Sitting down at the computer this week to write my column was a real pleasure, especially after an absence of 10 months. I used my time away to work on a nature activity guide entitled “The Big Book of Nature Activities: A Year-round Guide to Outdoor Learning”, which should be Read more…
As we approach the autumn, change is in the air. The nights are cooler and we’re starting to see some colours appear (and I don’t mean the plethora of political campaign signs). During the fall season, most of the attention is focussed on the sights vs. sounds of nature. The Read more…
I noticed a wide variety of people at the provincial park I recently visited: families with young children, older adults, groups of twenty-something friends, as well as international tourists clearly in awe at their first glimpse of Canada’s spectacular wilderness. As I pondered the potential motives all these people might Read more…
Watching wildlife can be entertaining, relaxing, exciting, confusing, stressful, or all of the above. Many people are fascinated by the stories going on in their gardens, urban greenspaces, conservation areas, and parks. The backyard squirrels leaping from one precarious branch to another, as they race through the treetops at top Read more…
The snow has finally gone, the days are noticeably longer, and spring is finally in the air. At this time of year, there’s an urge to organize and clean house. Maybe the snow melt has revealed a pile of unsightly garbage around the yard. Perhaps there’s a frenzied effort to Read more…
In a cave, tunnel or old mine near you…nothing is stirring. Some of our most fascinating animals survive the cold of winter by hibernating. They enter a deep torpor, a kind of suspended animation. By allowing their body temperature to fall dramatically they reduce their metabolism to a level at Read more…
I haven’t always been able to snowshoe to work. In fact, I didn’t own snowshoes until moving here just over two years ago. For me, one of the big attractions of Peterborough was the easy access to natural areas – parks, forests, lakes, hills, and the beautiful Otonabee river. Read more…
Running is an odd activity. To non-enthusiasts, it is a mix of monotony and self-inflicted pain. Yet, in Canada, many adults list running as their favourite participation sport – more than soccer, softball, hunting, fishing, aerobics, or tennis. Strange pleasures, it seems, are found on the trails and treadmills of Read more…
If you think from reading the title that you are about to read an excerpt from a steamy romance novel, I am afraid you might be disappointed. If, however, you have an interest in where moths go during the cold months, then I hope you`ll find the following of interest. Read more…
Counting birds during the Christmas period has been a tradition of naturalists and bird watchers across the continent since 1900. This year almost 2000 Christmas Birds Counts will be held. Each count now follows a standardized procedure so the results are comparable. Each individual count covers an area contained Read more…
In December the landscape can start to look bleak, as the green seems to gradually leach out of nature. The bare branches of broad-leaved trees starkly reach up to the sky and spring seems a long way away. Of course some of our trees and shrubs are evergreen and retain Read more…
“Take one child. Place outdoors in nearby green spaces. Leave for several hours at a time. Repeat daily. Sprinkle in a dash of adventure. Fold in a generous portion of exploration and discovery. Top with wonder and awe. Let rise…” Not long ago, my friend Jacob and I took a Read more…
Love them or hate them, nearly everyone has an opinion on Gray Squirrels. Maybe you are the type who adores these animals, feeds them and gives them silly names. On the other hand, you may fall into the camp of those who curse them for eating up the birdseed or Read more…
We don’t often think of November as a particularly interesting month. For many, it’s simply the grey, damp interval between the dazzling leaves of October and the swirl of lights and decorations of December. For me, however, late fall has always been a favourite time of year. I love the Read more…
For some people, the natural world can be an intimidating place. Although it might seem illogical to be afraid of a tiny creature like a spider or bat, we can’t deny that some animals do indeed elicit a fear response. With Halloween upon us, what better time to talk about Read more…
It’s mid-May 2035, and I’ve just boarded a bus outside the new downtown condominium complex where my wife and I now live. It’s never more than a 10-minute wait for comfortable, clean and convenient public transit. On this particular morning, I’m heading up to Jackson Park, which is always Read more…
At the rate I’ve been going through sunflower seed this fall, a second mortgage is looking like a distinct possibility. The dozen or so Purple Finches that have been with us since mid-September have been particularly voracious eaters. However, I’m not complaining. Although these attractive birds show up at our Read more…
TRENT NATURE AREAS – university campus offers easy access to local nature With over 1,400 acres of land situated on the banks of Otonabee River and Trent Canal and over 30 kilometres of nature trails, Trent University offers some of the best nature-viewing opportunities in the Peterborough area. The combination Read more…
Over the past few years, I’ve become increasingly interested in how to make people more aware of evolution and how it manifests itself in even the most common backyard species. The evolutionary “story” of the Monarch is every bit as compelling as that of the whale. Understanding how the pressures Read more…
“From dewy lanes at morning The grapes’ sweet odors rise; At noon the roads all flutter With yellow butterflies By all these lovely tokens September days are here, With summer’s best of weather, And autumn’s best of cheer” – Helen Hunt Jackson This week, I would like to propose some Read more…
Although fall’s official start is still almost three weeks away, a sense of the new season is already upon us. The blanket of goldenrod in fields and roadsides, the heavy morning mists and the hints of colour change in the leaves all tell us that summer is quickly waning. As Read more…
I didn’t know whether to simply stare in awe or risk missing part of the show by attempting to get the perfect picture. Swimming alongside our whale-watching boat were two enormous Humpback Whales, a 40-50 foot female and her only slightly smaller calf. The two cetaceans moved gently up and Read more…
As pleasant as a late summer picnic might be, there always seems to be a handful of unwanted guests. Like corn-on-the-cob, tomatoes and blueberry pie, hornets and yellowjackets are often part of a late summer outside meal. They would be little more than an annoyance if it wasn’t for the Read more…
“The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it.” – Neil deGrasse Tyson, American astrophysicist and science communicator This year’s unprecedented forest fires in the Northwest Territories, flooding in the southern prairies, drought in California and warmest May and June on record for Read more…
Almost any time you’re near water in summer, you’re bound to see dragonflies and damselflies. They sometimes even show up in your garden. Thanks to their abundance, diversity, striking colours and relative tameness, they make for an ideal group of invertebrates to watch, identify and, for more and more Read more…
I have really enjoyed you past two columns on bees. I grew up on Glen Avon, our family property on Moncur Loch in Scotland; my Dad was an electrical engineer whose hobby was breeding roses and my Mum was a beekeeper. We had a greenhouse and a huge garden of Read more…
In my last column, I began a discussion about the importance of our native bee species. It is becoming increasingly clear that native wild bees – not just Honey Bees – are vitally important pollinators for our food system and ecosystem health in general. The bad news, however, is that Read more…
One of the joys of tuning into nature is discovering the many amazing organisms that exist right under our nose and often go unnoticed until someone points them out. When it comes to flying under the radar, there are few better examples than Ontario’s native bees. Susan Chan, a pollination Read more…
For anyone with an interest in wildflowers, June is synonymous with orchids. At least a dozen species of this fascinating plant family bloom this month in the Kawarthas, and the spectacle is not to be missed. In addition to their exquisite colours and designs, orchids are a wonderful testament to Read more…
Over the past couple of weeks, the milkweed plants in my perennial garden have literally bolted out of the ground. The Common Milkweeds already have flower buds, and the patch of Butterfly Milkweed is much larger than it was last year. However, as I admire these remarkable plants, I Read more…