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

Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers
Feb 15, 2013Hairy woodpeckers brandish large dagger-like beaks; the beaks of downys are smaller and more chisel-like.

Opossums
Jan 6, 2013Opossums, having migrated north are also unlikely winter survivalists. Naked ears, feet and tails slough off frozen fragments during our harsh winters.

Evergreen Ferns
Dec 11, 2012Many ferns boast exquisite form and are splendid photographic subjects. Seeking them is a fine excuse for a late season ramble.

The Death of a Tree
Nov 13, 2012Denuded and sterilized, the land waits sullenly for the homes and strip malls that characterize the inexorable expansion of Brampton.

Dragonflies
Aug 28, 2012Dragonflies have been on Earth an incredibly long time, way before the appearance of the first dinosaurs.

Giant Swallowtail Butterflies
Aug 9, 2012Giant 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, 2012Bobolinks, though, are only one patch in the quilt of the glorious grassland ecosystem that exists at the Forks.

Polyphemus Moths
Jun 24, 2012Moth communication hints at the wealth of cryptic messaging all around us.

Jack in the Pulpit
May 14, 2012These plants can switch genders throughout their lives in response to growing conditions.

March Madness
Apr 9, 2012The next day spring peepers, chorus frogs and wood frogs heralded the early spring from sylvan pools.

Spring’s Croaking Chorus
Mar 23, 2012Ten species of frogs and toads share our landscape, a rich assemblage of hopping amphibians for such a northerly clime.

White-Tailed Deer
Mar 17, 2012There are probably more deer now than there were before European settlement.

Butternut Canker
Feb 22, 2012Most of our butternuts are dead or dying, stricken by a fungal disease called butternut canker.

Friends of Ontario Snapping Turtles
Jan 31, 2012Help the turtles by signing a petition being circulated by Friends of Ontario Snapping Turtles.

Cardinals
Jan 3, 2012Cardinals appear at feeders most frequently at dusk and dawn. Perhaps during the twilight hours they are less visible to predators.

Cedar Waxwings
Dec 12, 2011A lovely shrub that waxwings find irresistible in late fall and early winter is a native holly called “winterberry”.