Communications from the coast: Three days of travel as a student videographer
Getting a close up of the old-growth forest at the Gullchucks Estuary conservation area (Photo by NCC)
From May to August of this year, I worked in Victoria as the Nature Conservancy of Canada's (NCC’s) communications intern in British Columbia. I’m a writing student at the University of Victoria, and film is one of my areas of...
A walk in the woods: Columbia forest region
Measuring trees on the Midgeley Conservation Area (Photo by Steve Ogle)
To walk through the forests of the Columbia forest region is, to me, a huge privilege. This is for two reasons: one, the Columbia forest region is home to home a number of Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) properties, including NCC’s...
A walk in the woods: Montane forest
Skaha Bluffs, BC (Photo by NCC)
I grew up in Williams Lake, British Columbia; it's a place known for ranching, logging, milling and mining. It’s also known for wide, open spaces, forests as far as the eye can see, sparkling lakes and wild rivers. My parents, who hailed...
From prairie to forest: My journey to a new natural area
Tall grass prairie (Photo by Jenna Siu/NCC)
I spent many of my formative years as a field biologist in the Carolinian region of Ontario, which includes Norfolk and the surrounding counties. The fragmented landscape is largely agricultural with bits of restored tallgrass prairie and...
A whoosh in the night
Common nighthawk resting on its nest (Photo by NCC)
Wandering through the forests, grasslands, and alvars of the Bruce Peninsula at dusk brings a certain calm to the soul; a type of peace that is seldom found in the bustle of a city at night. The forests are abuzz with the sounds of nocturnal...
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...
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...
Reptiles and amphibians of the Happy Valley Forest
Red eft (the immature form of the spotted newt) are the commonest reptile in the Happy Valley Forest and crowd the forest trails during egg-laying time. (Photo by Dr. Henry Barnett)
The reptile species in the Happy Valley Forest number 19. The area provides one of the last redoubts for the threatened Jefferson’s salamander. Red efts are common, red-backed and spotted salamanders will be regularly seen in the but the...
Mammals of the Happy Valley Forest
White-tailed deer thrive in Happy Valley Forest wintering in the Hemlock areas of relatively less snow. (Photo by Dean Mullin)
In the wintertime the mammals are the most conspicuous form of life in the forest. The largest is the white-tailed deer, of which as many as nine have appeared below our feeder. Squirrels are the commonest mammal, with the black and its colour...
