? There are no badgers here!” is often the response I got from landowners in southern Ontario during my short stint as a field technician for the Ontario Badger Project. American badgers are difficult to spot;...
Hiker meets hunter: An encounter with a snowy owl
A male snowy owl (Photo by Pixabay)
When I moved to Newfoundland in 2011, I was excited to explore the incredible landscapes of my adopted province. Even the most densely populated part of the province — the Avalon Peninsula near St. John’s — is still wild enough...
The most enchanting lump of snow
Snowy owl (Photo by ThinkStock)
As the end of the year approaches, we, the editorial staff at the Nature Conservancy of Canada, search high and low for species’ close encounter stories from our colleagues across the country. As I anxiously waited for submissions, I had...
Meeting wildlife in the wilds of Cape Breton
Canada lynx (Photo by Shutterstock)
This story was written by Kathryn Morse, as told by Danielle Horne. My work on the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) stewardship team in Nova Scotia means that I spend several months in the field every summer and fall, monitoring...
Call of the wolf
Algonquin canoe trip in 2007. (Photo by Dawn Senyi)
“Did you hear that?” I asked my mother. We were lying on our backs on the rocks that sloped down toward one of Algonquin Park’s hundreds of interior lakes. It was warm for late summer, and the Perseids were putting on quite the...
The magic of nature
Denise Harris with her granddaughter (Photo by NCC)
When I first started going to my neighbourhood park, I often saw disturbing human behaviour; some from children as young as three. In the "School of Life," where my field-testing on educating others about our waterfowl neighbours initially failed,...
