Invasive species: A battle worth fighting
NCC staff members remove invasive garlic mustard from the Happy Valley Forest, Ontario (Photo by NCC)
Invasive species have developed a bad reputation, and for good reason: these nasty organisms wreak havoc on natural ecosystems, outcompete native species, threaten human health and cost us billions of dollars every year. They are the second...
Need to ID a plant in Nova Scotia? There's an app for that!
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...
Out for a walk
Approaching the Bay Bulls lighthouse with the last of the daylight (Photo by Lanna Campbell/NCC)
An unnatural thirst for physical pain and the lure of making memories set the stage as we carefully planned out nine days’ worth of trail food. My tent-mate, Megan, would later ask me a few days in, “Did I want to do this hike, or did...
A walk in the woods: The forest through the lens of a photographer
Forest along Long Tusket River, NS (Photo by Mike Dembeck)
For me the forest is always a welcoming place. As a child, I always knew what to expect when wandering off: always predictable, friendly and ever welcoming. A forest was a place to immerse myself in and experience nature. Photographing it was...
Thanks Canada, Thanks Virgina - The warblers have returned to Florida!
Palm warbler (Photo by Marshall Faintich)
As October draws to a close, so does the fall migration season. Billions of birds, including the colourful, neotropical warbler varieties, have journeyed thousands of miles from summer breeding grounds in the north to winter haunts in the south;...
A walk in the woods: Acadian old-growth forest
Acadian forest, Chignecto Isthmus, NS (Photo by Mike Dembeck)
If you’re at all like me, coming across big, old trees while exploring the woods is always a thrill. Over the past four years, as conservation biologist with the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) Atlantic Region, I’ve...
NCC staff share their Natural Happy Places (Part One)
NCC's BC regional staff at Kumdis River Conservation Area (Photo by NCC)
At the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) we have staff members from across the country, each bringing a unique perspective to conservation nationally and in their home province. From forests to coastlines, like every Canadian, NCC staff have...
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...
Atlantic Salmon: Lake Ontario’s ghost fish
Atlantic salmon jumping in Humber River (Photo by Tom Moffatt/ASF)
The Atlantic salmon is usually associated with Canada’s east coast, where declining populations of the species have inspired conservation efforts by the Nature Conservancy of Canada, as well as Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Historically,...
The Migratory Bird Treaty turns 100!
Woman, wearing a large feathered hat and boa, posing for a portrait (Photo by John Oxley Library, Public Domain)
This year we mark the centennial of the convention between the United States and Great Britain (for Canada) for the protection of migratory birds — also called the Migratory Bird Treaty — that was signed on August 16, 1916. A century...
