Category Archive for ‘News’

Written by intern Gabriel Planas. What is it? Lac St.-Pierre is a widening of the St. Lawrence River 75 Km downstream from Montreal and about 120 km from Quebec City.  Lac St. Pierre is considered the furthest inland where there is still a distinct tidal effect. The lake is shallow, rarely reaching depths greater than 3m.  Aquatic plants are abundant with many species such as Water Celery. These factors make Lac St. Pierre excellent habitat for fish species at risk such as Lake Sturgeon, Copper Red Horse and Striped Bass. Lac St. Pierre has four IBAs that provide habitat for tremendous numbers of waterfowl and other species.  Between 500,000 and one million Greater Snow Geese annually migrate over lac St.… read more →

This blog is written by Nature Canada guest blogger Tina-Louise Rossit. Canada is cold. We know it, tourists know it, and the wildlife know it. But despite the cold, we’ve been doing fine with clothing and heating devices to help us through. Well, same goes for our Canadian wildlife! Over the course of evolution, these animals developed remarkable features to survive our winters, and maybe even better than any man-made technology! Today’s honourary species is an expert at hibernation. The Wood Frog, Rana sylvaticus, has amazed scientists with their ultimate freezing method. They can freeze their bodies, stop their heartbeat, and remain in this state all winter. Then, springtime hits, and they come back to life. It’s spectacular. Ready to… read more →

This blog was written by Nature Canada guest blogger Dylan Moskowitz. On this World Environment Day, we are discussing sustainability, food waste in Canada, and the impact that is has on our environment. Unfortunately, sustainability isn’t so easily defined when it comes to its relationship with the global environment, as we have the tendency to understand sustainability only on a superficial level. Nonetheless, to influence change and to protect wildlife and landscapes across Canada, we must ask ourselves: what is sustainability to each of us, and how does the term influence what we do in our daily lives? Today, we are focusing our what can be done by each of us, starting with the food we buy, but don’t eat. According… read more →

This article was written by Nature Canada guest blogger RuiLin Guo. Migration is an astounding feat. And birds truly exemplify the wanderer’s spirit – over 4000 species are regular migrants, which is around 40% of all known bird species in the world! Over the past several weeks, a myriad of birds made the airborne trek from their wintering grounds back to their breeding sites in Canada. Perhaps you’ve seen the spectacular diversity of species at birding hotspots like Point Pelee, or maybe you’ve simply enjoyed the extra birdsong around your home. With birds arriving predictably as clockwork year over year, it’s easy to forget how incredible an undertaking migration really is. As we wrap up this year’s spring migration season, here… read more →

On May 12th, folks from all over Canada gathered at their local nature clubs to celebrate World Migratory Bird Day. This day of celebration included events (such as bird watches, bird banding, and bird demonstrations) for keen birders and enthusiasts, as well as activities for children interested in learning about their winged friends on their migratory journey back home to Canada. With numerous events occurring in every Canadian province, World Migratory Bird Day celebrations were met with great success! Many events were happy to promote their festivities. Below is a map marking the events that we gathered across the country Here are a few pictures that we gathered from just a few of these World Migratory Bird Day events happening… read more →

On Thursday May 24, Stephen Hazell, Director of Conservation and General Counsel at Nature Canada, testified before the Senate Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee. He voiced Nature Canada’s support for the proposed Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act. This proposed legislation would put a price on carbon emissions (initially $10 per tonne) released when fossil fuels such as gasoline and diesel oil are burned. Stephen opened by stating that climate change is probably the biggest global threat to nature and biodiversity, and pointed out that carbon pricing clearly has been demonstrated to be the most economically efficient way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. After describing the failed promises and inaction over three decades of Liberal and Conservative governments to put a price… read more →

This blog post was written by Ted Cheskey, Naturalist Director at Nature Canada. This past weekend, my wife and I travelled across central Ontario from Ottawa to Tobermory to spend the Victoria day weekend with family and good friends. We left our home around 2 pm. Nearly four hours later while Cris was driving between the little towns of Kinmount and Norland Ontario, on Regional Road 45, I spotted a turtle in the middle of the road. There was lots of traffic, folks headed up cottages for the long weekend. The turtle was large, dark, with a high shell – meaning Blanding’s Turtle, at Threatened species in Canada and Ontario. It wasn’t moving and looked to be injured, and extremely… read more →

This post was written by guest blogger Tina-Louise Rossit. You know what Canada is great for? Birds. Seriously though…Canada is home to birds of prey, song birds, water birds, shore birds, year-round birds, migratory summer birds, etc.! As different species inhabit various ecosystems, or biological communities, birds really do demonstrate how much biodiversity Canada’s is blessed with. Besides flying, birds have fascinating evolutionary adaptations which is why bird-watching isn’t just a hobby, it’s a whole learning experience! Today’s honourary species could be nicknamed the avian toolbox since it has a drill, hammer, googles, balance, and even a lasso! Who can this be? Canada’s smallest and most familiar woodpecker; the Downy Woodpecker! If banging your head at high speeds all day… read more →

British Solomon is a guest blogger for Nature Canada, and a contributing writer and media specialist for North American Van Lines Canada.  It is almost Canadian Rivers Day! As the annual day to protect our country’s rivers quickly approaches, now is an opportune time to find ways to get involved in the river-saving action. Started on June 21, 2002 and held on the second Sunday in the month of June, Canadian Rivers Day was founded to create and continue to provide awareness about how important it is to protect and preserve Canada’s rivers. Though it began about two decades prior in British Columbia, it is now celebrated all over Canada with many activities and ways to get involved. Ways to Get… read more →

This post was written by guest blogger Tina-Louise Rossit. There are roughly 320 species of turtles around the globe and Canada is home to 8 species of freshwater turtles (and 4 species of marine turtles). That’s a fair amount considering that turtles are reptiles, hence cold-blooded, so you wouldn’t think that they would inhabit Canada’s naturally colder environments. Well they do! Turtles may hibernate for a chunk of they year, but come April/May to October, they are out and about, doing their favourite pasttimes. This here is a list of things to do this summer as told by turtles! 1. SNORKEL like Spiny Softshell Turtles! If there’s one odd-looking turtle, it’s gotta be the Softshells. These are a group of… read more →