Something's Fishy: The legendary lamprey
The Lamprey, 2. The Pride, 1866 (Illustration by Robert Hamilton)
Anyone who knows me could tell you I’m really into folklore. Fairy tales, spooky stories and legendary accounts of people, places and mystical things have intrigued me for as long as I can remember. I'm also really into fish. So if there is...
Stumbling upon the unexpected
Perfectly camouflaged eggs of our mystery species (Photo by NCC)
There’s almost a rule among biologists: when you’re out looking for one species, you will have a difficult time finding it. But you’ll often see some other amazing species incidentally! This past summer, fellow Nature...
A new hope for nature: Was 2015 a turning point for conservation?
Bayers Island in Musquodoboit Harbour, Nova Scotia (Photo by Mike Dembeck)
No one was expecting 2015 to be a special year for nature conservation. As we started the year, it seemed Canadians were mostly focused on the economy, security and health care. Yet when we reflect on the year that was, it’s clear the...
A natural take on Black Friday
Crow (Photo by Linda Tanner, Wikimedia Commons)
Learn more about a few of our Canadian species and share these tweets to show others how natural #BlackFriday can be! ...
Something’s Fishy: Swimming with the sculpin
Deepwater sculpin (Photo by Doug Watkinson/Fisheries and Oceans Canada)
The first time I saw a sculpin splashing around was in a large bucket, among several other fish species, captured for a population survey of small creek on a piece of residential land. I was working with the Central Lake of Ontario Conservation...
The search for an endangered tiger beetle is on and you can help!
Northern barrens tiger beetle habitat (Photo by Sara McEwan, Ontario Parks)
I like plants. I have picked them, identified them, pressed them, documented them and eaten them. They are familiar and I look forward to seeing them every season. Insects, on the other hand, are not as familiar to me, but learning is always a...
Pollination deception: Manitoba’s lady’s slipper orchids
Small white lady's-slipper (Photo by Melissa Grantham)
In Manitoba we have several species of lady’s slipper orchids, but the two I am most interested in, and have researched, are the yellow lady’s slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum) and the provincially endangered small white lady’s...
Close encounters with one of Canada’s more mysterious turtle species: The leatherback sea turtle
Jen McCarter and leatherback sea turtle statue (Photo by Gabhan Chalmers)
We rushed down the dark beach, illuminated only by the moonlight, and struggled to keep up in the deep sand. Aside from the gentle lapping of the ocean waves to our right, everything was quiet. Our group moved forward, silent with anticipation....
The year the bluebirds stayed the winter
A pair of western bluebirds is spotted in March prospecting for nest boxes at a territory that has not been used by bluebirds since 2013. (Photo by Trudy Chatwin)
In Canada, conservation activities for the western bluebird normally begin in earnest in late March or early April, timed with the arrival of the first birds returning from migration to their breeding grounds. But it was only mid-January when we...
La tortue musquée : mon animal canadien favori
Stinkpot turtle (Photo by Ontley, Wikimedia Commons)
Mon animal canadien favori est une des premières espèces en péril avec laquelle j’ai eu la chance de travailler en chair et en os : la tortue musquée! Mon intérêt pour cette petite tortue nocturne a...
