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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".

Calico pennant male two

Dragonflies

Aug 28, 2012

Dragonflies have been on Earth an incredibly long time, way before the appearance of the first dinosaurs.

giant swallowtail

Giant Swallowtail Butterflies

Aug 9, 2012

Giant swallowtail caterpillars are branded as “orange dogs” in the American south because they eat the foliage of citrus crops including orange trees.

Bobolinks, Grasslands and Forks of the Credit Provincial Park

Jul 25, 2012

Bobolinks, though, are only one patch in the quilt of the glorious grassland ecosystem that exists at the Forks.

polyphemus moths

Polyphemus Moths

Jun 24, 2012

Moth communication hints at the wealth of cryptic messaging all around us.

Jack in the Pulpit

Jack in the Pulpit

May 14, 2012

These plants can switch genders throughout their lives in response to growing conditions.

red admiral

Butterfly Invasion

May 2, 2012

Twenty times more admirals than normal are moving into the province.

hepatica

March Madness

Apr 9, 2012

The next day spring peepers, chorus frogs and wood frogs heralded the early spring from sylvan pools.

Spring’s Croaking Chorus

Mar 23, 2012

Ten species of frogs and toads share our landscape, a rich assemblage of hopping amphibians for such a northerly clime.

White-Tailed Deer

Mar 17, 2012

There are probably more deer now than there were before European settlement.

Butternut Canker

Feb 22, 2012

Most of our butternuts are dead or dying, stricken by a fungal disease called butternut canker.

Friends of Ontario Snapping Turtles

Jan 31, 2012

Help the turtles by signing a petition being circulated by Friends of Ontario Snapping Turtles.

Cardinals

Jan 3, 2012

Cardinals appear at feeders most frequently at dusk and dawn. Perhaps during the twilight hours they are less visible to predators.

Cedar Waxwings

Dec 12, 2011

A lovely shrub that waxwings find irresistible in late fall and early winter is a native holly called “winterberry”.

Common redpoll. Photo by Robert McCaw

Foul-Weather Friends

Nov 21, 2011

Birds are drawn to feeders like Saturday morning coffee drinkers to Tim Hortons. The presence of birds in the winter landscape is life-affirming.

sugar maple left, Royal Red Norway maple right

Norway Maples

Nov 17, 2011

Our rural roads and historic schoolhouses may have ended up as dull as suburbia in the fall.

Mantis On Goldenrod

Exotic Species aka Mantis and Honeybee

Oct 22, 2011

What has our impact been on native North American wildlife? I think we know the answer to that.

Meetings with Remarkable Trees

Sep 9, 2011

We revel in their beauty, relax in their shade and are calmed by the soothing sound of their leaves soughing in the wind.

Both male and female wrens generate a potpourri of chatter - a profusion of messaging rivaling the texting of human teenagers. Photo by Don Scallen

Wrens

Aug 30, 2011

Both male and female wrens generate a potpourri of chatter – a profusion of messaging rivaling the texting of human teenagers.

In The Hills is an independent, locally owned print and online magazine that has earned its reputation as the best-read, best-loved magazine in Headwaters.

The magazine is delivered to more than 40,000 homes and farms throughout Caledon, Erin, Dufferin, Orangeville and Creemore – up to double the circulation of any other local publication. And it is available to visitors at local inns, restaurants, specialty retail stores and other tourist locations.