Something’s fishy: Know your limit, fish within it
Ice fishing (CC0 1.0)
One of my favourite winter activities is bundling up and heading out to sit in front of a hole in the ice on a nearby lake for hours on end. While ice fishing isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, some of my most cherished memories are made...
Sudbury lakes are becoming less acidic
Common loons moult their feathers, starting at the base of their bills, before autumn migration in September. (Photo by Robert Alvo)
In my July 5, 2018, blog, I summarized my findings of over 25 years of examining the effects of lake acidification on common loon breeding success in the Sudbury region of Ontario. Although Sudbury's lakes have improved after decades of sulphur...
Santa's large helpers
Caribou on Darkwoods, British Columbia (Photo by Christian Schadendorf)
"Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen! "On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Dunder and Blixem!" Santa’s reindeer are kind of a big deal. They have important jobs, as they’re pretty much celebrities in the North Pole. Read on to find...
Love for the unseen
Polar bear (Photo by Andrew Derocher)
Never in my life have I had the pleasure of seeing a polar bear. Nor have my experiences ever brought me into a position of sharing space with this hyper-carnivorous predator who has dominated the food chain in its habitat so fully that it has...
Reigniting a love of insects
Monarch (Photo by NCC)
The love of insects can be a tough sell to many adults. Much like a fascination with dinosaurs, it seems that an interest in insects peaks during childhood and then declines for most people. Butterflies, however, are one of the few insects that...
Please fence me in
Tim Teetaert and Stephen Gietz installing fences at the Manitoba Tall Grass Prairie Preserve (Photo by NCC)
If you drove down Manitoba Provincial Road 201 this past summer, you may have seen Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) staffers installing fencing along a portion of NCC land at the Manitoba Tall Grass Prairie Preserve. You may have even asked...
Tiny beauties: Orchids on the Bruce
Broad-lipped twayblade (Photo by NCC)
As a former conservation technician intern at the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), I was lucky enough to see and learn a lot about nature and how to conserve it. When I worked for NCC, I had the opportunity to explore many different ecosystems...
Lending a hand at Bunchberry Meadows
Volunteers bagging thistle flower heads (Photo by NCC)
On August 30, 2018, I attended a Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) Conservation Volunteers event at NCC’s Bunchberry Meadows property in Alberta. This property was purchased as a joint project with the Edmonton & Area Land Trust, an...
Engaging interns in building a legacy
Laura Rincon, former GIS intern for NCC's Atlantic region (Photo by NCC)
Across Canada, there is an abundance of natural areas, from endangered grasslands in Saskatchewan to the rare, lush Acadian forested region of the Maritimes. These natural areas sustain a diversity of wildlife and plant species. Here at the...
Giving gifts in the Napanee Limestone Plain
Friends enjoying some time together while helping open up the landscape (Photo by NCC)
The Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) Conservation Volunteers program is a well-established and successful program that engages volunteers across the country. Recently, I hosted our first event in the Napanee Plain, and I have to...
