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Don Scallen

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

A Magnificent Obsession

Mar 16, 2024

Collecting and nurturing remarkable trees has been a 30-year passion for Caledon’s Gary Haslett.

It’s Baby Season at the Wildlife Centre

Mar 16, 2024

The spring rush of young, orphaned or injured animals marks the start of another busy year at Procyon Wildlife and Rehabilitation Centre.

Borrowed Credit

Mar 4, 2024

A recent documentary, “Living on Borrowed Credit”, takes a discerning look at the future of the Credit River and its brook trout populations. 

Five-lined Skinks

Jan 25, 2024

Ontario’s only lizard species happens to be one that utilises a clever survival tactic — dropping its tail when scared.

Ontario Rattlesnakes and Their Mimics

Jan 8, 2024

Rattlesnakes in Ontario are largely harmless, save for the Massasauga rattlesnake, the only venomous one in the province.

Three Species That Ontario Has Lost

Dec 6, 2023

As habitats shrink, these three animals have become ‘extirpated herptiles’ — reptiles and amphibians that are now regionally extinct in Ontario.

Walking Sticks

Nov 6, 2023

Look closely in the forests of Headwaters and you’ll find walking sticks, one of nature’s cleverly disguised doppelgängers.

Caterpillars Darwin Would Love

Oct 12, 2023

With UV flashlight in hand, strolling in the night-shrouded escarpment woods reveals fantastic caterpillars, some of which glow under a black light.

If the Greenbelt Gives Way to Sprawl, Seven Headwaters Species Will Suffer

Sep 8, 2023

You may not know some of these magnificent species but they are our precious, fragile neighbours that cannot survive in a subdivision.

A Monarch Magnet

Sep 5, 2023

The sweet nectar of liatris ligulistylis is renowned for its ability to lure monarch butterflies to gardens.

Midsummer Pollinator Plants

Aug 8, 2023

Summer holidays might be halfway over, but the bees are still having a field day thanks to these flowering pollinator plants

Carnivorous Plants

Jul 4, 2023

Plants can be killers too, and in Headwaters we have at least three varieties of carnivorous plants that consume small animals.

To Every Thing There Is A Season

Jun 16, 2023

Inspired by the natural rhythms of life, a host of gardeners has created a refuge of calm and beauty for the dying and the grieving – and those who care for them – at Bethell Hospice.

Wonderful Warblers

Jun 15, 2023

Naturalist Don Scallen explores the many species of Warblers found in Ontario; though if you want to see them, you’ll have to leave suburbia.

Streamside Salamanders

May 3, 2023

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

Screech Owls

Apr 4, 2023

Listen closely for their distinctive vocalizing and you just might manage to catch a peek of these pint-sized predators.

Home, Sweet Home

Mar 20, 2023

The amazing architectural feats (and sometimes cheeky parenting techniques) of nesting birds

Our Ever Heavier Urban Footprint

Feb 27, 2023

As development continues unabated, our growing population and urban footprint will inevitably diminish biodiversity.