This installment of our 2017 blog series IBAs in provincial parks — brought to you by Ontario IBA Coordinator Amanda Bichel of Bird Studies Canada — is very “cool.”
Welcome to our year-long blog series! For our inaugural spotlight, we are staying in the winter spirit and focusing on Ontario’s far north. That’s right: our worlds collide up there in a big way.
Team members from our Northwest Zone, including Barb Rees, Evan McCaul, Lesley Ng, Renée Lalonde, Laura Myers and Kyra Santin, combined to share the results of Sleeping Giant’s summer BioBlitz!
Sleeping Giant Provincial Park isn’t just home to beautiful cliffs and hiking trails. The park also plays host to a diverse group of plants and animals.
Sleeping Giant celebrated this biodiversity with its very own two-day intensive BioBlitz from June 17 to 18.
Continue reading BioBlitz at Sleeping Giant
We’re jazzed to introduce a new series for 2017 — IBAs in provincial parks — brought to you by Ontario IBA Coordinator Amanda Bichel of Bird Studies Canada. If you love birds, you won’t want to miss these monthly features.
Wondering what an IBA is? The acronym stands for “Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas.”
The IBA program aims to identify, monitor and protect the world’s most important sites for birds and biodiversity.
Today’s post comes from Park Biologist Erica Barkley.
As a kid, I always pictured bird migration as Canada Geese flying south in a “V” during the day.
But that changed one calm, clear September evening. A park naturalist pointed out dozens of tiny “peep” noises over our heads. “Those are songbirds,” he said.
“No way!” I said. “Thousands of birds are migrating at night?!”
Today’s post comes from Brad Steinberg, our Natural Heritage Education and Learning Coordinator. An avid birder, Brad identifies several “migration superhighways” and the role provincial parks play in protecting Canada’s Important Bird Areas.
Being stuck in traffic sucks. Especially with young kids.
This sentiment recently ran through my head while mired in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the Don Valley Parkway in Toronto, Ontario. (My conclusion was reinforced when my son loudly announced his urgent need for a bio-break.)
But as frustrating as highways can be; they are vitally important to us, providing a reliable route from one place to another.
Continue reading Billions travel Ontario’s migration superhighways
September is the perfect time to catch migratory birds and butterflies on their way south, and the Great Lakes shoreline gives nature-lovers a front-row seat!
Don’t miss Presqu’ile Provincial Park‘s annual Monarchs & Migrants Weekend (September 4-6, 2015), featuring bird banding, monarch tagging, guided adventures, children’s programming and more!
Continue reading Monarchs and Migrants at Presqu’ile
Today’s post comes from Laura Sagermann, an NHE Leader at Bon Echo Provincial Park.
Continue reading Peregrine falcon chick rescued at Bon Echo Provincial Park
