News

When children from Ottawa elementary schools were asked to name a species at risk most answered with ‘polar bear!’. Endangered bird species that nest or roost in Ottawa were rarely mentioned. Hoping to bring greater awareness to local species at risk, Nature Canada’s NatureHood team paid visits to over a dozen Ottawa-area schools, meeting with 700 children in kindergarten through to grade seven. Staff gave presentations about four of Ottawa’s species at risk – chimney swift, bobolink, barn swallow and monarch butterfly – and introduced simple actions that could be taken to help protect the species, ranging from keeping cats indoors to installing a bird feeder. The children were also… read more →

After many years of service as a member of Nature Canada’s Board of Directors, Mark Dorfman has stepped down from his leadership role with the organization. Mark Dorfman was a professional planner in municipal government for 15 years before establishing his own practice in 1981. He is a planner for several private land developers and builders, and an advisor to Ontario municipalities and several community-based organizations in both urban and rural settings. Mark is an Ontario registered professional planner, a fellow of the Canadian Institute of Planners, and a member of the American Planning Association. He served as national president of the Canadian Institute of Planners from 1974 to 1976… read more →

Interestingly, when Wilson’s Snipe chicks fledge from the nest, the father leaves with the oldest two fledglings and the mother takes the youngest two, and they never reunite. I guess they’re not big on good-byes, or family dinners. Each week we introduce a new bird from the Ottawa-Gatineau area through our segment on CBC Radio’s In Town and Out. Alex MacDonald, Nature Canada’s Manager of Protected Areas, shares interesting facts about the birds that live in our communities. Be sure to tune-in to “Bird Tweet of the Week” on CBC Radio One 91.5 FM on Saturday mornings from 6am to 9am and listen to past episodes on our website. This… read more →

Learn more about how to enter your grade 8 class to win this all-expenses paid trip! Canada’s Coolest School Trip Contest

Kay Jollymore is the 2014 recipient of Nature Canada’s Charles Labatiuk Scholarship Award. Originally from the interior of British Columbia, she has recently relocated to Saskatoon to pursue a Master of Arts in Archeology at the University of Saskatchewan. “I’m very grateful to Nature Canada for supporting me as I further my studies in archeology,” said Jollymore. “I’m very excited to conduct research on a little-known area just outside Saskatoon.” Having spent the last seven years working as a consultant archeologist, Jollymore has had the opportunity to visit many remote and beautiful places in Canada. She has fond memories of being flown by helicopter in northern British Columbia to do… read more →

Join us on November 20, 2014  from 7:30 to 8:30 pm EST for Nature Canada’s town hall meeting. Held via telephone, the meeting is an opportunity for Nature Canada to hear from its community of members and supporters and learn more about their interests and concerns. It’s also a chance to find out more about Nature Canada’s exciting new programs and initiatives and to meet its new Executive Director, Eleanor Fast. You can join the meeting from anywhere in Canada with a telephone line or cellphone reception.   The RSVP has closed for this event. Thank you for your interest.

On October 29, 2014 at 4:30pm EST, Nature Canada’s affiliate, Ontario Nature, will go before the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Development and ask for a stronger Bill C-40, a piece of legislation which will establish Canada’s first urban park – the Rouge National Urban Park. Caroline Schultz, Executive Director of Ontario Nature, will present a set of five recommendations for amendments to the Act that will “clearly prioritize ecological integrity and require the protection of natural ecosystems and wildlife”. Nature Canada stands by our Ontario affiliate and we are strongly supporting their efforts to improve this bill. Nature Canada deeply believes in the importance of creating an urban national… read more →

Opposites truly do attract in this species. That is to say, there are two opposite colour morphs, or variations, in this species. It turns out that individuals of one colour prefer their mate to be of the opposite colour morph. Each week we introduce a new bird from the Ottawa-Gatineau area through our segment on CBC Radio’s In Town and Out. Alex MacDonald, Nature Canada’s Manager of Protected Areas, shares interesting facts about the birds that live in our communities. Be sure to tune-in to “Bird Tweet of the Week” on CBC Radio One 91.5 FM on Saturday mornings from 6am to 9am and listen to past episodes on our… read more →

“Do we have this one yet?” Harold Sotomayor asked his friend and project partner Patrick Killeen after we came across a white capped mushroom covered by bushes to the side of the trail. “Well, let’s snap a photo of it anyways, just in case.” Welcome to the world of the Mud Lake Biodiversity project, an ongoing citizen science experiment in which the goal is to document and record every living organism in the Mud Lake Conservation Area of Ottawa, Ontario. The project, which has attracted photo contributions from outside members of the community, is a mix of deductive science and taxonomic gamification and has helped its creators learn a lot… read more →

***POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE DUE TO SHOOTING ON PARADE ROUTE*** October 22, 2014 (OTTAWA) – Nature Canada would like to invite media to attend a one-of-a-kind parade in the heart of Ottawa today, October 22, 2014. In celebration of Canada’s migratory birds, kindergarten children from Ottawa-area schools will participate in a guided ‘migratory’ walk from Parliament Hill to Ottawa City Hall where they will be welcomed by the Mexican Embassy and Eleanor Fast, Nature Canada’s Executive Director. Just over 200 children carrying colourful masks depicting the vibrant plumage of migratory birds and butterflies will encounter ‘obstacles’ along their walk, such as windy weather, that will raise awareness of the challenges facing… read more →