Earth Day 2018: Buddies, boundaries and nearby nature
Red trillium (Photo by Sherry Nigro)
Earth Day is a good time to think about the future. How do we ensure our children grow up healthy and happy? Research suggests that the answer is right outside our back door: help them connect with nature. Benefits of time in nature Spending...
Tracking animals by what they leave behind
Fresh coyote scat chock full of deer hair (Photo by Mark Stabb/NCC staff)
Wildlife tracking is one of the many fun nature activities you can take part in. One of my favourite pastimes is pointing out something to a friend or family member that they may have never noticed before, especially something left behind by...
So many species, so many ways to study them
Spotted salamander (Photo by Rosemary Mosco)
I have the best job in the world. I encourage people to get excited about nature. I’m a science communicator — someone who bridges the gap between scientists, the media and the public, helping us understand each other better. One way...
Being a Bird in North America: Q&A with Robert Alvo
Robert Alvo, author of Being a Bird in North America (Photo courtesy of Robert Alvo)
From common loons to trumpeter swans, birds have long captivated the fascination of people of all ages. Being a land blessed with a vast and varied landscape, Canada provides habitat to nearly 700 species of birds. Whether you’ve come to...
Beak to beak: The importance of Bird and Biodiversity Areas and Migratory Bird Sanctuaries
Semipalmated plover, Johnson's Mills, NB (Photo by Mike Dembeck)
Protecting land is critical to the survival of Canada’s natural world. With approximately 80,000 known plant and animal species, many of which are in decline, it is no wonder that the protection of wildlife habitat has never been more...
How protecting water and land on Covey Hill helps Quebec’s salamanders
Allegheny mountain dusky salamander (Photo by Frédérick Lelièvre, Quebec Government)
Deep in the rolling knolls of the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) Covey Hill in Quebec are underground water sources, bursting through the land’s surface. These streams and rivers provide habitat for many animals,...
Wildlife are found where they eat
Red squirrel cache (Photo by J. Schmidt/U.S. National Parks Service)
Middens are one of my favourite things to point out during a nature hike. Although more noticeable in the winter, they are a great way to see evidence of the presence of wildlife in an area, in every season. You might be thinking, “What the...
NCC's Pelee Island fox squad on a mission to clean up Ontario's deep south
Gray fox pup (Photo by Ken Canning)
Making homes for Ontario’s rare and elusive gray fox takes a lot of work. In the fall of 2017, the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) Pelee Island fox squad travelled to the island in the province’s deep south to do...
Parenting tricks from the wild
Baby elephants playing (Photo by Wikimedia Commons)
Parents everywhere would agree that raising children is no easy feat. New challenges come with every stage of development, from the newborn stage of learning how to eat and sleep, to the more advanced skill of communication. It wasn’t until...
My 2017 Ontario birding “Big Year”
Violet-green swallow at Thunder Bay Marina, Ontario's third ever record of this species. (Photo by Jeremy Bensette)
Last year was a pretty “big” one for me, birding-wise! I committed to completing a "Big Year," a quest to see as many bird species as possible in one year in my beautiful home province of Ontario, and held onto that goal until dark on...
