You’ll Know if You’ve Seen a Wood Duck! These are distinct, stunning ducks! The male is a patchwork quilt made up of an iridescent green and chestnut-brown head with a red eye, bright red and yellow on the beak, white-spotted brown chest, delicately patterned buffy belly, blue accents on the wings and bold white markings delineating each area. The female has lovely blue feathers accenting her wings – a “speculum” patch – providing contrast to her primary grey/brown colour, and a lovely white teardrop around the eye complemented by a striking yellow eye-ring. Environment for the America’s has ..read more

Cliff Swallows are social birds that forage and migrate in flocks, consisting of hundreds of cooperative individuals. They also construct their nests side-by-side in colonies that can have thousands of active nests at a time. Observing a colony of nesting Cliff Swallows, from a respectful distance, as hundreds of parents fly back and forth to feed their hungry young is truly a fascinating experience. You might be surprised to know that you could be driving past one of these colonies on your way to work without even realizing it! Cliff Swallows are skilled masons who build gourd-shaped nests ..read more

Raincoast Conservation Foundation (Raincoast) is a team of conservationists and scientists empowered by research to protect the lands, waters, and wildlife of coastal British Columbia. We use rigorous, peer-reviewed science and community engagement to further our conservation objectives. We call this approach informed advocacy. As a charitable, non-profit conservation science organization that operates a research lab at the University of Victoria, a land trust, a conservation genetics lab, and a research/sailing vessel, we are unique in Canada. Our organizational mandate is Investigate. Infor ..read more

My name is Taylor Wilson, and I am the Species at Risk and Biodiversity Team Lead at Coastal Action located in Nova Scotia, Canada. Coastal Action, established in December 1993, is a charitable, research-based organization that addresses environmental concerns in Atlantic Canada, mainly within the Kespukwitk (South Shore) region of Nova Scotia. Our goal is to promote the restoration, enhancement, and conservation of our environment through research, education, action, and community engagement for future generations. Coastal Action is currently tackling many environmental issues that fall unde ..read more

In 1973, I spent time travelling and working in Australia and New Zealand, and I remember sitting under a gumtree and hearing a Kookaburra laugh—just like in the old Girl Guides song! It was my first time being enchanted by birds. When I returned home to Calgary, I signed up to learn more at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary on June 15, 1975. The instructor was a teacher and naturalist, and he was so passionate about birding. We were out birding and there was a flitter in the woods and a flap of wings, and he said “there goes a starling, eventually you’ll be able to tell just by the shape when th ..read more

When we think of creating protected areas, we often think of preserving the great wilderness spaces where (to borrow Samuel Goldwyn’s line) the hand of man has never set foot. Mountain ranges, vast forests, endless prairie grassland… that’s what we need to protect. But the reality is that most Canadians live in urban or “peri-urban” areas, and these inhabitants need nature as much as anybody. Municipalities (especially in southern Canada) are actually home to some of the greatest biodiversity in the country. Yet urban and peri-urban conservation spaces are poorly represented in Canada’s inven ..read more

“Nature is part of our enduring values.” Both our families had been visiting the Happy Valley Forest since 1950, and our parents both bought property here. We met at a skating party on New Year’s Eve 1963, in the corner of the property where we still live today. We’ve been recording birds and other wildlife sightings as volunteers every day since. Birds make every visit outside the chance for a spark of magic. Ann’s father was a devoted birder and I remember him joking about “pishing in the woods” to attract birds. It’s a rare day that goes by that we don’t have a pish in the woods. You asked ..read more

The polar bear is one of the world’s most recognizable species and one that most people would love to see in the wild. Thank you to Andrew E. Derocher, Professor, Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta, for this blog. Inuktitut – nanuq / nanuk; Cree – wapusk / wabusk (Photo: Andrew E. Derocher) The maritime or sea bear, also known in other languages as the ice or white bear, is the largest member of the bear family but also the one that lives the most remote from most humans. Some grizzly bears in coastal areas (where they feed on salmon) get close to the size of polar ..read more

Thank you to our Nature Network partner, Saturna Island Marine Research & Education Society (SIMRES), for sharing this informative blog. Whales of the Salish Sea The Salish Sea, nestled in the inland waters of the Pacific Northwest, is a marine ecosystem rich in biodiversity. Its name recognizes the Indigenous peoples from more than 40 First Nations who speak the many different Coast Salish languages and were the first to live in and care for the area. It spans the inland waters south of Campbell River between Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia, to Puget Sound in the St ..read more

Nature lover, sustainability expert, tap dancer—all these phrases describe our newest Pimlott Award Winner, Julie Gelfand. For 35 years, Julie has been a champion of the environment in both the public and private sectors, and has had great success in bringing people together across the  sectors. She has served as the federal Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Vice President of Sustainability with the Mining Association of Canada, and Vice President of Environment and Social Responsibility for the Rio Tinto Iron Ore Company of Canada. She is currently Vice-Chair ..read more