Scaling-up restoration
Hazel Bird Nature Reserve, ON (Photo Chelsea Marcantonio/NCC Staff)
“We can do something big here.” That was my thought in spring 2011 when I looked across the rolling, sandy hills of what would become the Hazel Bird Nature Reserve in Ontario. At that time, I had been with the Nature Conservancy of...
Deep in a thousand-hectare woods: Protecting the magic of Happy Valley Forest
Aerial view of Happy Valley Forest, ON (Photo by Mike Dembeck)
One day it rained red in Happy Valley Forest, and I was there to see it. This was not the red rain of cast-off maple leaves in the fall. This rain painted the tree branches in the spring. And I have witnesses. This is how it went down. It was...
High-rise loon watching
Mark Stabb on the main deck of the CN Tower (Photo by © Mark Trusz)
Making the most of the COVID-19 lockdown has meant finally doing some of those “if I only had the time” tasks. Photo sorting and scanning is one of those things for me. It also can mean trying things you never thought you would ever...
Driving Miss Hazel
Hazel Bird Nature Reserve, ON (Photo by NCC)
Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) staff like to say that science drives our conservation work. This is true, but sometimes while following the science, we stumble into something unexpected and truly amazing. Let me explain. Back about 20 years...
On discovering Ontario’s tallest tree
Standing with Ontario's tallest pine (Photo by NCC)
Nature does not thank us for protecting nature reserves. But left to its own devices, it does offer up hidden rewards and ecological gifts for us to discover. We just found one of these natural gems in a Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC)...
A pilgrimage to the great Thessalon pine
White Pine (Photo by Bernt Solymar)
When a giant tree falls in the forest, does it make a giant sound? One thing is for sure, when the Giant White Pine of Thessalon collapsed in 1997, it must have scared the heck out of local wildlife. And it would have been really shocking to any...
Making peace with the Scotch pine (I mean, Scots pine)
Young volunteers tackling Scotch pine on an NCC reserve, ON (Photo by NCC)
When it comes to Christmas trees, I am a balsam fir man through-and-through. I like the form, the smell and the smooth, soft needles. I also admit that I am not crazy about Scotch pine, a main alternative here in Ontario. You could say we have...
