Paint your palette blue and grey
Old Man on His Back, SK, has just been named Canada's second Dark Sky Preserve (Photo by Alan Dyer)
There are some songs that you sing for years without really understanding the lyrics. Maybe the music is catchy and you mumble along or you even know the words, but never get the meaning. There is an old Don McLean song called Vincent that someone...
Conservation on a working landscape
The ground nesting, short-eared owl spotted from the cab of Bruce's tractor. Bruce stopped his tractor, found the nest, and saved the eggs because he could identify the bird and knew its ecology. (Photo by Bruce Boldt)
I want to share an interesting conversation I had with my friend Bruce a couple of weeks ago. We had both recently attended a meeting by the South Saskatchewan Water Stewards about environmental farm plans, decommissioning wells and the threat of...
Trail making at Fairy Hill
Volunteers carry sign posts to designated spot at Fairy Hill property for interpretive sign installation. (Photo by NCC)
I now have another reason to appreciate time spent hiking a trail after helping out at a Conservation Volunteers event at Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) Fairy Hill property this summer. I should clarify that NCC manages three...
Fescue friendship
(L-R) Whitney McNinch, Alex Fisher and Ellen Potts harvest plains rough fescue by hand on NCC`s Maymont 5 property (Photo by Kerry Hecker, Environment Canada)
“If you can’t eat ‘em, pick ‘em!” That’s a saying, right? Well, it is now. While conducting my first property inspection of the year, I discovered, to my dismay, the fence at Maymont 5 was not going to hold any...
Birds of Old Man on His Back
Barn swallow nesting at OMB interpretive centre (Photo by Dr. Steve Zack)
I moved to southwestern Saskatchewan in 1969 when I married a farmer/rancher whose land adjoins the Old Man on His Back Prairie Heritage and Conservation Area (OMB) on the south side. As a newcomer to the prairie, I had lots of fun learning about...
No sunflower seeds in the washrooms, please: What it's like to hold a conservation planning meeting in small-town SK
No sunflower seeds in the bathrooms, please (Photo by NCC)
“So, what are you guys up to today?” It is about 8:15 a.m. on a Tuesday morning and I’m picking up the keys for the Lumsden River Park Centre at the town office. I arrived before the office was open so Chris, who apparently...
Loggerhead shrike: A prairie jewel
Loggerhead shrike (Photo by Don and Karol Dabbs)
A denizen of the native prairie landscape, the loggerhead shrike has captivated me for years with its beauty, behaviour and pizzazz. Even its Latin name, Lanius ludovicianus, rolls off the tongue with passion and grace. Of course, the romanticism...
Kitchen table conservation: The importance of collaboration with landowners
Qu'Appelle River Valley, Saskatchewan (Photo by NCC)
It is surprising to some just how much conservation entails talking to people. It’s still important to identify species, assess the health of the landscapes we are managing, manage invasive species and all of the other tasks people expect,...
Mopping up Mortlach with MEC
Volunteers Jeffrey Price and Dylan Gross roll wire and clear the fence line at NCC's Mortlach Conservation Volunteer event, Fall 2014. (Photo by NCC)
The purchase of the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) property near Mortlach, Saskatchewan was partly funded by a donation from the Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC). As a member of MEC since the mid-1970s, I wanted to help "mop up" the Mortlach...
Be the light you want to see in others: My internship with NCC
Michelle Dano (courtesy Michelle Dano)
Volunteering is a unique, rewarding experience. Managing volunteers is perhaps even more rewarding. I started in my internship position as a Conservation Volunteers (CV) event leader without much knowledge of what goes into running a volunteer...
