Field work equals teamwork
Stewardship tasks, like removing invasive species, are a lot easier when you work together. (Photo by NCC)
Stewardship staff for the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) spend many hours completing field work. When I say field work, I mean just that: work that takes place outside in nature, whether it be a field, marsh, forest or a stream. In other...
Smile for the camera
Deer caught on trail cam (Photo by NCC)
We use a lot of intricate technology at the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC). When I’m out surveying an ecosystem in eastern Ontario, radio waves are bouncing between satellites in the sky and a receiver in my phone, to precisely locate...
High-rise loon watching
Mark Stabb on the main deck of the CN Tower (Photo by © Mark Trusz)
Making the most of the COVID-19 lockdown has meant finally doing some of those “if I only had the time” tasks. Photo sorting and scanning is one of those things for me. It also can mean trying things you never thought you would ever...
Mhairi’s bird of the day: Lesser scaup
Lesser scaup (Photo by Christian Artuso, CC BY-NC-ND-4.0)
Spotted on March 24, 2020 Lesser scaup Aythya affinis Aythya: from aithuia in ancient Greek, meaning “seabird” Affinis: “related to” in Latin Some birds are easy to identify at a glance, and some are fairly easy with a...
Mhairi’s bird of the day: Wood duck
Wood duck (Photo by Frank Vassen/Wikimedia Commons)
Spotted on March 23, 2020 Wood duck Aix sponsa Aix: “diving bird” in ancient Greek For the last 10 years, I have been recording my bird observations on my daily bike commute to work, before we started working from home in light of...
Seeding positive change at home
Climate Change Squad (left to right): Izzy Mitchell, Hazel Dempsey, Evening Martin, Dryden Dinsmore (Photo by Creemore Echo)
When I turn on the TV or read online news lately, I often overlook the positive stories because they’re often overshadowed by the negative ones. But they are there, sometimes right in our neighbourhood, or even from people within my...
Working in a winter wonderland
Kaitlin and I having a purple tongue contest with wild grapes (Photo by NCC).
When I first started at the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), I remember talking to my supervisor about how much field work I would be doing, and being told that I would probably be in the office most of the time during the colder months because...
Look for these first signs of spring across Canada
Red-winged blackbird (Photo by Bill Hubick)
With the springing forward of our clocks and the increased daylight, many Canadians are getting antsy for the arrival of spring. What can be more delightful than noticing the little signs that signal the arrival of a new season, such as the...
Forces for nature: Celebrating International Women’s Day (part two)
Tessa Strickland (left) and Sofia Becerra make up Ontario all-female GIS team (Photo by NCC)
In celebration of International Women’s Day (March 8), we are profiling a few faces of the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) from across the country. These women contribute to our mission and work in different ways. Related...
Small but mighty — Migrating green darner dragonflies
Common green darner (Photo by Nancy Norman, CC BY-NC 4.0)
In February when I wrote this blog, I was thinking about my “snowbird” colleagues taking vacations to escape the cold, Canadian winter. Little did I know that right around that time, a species of dragonfly was beginning to migrate...
