Don Scallen

The last cougar in Ontario was shot at Creemore in 1884. Now, after the passage of more than a century, a modest “re-wilding” is underway. But what of the cougar? Has the cat come back?

Monarchs are children of the sun. The boldness of Sol this summer has energized their life cycle.

Nighttime flyers with a sweet tooth! (ironic considering they have no teeth at all!). If you plan to host a dinner party for them, a mélange of sugary foods and alcohol is called for.

Grist for spinners of tall tales, snapping turtles are on the verge of becoming endangered. May these reptiles of prehistoric visage long patrol our wetlands.

At this time of year when we celebrate Canada Day, Don Scallen celebrates the hardy bumblebee, the “true Canadian” of the insect world.

With its glorious pink and white blossoms and thumb-sized pouches, this orchid is perhaps the most exquisite of all our wildflowers.

In “Flight of the Bumblebee” Don Scallen says we owe a debt of gratitude to pollinating insects for keeping food on the tables of the human race!

Moths: as night falls, these denizens flit like phantoms through the twilight world. By Don Scallen.

Lured by warm weather and a bonanza of insects, warblers return from tropical realms. By Don Scallen.

The mellifluous trilling of toads resonates through our hills at this time of year. The tranquil sound wafting through an open window on a warm mid-spring eve is delightful.

On warm evenings in April and May our hills awaken to the life affirming voices of spring peepers. Their shrill calls stir the winter weary soul.

Don Scallen introduces us to three species of salamanders that are starting to appear in our hills. The first half of April is salamander time in our hills.

Herons and egrets wading in local wetlands or silhouetted against blue skies, excite people whenever they are seen. They speak to us of grace, elegance and regal bearing. We would do well to listen to what they have to say.

Once gleefully slaughtered as “bloodthirsty villains,” hawks have reclaimed their status as lords of the sky.

In Headwaters country eighteen species of warblers flourish among the trees of the Niagara Escarpment and the Oak Ridges Moraine.

From dusk until dawn, our local bats perform an aerial ballet, devouring millions of flying insects.

If beavers are permitted to help reverse wetland losses, frogs will be among the happy beneficiaries.

With piercing eyes and haunting cry, so flies the lord of the midnight sky.