Frogs and toads also have a special role to play in keeping the environment healthy. Perhaps because they live “on the edge” between water and land, and have semi-permeable skin, frogs and toads are very sensitive to pollution and other environmental changes.

Worldwide, many species are declining in numbers or have recently become extinct. Monitoring frog and toad populations is one way to check the health of wetland areas. Frogs and toads can be used as indicator species, because they are vulnerable to changes in the atmosphere, the land, or the water.

To learn more about frogs, listen to their voices, or sign up to participate in the frog monitoring program at FrogWatch Ontario check out the following links:

Learn

Frogwatch Ontario can be accessed through this link:
torontozoo.com/adoptapond/FrogwatchOntario

Listen to Frogs

Listen to the voices of our frogs at:
torontozoo.com/adoptapond/frogs
(Click on the frog pictures and scroll down to the call file.)

Science teacher and naturalist Don Scallen will make a presentation on the Frogs of Headwaters on Saturday, July 21, as part of the Beauty in the Beast exhibition at Dufferin County Museum & Archives. He will give a second presentation on Caterpillars, Moths and Butterflies, including live specimens, on Saturday, August 18. Both presentations are at 2 p.m.
You can read Don’s regular blog: Notes from the Wild

Check out this interactive, animated demonstration on using a roundabout:

What do you think about Roundabouts?

Vote or leave a comment below, be sure to read James Jackson’s article about the new roundabout in Peel at Dixie Road and Olde Baseline Road.

Be inspired with the clever video The Joy of Books put together by the owners of Type, an independent bookstore in Toronto.

Organizing the Bookcase

If you want to try this on a smaller scale you can start with your own bookcase!

The Year in Books

Check out our annual review of new books by local authors and illustrators. Dream of your spring garden, solve a legal case, pursue your spiritual life, renovate your diet, or just bury yourself in a rollicking good tale. There’s plenty of opportunity to do all that and more in this year’s offerings of local books.

The Year in Books was compiled by Tracey Fockler, who works at BookLore, an independent bookstore in Orangeville, where she also facilitates a book club. Learn more about the Booklore book club which meets on Mondays.

Gifts of Canadian Nature featured species: Caribou

Facts about the caribou

• Mountain caribou are one of the most endangered herds of mammals in North America. The herd found on Nature Conservancy of Canada’s Darkwoods property is the only herd that crosses the border into the United States.
• These Canadian icons are the largest migratory mammal in Newfoundland and Labrador, some caribou weigh in at 700 lbs.!
• Antler size is an indicator of dominance within the herd.
• Caribou rely on lichen for their primary food in the winter. They find this places like NCC’s Darkwoods property.
• Habitat loss is one of the biggest threats to caribou in Canada.
• Nature Conservancy of Canada is working across Canada to protect the big, continuous tracts of land caribou need to survive and even thrive.
• Large, concave hooves splay widely to support the caribou in snow and function as scoops when it paws through snow to uncover lichens.
• Caribou are usually quiet, but they may give a loud snort. Herds of snorting caribou may sound like pigs.
• The caribou is North America’s “reindeer” – help protect its habitat this holiday with a Gift of Canadian nature!
• You can help by giving a symbolic Gift of Caribou Habitat this holiday!

You can help the caribou!

Give a Gift of Canadian Nature - a gift as vast and beautiful as our Canadian wilderness – and help protect animals across Canada, including thecaribou this holiday season.

Gifts of Canadian Nature featured species: Canada lynx

Facts about the Canada lynx

• At a glance, the Canada lynx seems just like a housecat.
• This stealthy, secretive cat is a solitary, nocturnal hunter that needs hundreds of square miles to survive.
• Lynx are mainly nocturnal. They are most active from two hours after sunset to one hour after sunrise.
• Lynx tend to be secretive and even experienced hunters rarely see one in the wild.
• The Canada lynx can’t run fast except over short distances, so it stalks or ambushes its prey at close range.
• Lynx have large feet, which help it to travel over snow. The lynx, like the snowshoe hare, can spread its toes in soft snow, expanding its “snowshoes” still farther.
• The lynx has large eyes and ears and depends on its acute sight and hearing when hunting. The lynx’s claws, like those of most other cats, are retractable and used primarily for seizing prey and fighting.
• Mother Lynx bring food to her cubs and allows them to play with it before eating it, thus training their hunting skills.
• Canada lynx population is declining in the eastern Canadian provinces, including New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
• Nature Conservancy of Canada is working across Canada to protect the big, continuous tracts of land Canada lynx need to survive and even thrive.
• Give a Gift of Canadian Nature and help protect Canada lynx habitat!

You can help the Canada lynx!

