Creating new memories with our neighbours: Coming together to celebrate Caribou Island
Caribou Island, ON (Photo by Alexander Paterson)
On August 20, 2014, I had the great privilege of attending an event to celebrate the Nature Conservancy of Canada's (NCC's) latest acquisition on the north shore of Lake Superior — 167 acres (67 hectares) on Caribou Island. Hosted by one of...
I bought a pulaski
Pulaski (Photo by C0ntributor, Wikimedia Commons)
From the Latin names of plants to field equipment, the lingo in the conservation world can be complex. But the pulaski isn’t an endangered species or a scientific instrument. It’s not a normal part of the Nature Conservancy of...
The search for an elusive species
Black purse-web spider (Photo by Rob Craig, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry)
The black purse-web spider is not well known in Ontario. The species has been found occasionally across Southern Ontario, from Windsor to Belleville, including a recent find in Rouge Park in 2012. Interestingly, it belongs to the group of...
The force of fire on the Rice Lake Plains
Prescribed burn on Hazel Bird property, Rice Lake Plains, ON (Photo by NCC)
Wildfires cause a lot of destruction each summer. There are dramatic videos and pictures in the news every year. So why did the Rice Lake Plains Joint Initiative (RLPJI) partner organizations purposely light several fires this spring? In some...
Why I walk in the woods
American Chestnut (Photo by Norfolk County)
The woods deliver in every season. Backus Woods is my favourite refuge and whenever I visit I am reminded why. It’s nothing in particular, really, but the experience itself. It’s breathing in the sweet, fresh oxygen-rich air as snow...
Hunting orchids in Minesing wetland
Eastern prairie white-fringed orchid (Photo by NCC)
As an intern with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), I often find myself walking a fine line between work and play. Even the toughest days are balanced by the realization that my workplace typically consists of wetlands, grasslands and...
Carden Nature Festival 2014: “Plain” and simply inspiring
Male eastern bluebird ready to enter a near by nesting box to feed its chicks (Photo by 2014 MudInspired.com)
I had the opportunity to attend the 2014 Carden Nature Festival, which fell on the weekend of June 7 and 8, 2014 at the Carden Community Centre on the shores of Lake Dalrymple. Touching a special place in my heart due to its location, this event...
Creating connections in Norfolk County
University of Waterloo environment & resource studies students at Long Point, ON (Photo by Brian Craig)
This spring, eight students left the lecture halls of the University of Waterloo and travelled to the Long Point Biosphere Reserve in Norfolk County, Ontario to discover ecological restoration in practice. The University course was taught by Brian...
Aruba, Jamaica, ooh I wanna take ya...to Cockburn Island
Our team of expert naturalists and Cockburn Islanders outside the Tolsmaville Town Hall on Cockburn Island, May 30th (photo courtesy of Maria Diebolt).
The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) recently acquired land on a beautiful and remote island just west of Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron called Cockburn Island. Because of its remoteness, relatively little information about the biological...
Not wanted on the island: Combatting common reed on Pelee
Invasive non-native phragmites on Pelee Island (Photo by NCC)
No visit to beautiful Pelee Island is complete without a visit to the beach. The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) has protected more than one kilometre of globally significant shoreline habitat on the island. This habitat supports turtles,...
