World Wildlife Day: The impossible eagle
Bald eagle (Photo by Keith Mombour)
I have many memories of wildlife firsts. There’s a vivid memory of seeing my first white-tailed deer peering through the woods as I peered back through the school bus window. And I can still see the eyes of my first up-close encounter with a...
Perfectly perfect perfection...not!
Seeding the field in one of the few not so “slurpy” spots. (Photo by NCC)
Imagine the perfect day in the field. A day where the sky is clear and blue. The sun is warm, but not too warm. A cool breeze wisps across your face, leaving you feeling refreshed and comfortable. The birds are singing, and the butterflies are...
Human-created noise pollution impacts wildlife
A bat hanging upside down (Photo by Unsplash)
Just as noise pollution negatively impacts human health, it also affects wildlife. It can interfere with animal communication, hinder their foraging abilities and impact where they live. A recent study published in Biology Letters found that...
Getting wetland conservation right will help solve many issues
Forested wetlands in summer (Photo by Mary Gartshore)
Earlier this winter I watched as a record amount of January rain filled the swamp at the back of our property outside of Guelph Ontario. With the ground still locked in a hard freeze, there weren’t a lot of places to hold this deluge. This...
Hold the salt, please: The hidden cost of keeping the roads clear
Winter road treatment using salt brine (Photo by Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)
On a brisk Toronto winter morning, my breath hangs in the air as I walk my dog to a nearby park. Our route may seem meandering, but it’s designed with purpose: finding the salt-free sidewalks. I’m grateful that the roads and sidewalks...
Weston Family Conservation Science Fellowship Program
Sundial lupine in the oak savannah (Photo by NCC)
It’s a sunny June day with only a slight whisper of wind in the trees. I am walking slowly through an oak savannah with Angela Demarse, a master's of science candidate at the University of Guelph in Ryan Norris’s lab. We are in search...
Digging badgers: A close encounter
A badger at its burrow. (Photo by J. Sayers, Ontario Badger Project)
“A badger? On my property? There are no badgers here!” is often the response I got from landowners in southern Ontario during my short stint as a field technician for the Ontario Badger Project. American badgers are difficult to spot;...
Conserving what we value
Children from Pelee Island Public School help collect seeds for restoration projects. (Photo by NCC)
It was my time to finally get my message across. About a 15 years ago, the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) was beginning to purchase properties on Pelee Island, in Ontario. The community, however, was uncertain of conservation —...
Out in the woods at Nebo
Pond at Nebo (Photo by Bill Armstrong)
Having experienced several Conservation Volunteers (CV) events on Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) properties over several years, spending part of a day at the end of September on the 178-hectare (439-acre) Nebo property in Saskatchewan was a...
Reducing light pollution is a simple way to help insects
Frosted elfin butterfly (Photo by Geoff Gallice, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0, generic license, Wikimedia Commons)
Have you ever noticed moths vigorously flapping around your porch light? Well, they’re probably mistaking it for the moon, according to The Guardian. And sadly, most insects trapped in this cycle are dead by morning, either from exhaustion...