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Don Scallen

Don Scallen is the author of Nature Where We Live: Activities to Engage Your Inner Scientist from Pond Dipping to Animal Tracking and Spotted Salamanders and Their World, and the monthly blog "Notes from the Wild."

Bald Eagles

Luther Marsh is likely the best prospective nesting real estate for bald eagles in the Headwaters region.

Feb 2, 2017

Starlings – Birds We Love to Hate

Starlings were introduced to New York City from Europe in the 1890s, there are now more than over 200 million of them in North America.

Jan 4, 2017

Mastodon Food

Mastodons fed largely on the twigs and branches of trees but undoubtedly enjoyed fruit as well.

Nov 28, 2016

Tracking 101

It’s not just the tracks, but the story they tell.

Nov 22, 2016

Blue Jays

Blue jays are villains – winged brigands with a penchant for raiding the nests of other birds to devour eggs and nestlings.

Oct 25, 2016

Herons and Egrets

Herons, egrets and bitterns are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae.

Sep 27, 2016

In Defence of Meadows

Too often belittled as “idle” land awaiting development – or “rescued” by reforestation – meadows deserve the same protection and respect as our woodlands and wetlands.

Sep 16, 2016

True Bugs Suck

To an entomologist, “true bugs” are insects that suck. No insult intended – they really do suck.

Aug 25, 2016

Spiders

Next time you stumble across a spider try not to scream or reach for a shoe.

Jul 29, 2016

Fox Scat: the scoop on poop

On a Bruce Trail hike I came across a small mound of freshly deposited fox scat.

Jun 30, 2016

Caddisflies

French artist Hubert Duprat capitalized on this in the 1980s by supplying caddisflies with flecks of gold and tiny precious stones.

May 30, 2016

Spring Butterflies

Five ways butterflies survive the winter.

May 1, 2016

Muskrats

Muskrats are largely herbivorous – chomping cattail roots and shoots is a favourite pastime.

Mar 28, 2016

A Foraged Feast

Skip the supermarket, find the ingredients for gourmet dining in forest, field and stream.

Mar 21, 2016

Wild Leek Soup

Please harvest wild leeks sustainably, taking only 5 to 15 per cent of a given population a year.

Mar 21, 2016

Pineapple Weed Tea

Pineapple Weed is a member of the aster family, it is easily overlooked because it lacks petals.

Mar 21, 2016

Supersquirrel

The bird feeder was now far enough from trees to thwart my backyard community of furry filchers.

Mar 1, 2016

The Pileated Woodpecker

Not only do these woodpeckers have remarkable adaptations for excavating wood, they also have acute hearing that allows them to pick up the telltale sounds of ants scurrying within trees.

Jan 30, 2016