Give a Gift of Canadian Nature - a gift as vast and beautiful as our Canadian wilderness – and help protect animals across Canada, including the elusive Canada lynx this holiday season.

Gifts of Canadian Nature featured species: Northern saw-whet owl

Facts about the northern saw-whet owl

• The northern saw-whet owl’s mating call sounds like a saw being sharpened on a whetstone.
• This summer, Luna the northern saw-whet owl became the new star of TELUS’ mobility campaign.
• Like all owls, their ears are not placed symmetrically on their head. One side is lower than the other. This aids the owls in locating prey from the tiny noises they make.
• The northern saw-whet owl is one of the smallest in North America.
• The tiny northern saw-whet owl is often mistaken for tame because it holds still in self-defence until a threat passes.
• You can help by giving a symbolic gift of Northern Saw-whet Owl Habitat this holiday!

You can help the northern saw-whet owl!

Give a Gift of Canadian Nature — a gift as vast and beautiful as our Canadian wilderness — and help protect animals across Canada, including the northern saw-whet owl, this holiday season.

Gifts of Canadian Nature featured species: Newfoundland marten

Facts about the Newfoundland marten

• A genetically unique population of martens has been isolated on the island of Newfoundland since the last ice age.
• The size of a house cat, the Newfoundland marten has a long, slender body, and sharp claws that help it climb trees.
• Much larger than its mainland cousins, the “giant” Newfoundland marten needs a larger range.
• Newfoundland martens need as much as 2,470 acres (1,000 hectares) to survive – 10 times more than their mainland cousins!
• Food is scarcer here, and Newfoundland martens must cover more ground to seek it out.
• Habitat loss and fragmentation are among the main threats to this species.
• You can help by giving a symbolic gift of Newfoundland Marten Habitat this holiday!

You can help the Newfoundland marten

Give a Gift of Canadian Nature — a gift as vast and beautiful as our Canadian wilderness — and help protect animals across Canada, including the critically imperilled Newfoundland marten, this holiday season.

Gifts of Canadian Nature featured species: grizzly bear

Facts about the grizzly bear

• The 800-lb grizzly bear starts life as a 1lb cub.
• Plants make up 80 to 90 percent of the grizzly bear’s diet, and berries are the most important item in its diet.
• Less than 10 percent of the grizzly bear’s range is considered protected today.
• The grizzly is a true wilderness creature that can survive only in relatively undisturbed areas.
• Grizzlies need as much as 1,800 square kilometres to survive.
• People are the biggest threat to top predators, including grizzlies.
• The grizzly’s total range in North America has shrunk more than half.
• You can help the grizzly by giving a symbolic gift of Grizzly Bear Habitat this holiday!

You can help the grizzly bear!

Give a Gift of Canadian Nature – a gift as vast and beautiful as our Canadian wilderness – and help protect animals across Canada, including the majestic grizzly bear this holiday season.

Participants don’t just like LTDTC… they LOVE it!

The Tour starts at the Terra Cotta Inn where dozens of sleek, jersey-clad racers fill King Street. The fastest have lined up at the front of the pack eager to get a jump on their rivals.

If you happened unaware upon the spectacle, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Le Tour de France had arrived in Caledon!

See it… Feel it… Live it…
Le Tour de Terra Cotta

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More related to this video:

LE TOUR DE TERRA COTTA, A road racer’s dream
by Nicola Ross

BIKE EXCHANGE, Notes from the road and trail
by Nicola Ross

SWIM, BIKE, RUN, C3 puts on the moves
by Liz Beattie

By Monica Duncan

The striking photographs of crystal sculptures on display at The Alton Mill this May represent a work in progress. They are the first inspirational phase of artist Mark Raynes Roberts’ vision for a series of ten sculptures that will “bridge the gap between our understanding of our fragile environment and the need for greater sustainability.”

Glasslands – Refracted Light ~ Web Extra

View a musical video including more of the Glasslands photographs, reflect and enjoy.
THE GLASSLANDS COLLECTION – Mark Raynes Roberts

Click to view a musical video including more of the Glasslands photographs

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Read the full article:

GLASSLANDS, Mark Raynes Roberts’ crystal sculpture
by Monica Duncan

From “Does this make my Asperger’s look big?”

For the full article, see the Winter 2010 edition of In The Hills Magazine or read the feature article here.

By James Jackson

Ad man, radio host and author Terry O’Reilly discusses growing up in Sudbury, what it means to live in the Age of Persuasion, and why advertising really is an art.

Click on the PLAY button below to listen to excerpts of James Jackson’s interview with Terry O’Reilly.

[audio:http://inthehills.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Jackson_OReilly_ITH-Website.mp3|titles=Jackson_O'Reilly_ITH Website]

Read the full article here.