Strength in numbers: Captive breeding and release program for shrikes in Ontario
All of the young shrikes are banded with a uniquely-numbered metal band before they are released; most will also get a combination of colour bands so they can be easily identified from a distance in the wild. (Photo by Lydia Dotto, ImageInnovation Photography)
There are only a few places left in Ontario where you can reliably find the endangered loggerhead shrike; one of those places is a property owned by the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC). NCC’s Scheck Nature Reserve, located northeast of...
Tweeting on the Toronto Blue Jays (and their bird counterpart)
Blue jay (Photo by NCC)
Let's go Blue Jays, let's go! To help you cheer on the Toronto Blue Jays, here are some handy tweetable facts about the bird from which they get their name. Just like the base-stealing...
Birds of the Happy Valley Forest (Part Four)
This hawk lives in closed canopies such as those found in Happy Valley and thrives on small mammals and birds. (Photo by Dr. Henry Barnett)
During our five-year participation in Ontario in the Breeding Bird Census, daughter Ann Love and I found 109 breeding species in the Happy Valley Forest area or species seen regularly overhead in breeding season. The Happy Valley Forest has no...
Something’s Fishy: Swimming with the sculpin
Deepwater sculpin (Photo by Doug Watkinson/Fisheries and Oceans Canada)
The first time I saw a sculpin splashing around was in a large bucket, among several other fish species, captured for a population survey of small creek on a piece of residential land. I was working with the Central Lake of Ontario Conservation...
Cave diving in the Ottawa River, Canada
Dressed and ready to enter the water - note the yellow loggers on my right. (Photo by Cheryl Buzzacott)
Before coming to Canada I contacted renowned Canadian cave diver David Sawatzky, whom I knew had mapped these caves in the 1990s before moving to Nova Scotia. David kindly sent me his detailed map and some background information, including that...
Discovery of the yellow pimpernel
Prescribed burns on the Hazel Bird Nature Reserve are being used to restore native oak savannah and tall grass prairie. (Photo by NCC)
Prescribed burns are an integral part of the restoration plan for oak savannah on the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) Hazel Bird Nature Reserve. As part of the burning process, NCC staff set up plots to monitor short and...
Birds of the Happy Valley Forest (Part Three)
Pileated woodpecker, the size of a small crow, is the glamour boy of the Happy Valley Forest. His shouting call is heard throughout the year. (Photo by Dr. Henry Barnett)
Without a doubt the pileated woodpecker is close to the top of dramatic inhabitants of the Happy Valley Forest. Its demanding call is befitting of the crow-like size and overall rugged appearance — wild! One cannot walk in the forest in the...
Bending Willow Creek: Meandering through Minesing
Volunteers at NCC's River Bends on the Mend CV event. (Photo by Miguel Hortiguela)
It was the summer of 1982 and I'd just finished my first of three years in the Fish and Wildlife Technology program at Sir Sandford Fleming College (since re-branded as Fleming College) in Lindsay, Ontario. I'd been offered a summer job with the...
Jasmine's day at the Carden Alvar Butterfly Count
Jasmine at the Carden Alvar Butterfly Count. (Photo by Mary Kennard)
My name is Jasmine and this summer I went to the Carden Alvar Annual Butterfly Count in Kirkfield, Ontario. I counted butterflies with my mom and Aunty Mary. I caught an eastern comma butterfly in my net. I caught three butterflies, my mom and...
Birds of the Happy Valley Forest (Part Two)
Two species commonly sharing the feeder: rose-breasted grosbeak and male indigo bunting. These and the oriole represent the greatest beauties in the forest. (Photo by Dr. Henry Barnett)
Summer birds There is plenty of sound in the Happy Valley Forest, from the summering birds throughout the day and the woods only quiet down from September to late March. Some usually mid-southern birds have reached the Moraine to live. I can...
