Don Scallen

The benefits of the bugs in our backyards.

Squirrels, racoons, owls, chickadees, and many other creatures find safety and shelter within trees.

Barred owls, like all owls, exercise a mysterious hold on our psyches. Birders and non-birders alike are drawn to their expressive faces and large liquid eyes.

Over 300 species, totalling billions of birds rely on Canada’s boreal forest as breeding grounds.

A great many seeds tap into the mobility of birds and animals to spread themselves around.

A CSI probe into Bob’s disappearance has revealed damning evidence linking Sam to the incident!

Small wonder so many salamanders are active at this time of year, seeking last suppers of grubs and spiders, crickets and millipedes.

The Fungus Among Us: The astonishing web of life beneath our feet.

I’ve written about our remarkable caterpillars before, but so many interesting ones inhabit our hills that another look is warranted.

To the casual observer the flight of a butterfly appears haphazard and inefficient, something like the bobbing of a cork on turbulent waters.

I recently had the pleasure of watching a pair of house wren parents feed their babies in a backyard nest box.

They’re big. They’re strong. And they’re probably here to stay. But keeping them in check will give native plant species a chance.

These botanical wonders sport whimsical – you guessed it – slipper-shaped blossoms.

Chorus frogs are vulnerable to a who’s who of predators from ground-foraging birds, to shrews, to big spiders to small snakes.

Cottontails conceal themselves in dense thickets of shrubs and brambles.

Along the Bruce Trail, spring is the time to slow to a saunter 
and see, hear and scent nature’s renewal.

A saunter through the hills in 1864.

Winter is the best time to find evidence of mink. With snow cover, mink tracks can readily be found along streams or the verges of ponds and lakes.