Posts Tagged ‘ontario’
Monthly Meeting: Ontario’s Insect Diversity Near and Far
Wednesday, Mar. 13 7:30 p.m. Camp Kawartha Environment Centre 2505 Pioneer Road (with particular reference to biting flies) Ontario is blessed with an abundance of biting flies, including mosquitoes, horses flies, deer flies and stable flies. While most of our interactions with biting flies are unpleasant, they have important functions in our ecosystems and so…
Read MoreDr. Dianne Saxe on Ontario’s Protected Land Shortfall
Dr. Saxe will be talking about the commitment Canada has made to the Convention on Biological Diversity, a major international treaty to protect at least 10% of its marine and coastal areas and 17% of its land by 2020. In her Good Choices, Bad Choices, the 2017 Environmental Protection Report, Dr. Saxe points out that…
Read MoreA guide to bats in Ontario
A guide to bats in Ontario October 31, 2018–Alex Ross Categories Species at Risk Happy Halloween! Bats have a bad rap, especially around this time of year. Thanks to Dracula, bats are seen as thirsty, bloodsucking creatures of the night but these harmless mammals play a vital role in sustaining the balance of ecosystems across…
Read MoreA Guide to Bats in Ontario
By Dan Schneider and Peter Pautler As the only flying mammals in the world, bats can make an impressive claim to fame. Eight species of these nocturnal creatures live in Ontario. Agile and predatory, our bats are capable of extremely sophisticated bio-sonar, also called echolocation, meaning that they emit pulses of sound and can detect…
Read More2018 Bug Eye Photo competition
The Entomological Society of Ontario is seeking submissions for the 2018 Bug Eye Photo competition. All Ontario residents are eligible to submit up to 3 photographs of insects or other arthropods from Ontario and beyond. There will be prizes for the best overall photo, best Ontario insect photo, best photo by a junior entomologist (under…
Read MoreDistribution of Reptiles and Amphibians
The Ontario Reptile and Amphibian Atlas is a citizen-science project that tracks distributions and spatial trends of reptiles and amphibians across the province over time. The over-arching goal is to increase the collective knowledge base of reptiles and amphibians. Equally important, however, is the engagement of non-scientists of all ages and abilities, in all parts…
Read More31 hectares of land purchased to protect rare songbird
The Canadian Press Published Wednesday, July 25, 2018 1:12PM EDT NAPANEE, Ont. — The Nature Conservancy of Canada says it’s expanding a conservation area in eastern Ontario to help protect an endangered songbird rarer than the panda. The non-profit conservation group has purchased 31 hectares of key eastern loggerhead shrike habitat north of Napanee, Ont.…
Read MoreIncurable ranavirus discovered in Ontario turtles
This spring a snapping turtle found in Hamilton’s Cootes Paradise was confirmed to have been infected with ranavirus. This potentially devastating virus has killed numerous amphibians, but this is the first time a Canadian reptile has been infected. What causes ranavirus and how is it transmitted? Ranavirus is an infectious DNA virus known to infect…
Read MoreStep into Nature with Healthy Hike
Conservation Ontario’s sixth annual Healthy Hikes campaign invites Ontarians from all backgrounds to #StepIntoNature, hike and explore at Ontario’s nearly 300 Conservation Areas. The Healthy Hikes social media campaign runs from May 7 until October 31. The theme of this year’s campaign is Nature and Mental Health and it will focus on the health and well-being benefits of nature…
Read MoreGet outside and report your sightings
It’s that time of year again when we start to see emerging turtles, salamanders, snakes and frogs! Learn more about these species and report your sightings with Ontario Nature’s Ontario Reptile and Amphibian Atlas. This citizen-science project helps to increase our knowledge base of these species, but we need your help! We’ve got a number…
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