Environment

With its purchase of the mega quarry lands, a Canadian investment firm gained control of one of the biggest single blocks of prime farmland in Ontario. Will the new landlord be better than the old?

These birds fly with grace and verve, flitting over fields and wetlands and high above towns and villages.

The winter of 2013-14 has seen a “the largest movement of snowy owls in four or five decades” into southern Canada and the United States.

Look for snow buntings every winter, across the windswept fields of Dufferin, Wellington and other open country settings in southern Ontario.

Hungry snowy owls looking for food in the hills.

Have groundhogs learned the ability to look both ways before crossing?

Our understanding of the natural world is often rather muddled. Calling a yellow-jacket a bee is like calling a fox a woodchuck.

Red-backed salamanders are abundant, outnumbering all of the reptiles, rodents and birds that share their forest habitat.

Don’t worry about deadheading your perennials after they flower – allow them to go to seed and provide succor to goldfinches and other birds.

When I walk into my yard I am greeted by a gloriously diverse menagerie of tiny winged creatures.

Most of us are old enough to remember when monarchs were a frequent sight in meadows and gardens.

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