I have a confession to make. I’m a bit jealous of David Hawke.
If you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Dave, he acts as the eyes and ears on over 40 properties, works with volunteers to care for our land and is our Stewardship Program Manager.
Calling All Citizen Scientists…
The Couchiching Conservancy has a goal to effectively monitor and care for the thousands of acres we protect in this region, and as we settle into the 21st century, that order has been supersized.
Partly we are victims of our own blessed success in acquiring new habitats, thanks to all of you. But the odds are also ratcheting up against biodiversity in our region, due to daunting factors such as climate change and the development of unprotected lands.
Featured Bird: Cuckoos (Not Just on Clocks!)
I also was delighted by the farm houses, because in those days, most had a cuckoo clock.? I was also thrilled, with a little help, to pull the long chains which wound up the clock mechanisms. Little did I know that there was a real bird called a Cuckoo!
In the News: Falling in Love with Rivers
There is nothing better to paddle than a river. I find it to be a perfect metaphor for life.
Featured Bird: Northern Flickers
We are blessed by Woodpeckers! Worldwide, there are 210 different species, but in Ontario we only have 9 of them.
A Challenge to Support Nature
May is also the month of the Couchiching Conservancy’s annual Carden Challenge, when teams of keen amateur naturalists compete to find as many species as possible over a 24-hour period.
The Wild Women of Conservation: My Heroines
I am going to share some of my female heroes in conservation, who have made a huge difference to the world around us.
In the News: Wildlife On the Move
A decade ago, we would visit Niagara-on-the-Lake for a glimpse of these species, and marvel that their ranges just barely reached into the southernmost bits of Ontario.
Rooted in the north; how trees survive the winter
Our native trees are perfectly adapted to our northern winters; they slow down their growth and reserve their energies for the coming spring.
Protecting Habitat on the Carden Plain
Alvar environments boast ecological communities that are incredibly rare and worth protecting for future generations. Regionally, the globally-significant Carden limestone plain is an area of large, diverse, and relatively un-fragmented habitat including alvars, shrublands, grasslands, forests, and wetlands.