Did you buy something from our online holiday store last year? In today’s post, Ontario Parks staff talk about some of the vital protection work your purchase helped fund!
Ontario Parks — as part of a bigger provincial effort — has been working hard to assess and repair ecological integrity in many of our inland lake habitats, protecting different species throughout Killarney and other provincial parks.
Continue reading Your purchase helps parks: revitalizing Killarney’s aquatic ecosystems
Teachers: get ready to meet your new best friend.
Flip is an educator’s dream. It’s the perfect space for students to take part in meaningful discussions that will inspire your learners to share their voice and creativity.
Ontario Parks is excited to be a content partner with Flip to help you meet curriculum expectations in your classroom.
Here are five reasons we think you should join us on Flip:
We’ve made the switch from citizen science to community science.
Here at Ontario Parks, we love it when our visitors can get involved in science.
From iNaturalist to Bumblebee Watch, eBird, bioblitzes, and more, volunteers help us to collect important information about our parks.
These efforts help us to understand how plant and animal populations are changing over time, and help us to discover previously unknown populations of rare species. They also allow us to react quickly if someone discovers an invasive species in a new area.
Stars over Killarney is an annual festival celebrating the connection between the beauty of Killarney Provincial Park with an element of astronomical knowledge.
This year’s theme, “From the Earth to the moon, Mars, and beyond!” celebrated the connection between the wondrous geology of Killarney and the study of the moon, Mars, and asteroids.
Take a look at all the fun that took place this year:
Frogs and toads have an ancient history, with fossils dating back to the time of the dinosaurs.
Algonquin Provincial Park Naturalist David LeGros has been fascinated by these amphibians since he was a toddler and he shares some fun facts about them.
Today’s post comes from naturalist Pilar Manorome from Rondeau Provincial Park.
Are you afraid of spiders? Our eight-legged friends are the kind of “creepy crawlies” that many people like to pretend don’t exist.
One of my goals as a naturalist is to break down those barriers with fun facts that can make those “less-appealing” creatures sound like they would be a hoot at any of your Halloween parties.
It’s getting a bit cold, there’s not much food anymore, and Black Bears are thinking seriously about having a long nap.
Black Bears in Ontario Parks start heading to the den by mid-October.
We know you have questions about Black Bears’ big sleeps, so let’s go through for FABQs (frequently asked bear questions):
Today’s post comes from naturalist Laura Penner of Rondeau Provincial Park.
Every Halloween, we are bombarded with spooky images: haunted houses, cemeteries, dark nights, deserted roads and — of course — bats!
Imagine walking through the forest during a nice sunny day. You hear birds chirping, see the fall colours rustle in the breeze, and watch squirrels gathering food. We stop; we take pictures; we enjoy.
Now take that same trail at dusk.
You just had a flash of danger.
In today’s post, Algonquin Provincial Park‘s Assistant Superintendent David LeGros helps us celebrate a big milestone for community scientists around the province!
For over five years now, Ontario Parks has been encouraging park visitors to submit their observations of nature — everything from plants, animals, and fungi — to our community science project in iNaturalist.
Over the Thanksgiving weekend, we surpassed 500,000 observations of 10,325 species by 11,688 observers — a fantastic feat!
Our visitors really like submitting observations.
I tip my Tilley hat to you all.
Continue reading An iNaturalist milestone: 500,000 observations!
