My Pike Lake Bioblitz
Caterpillar (Photo by Shirley Humphries)
A Nature Conservancy Canada (NCC) email popped up: "Big Backyard BioBlitz,” September 24 to 30, 2020! That sounded both appealing and doable without the risk of COVID-19 exposure. I would go to Pike Lake Provincial Park, where there are a...
10 fascinating facts about wild turkeys
Wild turkey (Photo by D.P. Lawrence CC-BY-NC)
Today marks Thanksgiving in Canada. The first official, annual Canadian Thanksgiving took place on November 6, 1879. In honour of Thanksgiving, here are 10 facts to gobble up about wild turkeys, a species that has been documented on Nature...
Lovebirds: The day I broke a turkey's heart
Wild male turkey (Photo by Wayne Dumbleton, CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0)
One of my favourite field work stories comes from my very first field season. I’ll be the first to admit that I had no idea what I was doing back then. I couldn’t identify most plants, was slightly scared (ok, terrified) of dragonflies...
Getting pushy in a puddle
Two American robins refusing to share a puddle (Photo by Janis Turner)
This is the story of two American robins not very successfully sharing one road puddle for bathing. I observed this down by the front street from my condo, and the sun was just up over the buildings in the east. I heard a lot of robin activity...
To leash or not to leash — should that even be a question?
Winona enjoying some off-leash time at a dog park. (Photo by Samantha Cava)
From one dog lover to another, there is nothing better than seeing your canine companion happy in nature without the constraints of a leash. Whether it is running freely in an open meadow, jumping over boulders or zig zagging through trees, there...
The voice of nature
"Beaver," ink with watercolour wash. (Painting by Leanne Cadden)
Capturing ecosystem health through sound When I was six years old, my family moved to a suburban neighbourhood on Vancouver Island. We came from Ontario, so we were not at all acquainted with the incredibly wild and lush biodiversity of British...
Terminarch: Making music out of birdsong
Sage thrasher (Photo by Dick Cannings)
One of the best things about composing music for the concert hall is that inspiration can come from just about anywhere. My latest work, Terminarch, is a 10-minute piece for a quartet of percussionists based on the birdsong of 12 endangered...
Celebrating and conserving all-Canadian wildlife
Eastern wolf (Photo by Rebecca Rogge, iNaturalist)
Every nation plays an important role in stopping wildlife extinction. Here in Canada, we have an estimated 80,000 known wild species. They range from pygmy shrew to polar bear, and from stellate sedge to Sitka spruce. Canada plays a critical role...
Backpack Essentials: Don’t let the ticks bite!
Backpack Essentials (Image by NCC)
This blog post is part of the Backpack Essentials series, a series that explores the items that Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) staff carry with them when heading outside. It is inspired by the quarterly Nature Conservancy of Canada Magazine...
Where the river stops: Why habitat connectivity is critical for healthy fish populations across Canada
Spawning Chinook salmon (Photo by Fish On in the Yukon)
Before you read any further, stop and think about a fish migrating up a river. Chances are that fish is a salmon and that river is in BC. There’s good reason that salmon in BC have come to symbolize fish migration. The return of millions of...
