The joy of doing nothing, except hanging out with puffins
Île aux Perroquets and the historic lighthouse. (Photo courtesy of Quincin Chan)
This blog was written by Wendy Ho as told by Quincin Chan The St. Lawrence River holds a special place in my heart. It was part of my three-week honeymoon camping road trip in Quebec years ago. Fast forward seven years and two kids later, we took...
Sparrows, sparrows, everywhere!
Harris's sparrow (Photo by Mhairi McFarlane/NCC staff)
I must admit to having a bit of a soft spot for sparrows. Often overlooked by people, and underappreciated by many, written off as “just” sparrows by birders, or “just” a brown bird by people in general, I think they do...
Alvar explorations of a wandering biologist (part two)
In part one, I explained what alvars are, where they occur and their importance. Now, I talk about my alvar explorations in the U.K. On Boxing Day in 2018, I set off early in the morning from Cornwall, in the southwest end of the U.K., to drive...
Ecotourism in Canada
As climate change becomes more of a reality, people are beginning to reconsider the ways in which they travel. Ecotourism, as many travellers already know, is a type of tourism that offers experiences for people to discover and enjoy natural...
Life on the tundra
Icebergs. Polar bears. Frozen expanses of windy rock & snow. Scurvy-riddled explorers. Dogsleds... What do you picture when you think of the Arctic? A few summers ago, I had the opportunity to travel north by ship into the Northwest Passage...
Top 10 invasive species to stop this summer
Man fishing in New Brunswick (Photo by NCC)
Our Canadian summers are short and fleeting. Warm and sunny days are best spent enjoying the outdoors and connecting with nature. While you are out exploring nature’s wonders, you can also help control the spread of invasive...
Cruising for birds
If you want to see many species of birds, you will undoubtedly be faced with a choice: visit only one or two sites to maximize the chances of seeing what is present, or visiting many sites to maximize the number of species that don’t require...
Heard it from a Scout: A beginner's guide to winter camping
During the winter months, most Canadians dream of flying south to escape the snow, ice and below-zero temperatures. Scouts, on the other hand, like to get outside by heading to campgrounds to enjoy all that nature has to offer. A scout’s...
Out for a walk
An unnatural thirst for physical pain and the lure of making memories set the stage as we carefully planned out nine days’ worth of trail food. My tent-mate, Megan, would later ask me a few days in, “Did I want to do this hike, or did...
Communications from the coast: Three days of travel as a student videographer
From May to August of this year, I worked in Victoria as the Nature Conservancy of Canada's (NCC’s) communications intern in British Columbia. I’m a writing student at the University of Victoria, and film is one of my areas of...
