From office to woods: NCC’s 2018 National office field trip
NCC National and Ontario staff at annual field trip, Backus Woods, ON (Photo by NCC)
On May 25, many Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) National office staff visited our Backus Woods property in Norfolk County, Ontario, for our annual staff field trip. I’ve been working for NCC for almost two years and this was my second...
Call of the Wetland
Volunteers search the wetland shoreline for amphibians. (Photo by Melanie Rathburn)
Have you ever heard frogs or toads calling in an urban environment? Or spotted a secretive salamander as it makes it way to an urban pond? If you live in Calgary, the Miistakis Institute is interested in your observations! With Miistakis’...
Conservation as a pathway to sustainability
Wolf Lake (Photo by John Anonby)
Few of us need to be convinced that there is an important connection between a healthy natural environment and improved human health. But what is perhaps less obvious is nature’s connection with other pressing societal issues. This is...
One million steps: A hike to honour the legacy of conservation (Part two)
Snow-covered trail sign at Hockley Valley, ON (Photo by Dan Kraus/NCC staff)
Hiking north, we crossed the height of land that defines the watershed between Lake Ontario and Lake Huron. This landscape includes Hockley Valley and Mono Cliffs, provincial parks I had only rarely visited in the past. Over a century ago, much of...
So you think you can...mate? Bird edition (Part two)
Greater sage-grouse (Photo by Gordon Sherman © Audubon Canyon Ranch)
The plight of many grassland species, and species at risk in general, has been treated in depth or at least mentioned often over the past few years, including in Land Lines (e.g. “Why Canada’s prairies are the world’s most...
So you think you can...mate? Bird edition (Part one)
Wideview, SK (Photo by Bill Armstong)
Spring is in the air…finally! The calendar on my wall has been lying to me for a month. It's spring, you say? Tell that to my toes ― I'm sorry, but sub-zero (Fahrenheit!) temperatures, snow on the ground and second-degree frostbite feel a...
An emblem worthy of a mother’s love
Pink lady's-slipper, ON (Photo by NCC)
Every Mother’s Day, I buy my mom her favourite chocolates and a bouquet of fresh flowers. This may seem like an easy-out gift for this day, but I’ve yet to come across a mother who doesn’t love flowers. Mine loves yellow...
The Swishwash Island bioblitz
L-R: Shannon, Robin and Dave (Photo courtesy of BCIT students)
We are three students in our final year of the fish, wildlife and recreation program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. We were excited to choose Swishwash Island for our final research project because it gave us the opportunity to...
It's the little things that matter
Miner bee on wild strawberry (Photo by Marika Olynyk/NCC staff)
A trip to the cottage is often a reminder to stop and enjoy the small things in life. And the small things can be rather small indeed. On any given summer day, we are surrounded by thousands of pollinating insects going about their business. The...
It's complicated, honey
Sweat bee on Flax (Photo by Marika Olynyk/NCC staff)
Spring draws nigh: the season of the birds and the bees. Birdsong is a welcome gift, but where would we be without bees? Their obsessive quest for pollen and nectar keeps much of Alberta’s native flora alive. There would be fewer willows,...
