Something's Fishy: Here comes the sun(fish)
Warmouth up-close (Photo by Clinton & Charles Robertson/Wikimedia Commons)
“We rise when the fish do!” exclaimed my grandfather just as I was settling into the guestroom, known fondly as my room-away-from-home, at my grandparent’s house. “When’s that, grandpa?” I called back in...
Man Nature Poem: The Tragically Hip's connection to the Canadian outdoors
The Tragically Hip in Kelowna, BC, 2015 (Photo by Aven Hoffarth)
One of my earliest memories of music came from the speakers of my dad’s 1969 Beaumont convertible with the top down. I remember sitting in the back seat, my hair blowing through the wind, and my sister sitting shotgun beside my dad. Blaring...
Take only Poké Balls, leave only footprints: Tips and tricks for Pokémon Go users for getting up close and personal with nature
Gaff Point in Kingsburg, Lunenburg County, NS (Photo by NCC)
It’s safe to say Pokémon Go has made a Gyarados-sized splash for mobile users around the world. The app (which is not yet available in Canada) is turning smart phones into a window to a virtual reality where you can see a Bulbasaur in...
Something's Fishy: Carp, the misunderstood outsider
Common carp (Photo by William Crochot/Wikimedia Commons)
Born and raised in Ontario, I have a hometown pride that carries me throughout the lands and waters of this fine province. This territorial instinct reminds me of the boundaries set by the Greasers in S. E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders. The...
Something's Fishy: Risky business
Eastern sand darter, Grand River, ON (Photo by Alan Dextrase/Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry) © Queen's Printer for Ontario, 2016
Close your eyes and think back to the best gift you’ve ever received. Was it that shiny red bike you got for your 10th birthday, a sentimental gift from a loved one or a token you still cherish to this day? When I think back to the most...
Something's Fishy: Little fish, big questions
Pygmy whitefish (Prosopium coulterii) (Photo by John Lyons)
In deep, dark waters all across Canada are ghosts, swimming skeletons and predators but the most mysterious of all are the fish species with an unknown past. Every day biologists are asking and answering the questions posed by nature. Trading in a...
In pictures: Ten years of planting, pulling and birding for conservation
Birders join in on the CV fun in Codroy, NFLD, 2013. (Photo by NCC)
A picture is worth a thousand words. It is a visual representation of a moment in time, captured within a frame, and serves as a memory of an event. In the 10 years of the Conservation Volunteer (CV) program, the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC)...
NCC staff in the field
NCC reptile and amphibian technician, Louis Gagnon, records data during field variations of species at risk habitat models (Photo by NCC)
Part of a Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) scientist’s job is to go out to our conserved properties, potential acquisitions and surrounding areas and collect samples and information essential to our work. This information helps identify...
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...
Take a walk on the wild side with NCC
Western screech owl (Photo by Josh Shaw)
The field observations made by scientists at the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) are key to telling the stories of conservation. On an average day field staff may encounter an array of wildlife species. Their ordinary field day can yield...
