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A mega-rare mistle thrush visited my mountain ash

Mistle thrush (Photo by Peter Gadd)

Mistle thrush (Photo by Peter Gadd)

On Christmas Day 2017.... It is here! It is here in the mountain ash tree at the crack of dawn. It is a brief appearance, as it turns out, but one long enough to perhaps sense it is sending a Christmas greeting. A bird, once known as the ...

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Can you hear me now? Using remote technology to record birds and other wildlife

Black bear captured by camera trap (Photo by NCC)

Black bear captured by camera trap (Photo by NCC)

In various Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) properties across Alberta, the secret lives of wildlife are being discovered using camera traps, sound recording units and other technology. Scientists are generating new and valuable data on wildlife...

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One human's trash is an endangered snake's treasure

Gray ratsnake (Photo by Jessica Ferguson)

Gray ratsnake (Photo by Jessica Ferguson)

I spent my summer radio-tracking a female gray ratsnake and assessing habitat characteristics in Norfolk County, for Natural Resource Solutions Inc. (NRSI), an ecological consulting company based in Waterloo, Ontario, and Ontario Nature, a...

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Badgered into respecting the wild

American badger (Photo by Max Allen/Shutterstock)

American badger (Photo by Max Allen/Shutterstock)

It was my co-worker Emily's and my first day out in the field without a manager — the training wheels were off. We were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to impress the property land managers with a thorough property inspection. This...

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Overlooked plants and new discoveries: Moss and liverwort surveys in Manitoba

New liverworts to Manitoba on decaying log (Photo by Richard Caners)

New liverworts to Manitoba on decaying log (Photo by Richard Caners)

As part of updating the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) Natural Area Conservation Plan for the Whitemouth River Watershed in southeastern Manitoba, I spent a day assisting Royal Alberta Museum botany curator and good friend Dr....

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Searching for worms in Ontario’s restored tall grass prairie

Ontario’s largest exotic earthworm, <i>Lumbricus terrestris</i>. (Photo by Heather Cray)

Ontario’s largest exotic earthworm, Lumbricus terrestris. (Photo by Heather Cray)

Looking across a beautiful stretch of native tall grass prairie in its full glory, the first thing that might strike you is, well, the grass; big bluestem, switchgrass, Indian grass, all of them might reach up to or above eye level. Then there are...

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Hidden gems in the Darkwoods

Devil's Hole Lake (Photo by John Anonby)

Devil's Hole Lake (Photo by John Anonby)

In the Nelson Range of the southern Selkirk Mountains in eastern British Columbia lies a large area of great natural variety and beauty, much of which has been set aside to protect and manage its ancient forests and habitat for rare caribou herds...

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From woodsman to grandsons to Canadians

Alan Bonnyman and his two sons (Photo by Mike Dembeck)

Alan Bonnyman and his two sons (Photo by Mike Dembeck)

Whether they live in big cities or small villages, Canadians often see their identity as defined by nature: by our dramatic seasons, by the sheer size of our country and by living near oceans, rivers, lakes, mountains, prairies and forests. This...

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The silence of the hillsides

Fort Ellice, Riding Mountain (Photo by NCC)

Fort Ellice, Riding Mountain (Photo by NCC)

For the past six months, I’ve worked as an assistant conservation biologist with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) in Riding Mountain Natural Area in western Manitoba. I found that a summer in the area challenged me to reconsider how I...

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Need to ID a plant in Nova Scotia? There's an app for that!

Bunchberry (Photo by NCC staff)

Bunchberry (Photo by NCC staff)

Those red teaberries look so yummy, but can I eat them? What can I collect to make tea? What goes well in a salad? These questions and more may be answered for you in a recently released app created by developer Gordon Isnor and me, curator of...

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