A prothonotary warbler partnership takes flight
![Prothonotary warbler (Photo by Bill Hubick)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/species/bird/Prothonotary_Warbler_Bill_Hubick.jpg)
Prothonotary warbler (Photo by Bill Hubick)
Deep in the swamp forest of Backus Woods in Ontario on a hot summer’s day, it’s easy to feel as though one has been transported to somewhere in the Mississippi basin. The thick canopy of mature Carolinian trees provides shade to...
Searching for worms in Ontario’s restored tall grass prairie
![Ontario’s largest exotic earthworm, <i>Lumbricus terrestris</i>. (Photo by Heather Cray)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/species/invertebrate/ont-largest-worm-h-cray-thumb.jpg)
Ontario’s largest exotic earthworm, Lumbricus terrestris. (Photo by Heather Cray)
Looking across a beautiful stretch of native tall grass prairie in its full glory, the first thing that might strike you is, well, the grass; big bluestem, switchgrass, Indian grass, all of them might reach up to or above eye level. Then there are...
Lakeside daisy: The yellow jewel of spring
![Lakeside daisy (Photo by Charles Peirce)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/species/plant/lakeside-daisy-Charles-Peirce-thumb.jpg)
Lakeside daisy (Photo by Charles Peirce)
There is nothing quite like witnessing the beauty of flowering lakeside daisies across an alvar in early June. This brilliant yellow member of the aster family is found almost exclusively on the alvars of the Saugeen Bruce Peninsula and southern...
How a fragmented forest helps a flying fish
![Redside dace (Photo by K. Schmidt)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/species/aquatic/redsidedaceK-Schmidt-thumb.jpg)
Redside dace (Photo by K. Schmidt)
The tall trees in the MacMillan Nature Reserve stand like an island of green within the urban matrix of Vaughan, Ontario. Sprawling and sparkling new subdivisions splash up against three sides of this natural area; a five-lane roadway borders the...
Women in conservation: Mhairi McFarlane
Mhairi McFarlane with leucospora (Photo by NCC)
In honour of International Women’s Day (March 8), we’re celebrating eight female conservationists at the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) who are working to create a stronger future for Canada’s landscapes.For Mhairi McFarlane,...
Something's Fishy: Shock me like an American eel
![American eel (Photo from Wikimedia Commons)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/species/aquatic/American_eel_wikimedia-thumb.jpg)
American eel (Photo from Wikimedia Commons)
The electrofishing boat gently rocked against the current of the water below. It was a scorching summer day in late August on a tributary in Lake Ontario, and no amount of SPF could have saved my freckled shoulders from the sun’s...
A species' international highway
![White-tailed deer (Photo by Lorne)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/species/mammal/White-tailed-deer-Photo-by-Lorne-thumb.jpg)
White-tailed deer (Photo by Lorne)
Humans aren’t the only creatures on Earth that need to get around. Animals in the wild have to travel as well, some to migrate, some to hunt and others to find mates. And that explains the importance of the Frontenac Arch, a...
Women in conservation: Kathryn Folkl
![Kathryn Folkl (Photo by NCC)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/people/on/Web-Kathryn-Folkl-thumb.jpg)
Kathryn Folkl (Photo by NCC)
In honour of International Women’s Day (March 8), we’re celebrating eight female conservationists at the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) who are working to create a stronger future for Canada’s landscapes. Growing up on the...
Adventures restoring Lake Erie Farms
![Norfolk, ON (Photo by NCC)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/blog/norfolk-field-ON-by-NCC-thumb.jpg)
Norfolk, ON (Photo by NCC)
Not everything goes according to plan. It was June 2009, the third growing season at the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) Lake Erie Farms ecological restoration property in Norfolk County, Ontario. I was the ecological...
Biting down on the eastern subterranean termite
![Petri dish trials to examine behaviour patterns in eastern subterranean termite populations. (Photo by Vicki Simkovic)](https://www.natureconservancy.ca/assets/images/blog/petri-dish-experiment-v-simkovic-thumb.jpg)
Petri dish trials to examine behaviour patterns in eastern subterranean termite populations. (Photo by Vicki Simkovic)
Watching a termite farm through a glass aquarium is fascinating, as you peer into the life of a mysterious species whose activities are normally hidden from view. Workers can be seen excavating tunnels, using their jaws to move soil grain by...