Keeping my distance from a gentle giant
Moose on Mount Hereford, QC (Photo by MRC de Coaticook)
I have had a great respect for moose ever since a misadventure at Cape Breton Highlands National Park, Nova Scotia, more than 20 years ago. While hiking along the popular Skyline Trail, my boyfriend and I came across several moose grazing on low...
Capturing a conservation gem in action
Bald eagle (Photo by NCC)
One of the greatest Canadian conservation success stories is that of the bald eagle. It’s hard to believe that such an iconic species was almost wiped out, yet today in Atlantic Canada, bald eagles are so numerous that we export them to the...
Places worth protecting: Atlantic Canada
Crabbes River, NL (Photo by Mike Dembeck)
At the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), we like to say we produce results you can walk on. Without a doubt, the lands that NCC protects are the primary measure of our effectiveness and contribution to the conservation of Canadian nature in all...
The Migratory Bird Treaty turns 100!
Woman, wearing a large feathered hat and boa, posing for a portrait (Photo by John Oxley Library, Public Domain)
This year we mark the centennial of the convention between the United States and Great Britain (for Canada) for the protection of migratory birds — also called the Migratory Bird Treaty — that was signed on August 16, 1916. A century...
In pictures: Ten years of planting, pulling and birding for conservation
Birders join in on the CV fun in Codroy, NFLD, 2013. (Photo by NCC)
A picture is worth a thousand words. It is a visual representation of a moment in time, captured within a frame, and serves as a memory of an event. In the 10 years of the Conservation Volunteer (CV) program, the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC)...
Something's Fishy: All about that bass
Largemouth bass (Photo by Trisha M. Shears)
When I think of Canada's rich history, I like to look back at all of the knick-knacks in my grandparent's house. Their old two-story home in Oshawa, Ontario served as my own personal museum. Old books, leather crafts from my grandfather’s...
Adventures on snowshoe
Tracks in the forest of NCC's Lincoln Wetland Nature Reserve in New Brunswick (Photo by NCC)
I started snowshoeing regularly last winter, and I am hooked! One of the things I love about it is being able to explore areas that are not easily accessible for most of the year. For instance, crossing a large expanse of wetland can be an...
To everything there is a season. Tern! Tern! Tern!
Common tern in flight at Tern Island, Tabusintac (Photo by Claire Elliott/NCC)
On a June day last year, I found myself on a small sandy island surrounded by thousands of screaming terns overhead. With the smell of guano filling my nose, I carefully picked my footing around nests containing eggs and thought — it's good...
Nice habitats, but not for humans
A brightly-coloured mushroom in an alder thicket in the Chignecto Isthmus, NB (Photo by Joanna Hudgins)
As a Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) intern, I spent many days this past summer strolling along beaches that rival the Caribbean for their beauty. Not all days could be like that, of course, so some days I hiked (or rather, scrambled) through...
Highlights of my NCC Conservation Internship
One of the most beautiful places we visited was Shamper’s Bluff, on the Kingston Peninsula of New Brunswick. (Photo by Joanna Hudgins)
I came into this internship full of excitement for the places I would see and the things I would do. After two years of studying to be a fish and wildlife technician in Central Ontario, I was beyond happy to be working in the Maritimes again. I...