Don Scallen
Don Scallen enjoys sharing his love of nature through his writing and presentations. Check out his blog "Notes from the Wild".

Streamside Salamanders
May 3, 2023Long-tailed and tiny-legged, these slow moving salamanders face formidable challenges as our urban footprint grows.

Screech Owls
Apr 4, 2023Listen closely for their distinctive vocalizing and you just might manage to catch a peek of these pint-sized predators.

Home, Sweet Home
Mar 20, 2023The amazing architectural feats (and sometimes cheeky parenting techniques) of nesting birds

Our Ever Heavier Urban Footprint
Feb 27, 2023As development continues unabated, our growing population and urban footprint will inevitably diminish biodiversity.

Not All Invaders Are Bad
Feb 7, 2023During a trip south, naturalist Don Scallen gets a closer look at introduced lizards in Florida and asks questions about our own invasive species in Ontario.

Nesting Instincts
Jan 6, 2023Most of us have the good fortune to raise our families in safe, comfortable houses. Birds want nothing less.

Return to the Trout Stream
Dec 1, 2022Rivers in the Headwaters region still flow clean, clear and cool through areas not yet urbanized. This natural heritage is a gift to area residents and well worth protecting.

In the Bleak Midwinter
Nov 20, 2022Don Scallen explores how birds, mammals and reptiles have adapted to survive our long, trying winter.

Crooning Tree Crickets
Nov 3, 2022Male tree crickets – rock stars of the insect realm – sing to attract females, and display other courtship behaviour not so different from ours.

Fascinating Fungi
Oct 5, 2022Fall is the perfect time to get down low and take a closer peek at the stunningly diverse and complex organisms that are fungi

Transforming Turf into a Meadow Ecosystem
Sep 12, 2022From a swath of turf grass came a thriving meadow ecosystem full of wild flowers, pollinators and biodiversity.

Bats Aided by Citizen Scientists
Aug 8, 2022Bats hunt with their astonishing echolocating ability, sending out pulses of sound and then “reading” the returning echoes for the shape signatures of potential prey.

Who Pollinates Michigan Lilies?
Jul 14, 2022Could the answer to my pollination puzzle be butterfly wings?

Starstruck
Jun 24, 2022From a small observatory in a Belfountain backyard, the heavens are revealed.

Movers and Shakers: River Chub
Jun 7, 2022The breeders and the egg stealers make a river chub nest a happening place in springtime.

Calvin the Salamander Returns!
May 10, 2022Calvin and his kin depend on two things for their survival: forest and fishless ponds.

Magical Merlins
Apr 17, 2022Merlins have been recorded nesting in Orangeville, Caledon Village and just south of Headwaters in Georgetown.