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Notes from the Wild

milksnake

Milksnakes

Jul 18, 2013 | Don Scallen

Milksnakes, a threat to no one except Mickey and Minnie.

Here's looking at you kid!

Green Frog Blog

Jun 26, 2013 | Don Scallen | Blogs | Environment

Green frogs sometimes strike out cross country in search of new ponds and new environments, boldly going where no frogs have gone before!

male cowbird

Cowbirds

May 27, 2013 | Don Scallen | Blogs | Environment

Cowbirds, if unlikely to garner much human sympathy, are fascinating creatures.

White throated sparrow

Spring Sparrows

May 8, 2013 | Don Scallen | Environment

Take time to notice the fox, white-crowned and white-throated sparrows.

Timberdoodles

Apr 9, 2013 | Don Scallen

The flight of the timberdoodle should continue through April and can be witnessed at dawn as well as dusk.

Redpolls

Mar 17, 2013 | Don Scallen | Blogs | Environment

The redpoll feeding etiquette is decidedly boorish; they jostle each other rudely for favoured perches on the feeders.

Chickadees

Mar 3, 2013 | Don Scallen

Chickadees are consummate risk takers and they pack a lot of smarts into their tiny bird brains.

Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers

Feb 15, 2013 | Don Scallen

Hairy woodpeckers brandish large dagger-like beaks; the beaks of downys are smaller and more chisel-like.

Opossum

Opossums

Jan 6, 2013 | Don Scallen

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

Christmas fern

Evergreen Ferns

Dec 11, 2012 | Don Scallen

Many ferns boast exquisite form and are splendid photographic subjects. Seeking them is a fine excuse for a late season ramble.

The downed elm

The Death of a Tree

Nov 13, 2012 | Don Scallen | Blogs | Environment

Denuded and sterilized, the land waits sullenly for the homes and strip malls that characterize the inexorable expansion of Brampton.

viceroy, the monarch mimic

Mimicry

Oct 15, 2012 | Don Scallen

Like everything in nature, mimicry is complex and nuanced.

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