So you'd like to see a warbler...
Black-and-white warbler (Photo by NCC)
I like birding at just about any point of the year, but spring birding brings a certain excitement after a long winter season. Throughout Canada, warblers and other songbirds are starting to flock to landscapes that were recently quiet. Many are...
A hidden gem in the city of Vaughan
Mark showing the group the geographical features of the area (Photo by NCC)
We’re seeing more reports in the media of nature’s benefits to our health and well-being and the need for communities to reconnect with nature. Private land conservation is at the core of the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s...
Like a rock, elm that is
Short, gnarly side branches all the way up the tree (Photo by Bill Moses)
My interest in botany came late in life. To compensate, I have restricted my primary interest to approximately 175 species of native woody plants of Grey and Bruce Counties. I try to give each one of them equal status and attention. Building on...
Who built that bridge?
Ryan Downey, Downey Tree Service cleaning up the damages of an ice storm that hit NCC’s Creemore Nature Preserve in spring (Photo by NCC)
The spring equinox has come and gone, but the snow is still above my boot tops in the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC's) Creemore Nature Preserve. Two tree fallers, Ryan and Ryan, and a friend, who happily agrees to volunteer outside,...
Another tool in NCC’s arsenal against climate change
Darkwoods, British Columbia (Photo by Tim Ennis/NCC)
Few issues are as pressing for Canada, and the world, as the need for us to address climate change in a meaningful way. Thankfully the work of conservation organizations such as the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) allows us to do so each and...
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...
Birdie num nums
Black-capped chickadee (Photo by Paul Turbitt)
You're not going to believe me. I'm going to tell a story with a crazy little hook and you're going to tell me I'm making it up (even after I show you the photos) or making a big deal out of nothing. But it is a big deal, so here goes. A couple...
Look to the sky and feel the wonder: Gillies Grove, Arnprior
Ontario's tallest tree - a white pine in Gilles Grove (Photo by NCC)
"It’s a reverential place," I whisper to my companion. "You seem to leave the outside world behind when you step onto the path." He agrees. "It reminds me of when the Pevensie children stepped through the wardrobe into Narnia." Indeed...
An osprey family affair
An osprey soars around its nest (Photo by Lorne)
This journey of an osprey family, between early May 2015 and mid-August of the same year, is almost as much my journey as theirs. It begins as a young boy some six decades ago, when my maternal grandfather would pick me up to spend some quality...
Ferns and mosses of the Happy Valley Forest
The Christmas fern, green against dead leaves in the fall (Photo by Dr. Henry Barnett)
The Happy Valley Forest is home to a large number of common and uncommon ferns (my daughter Ann Love has records of 18 fern species in this forest area). The Christmas fern is very common in the forest and at its edges. It retains its green...
