Our “Forever Protected” series shares why each and every park belongs in Ontario Parks. In today’s post, Lisa Roach from the Discovery Program tells us Bon Echo’s story.
A favourite for generations of people, Bon Echo provides amazing scenery, relaxation, and a place for families and friends to reconnect. Indigenous peoples, artists, and early recreationists have all been attracted to the Bon Echo area.
So, why was Bon Echo chosen to become a park?
It all started with a donation of land.
For some, it’s the song of summertime. For others, it’s the song that signals impending doom. It was part of what made Hank Williams (so) lonesome, but many consider its presence far too surrounding.
Whatever your interpretation, it’s easy to learn this bird’s classic “WHUP-poor-WILL” song.
Continue reading Saving the unseen: managing habitat for Eastern Whip-poor-will at Pinery
Today’s article comes from Emily Wright, Discovery Program Leader at Grundy Lake Provincial Park.
Spring at Grundy Lake is a quiet time of year.
The lake waters are cold from the melting snow and ice, birds are just starting to arrive from their long migrations, and visitors are few and far between.
Park staff, however, are often busy and bustling about as they begin to prepare for another season of campers.
Continue reading Turtle eggs and salamander spawn: spring monitoring at Grundy Lake
Today’s blog post comes from bird researchers Alex Sutton and Koley Freeman, PhD candidates at the University of Guelph.
In the world of Canada Jays, winter means one thing: it’s breeding season!
Canada Jays are common in Algonquin Provincial Park. Continuing a 55 year-old tradition, a dedicated team of researchers is monitoring breeding pairs. This is the longest study of its kind in the world!
With each passing year, more is learned about the breeding behaviour and life history of these remarkable birds.
Today’s post comes from Amy Hall, a Resource Management Project Technician at Pinery Provincial Park.
Many of our visitors have been coming to Pinery for decades, witnessing the park change in many ways over time.
If you’ve been here in the last few years, you may have noticed that our beach is constantly changing month to month, and even day to day!
Continue reading Just roll with it: how one park adapts to an unpredictable shoreline
In today’s post, Algonquin Provincial Park‘s David LeGros wishes everyone a happy Darwin Day!
Today, it seems that we know so much about the world around us: how it works, what lives here, and what threatens it.
Truthfully, it would be arrogant to think that we know it all — we don’t.
Discovering and explaining how the natural world works involves a lot of observations, patience, note-taking, comparisons, and creativity. It means spending time out in nature, observing the changing seasons, looking at how organisms interact with each other, their prey and predators, and their respective habitats.
Scientists have documented a great deal of life on Earth, but many species still remain undiscovered and understudied, and lots are only described and named and we know hardly anything more.
Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science!
Our scientists are absolutely integral to Ontario Parks, working as researchers, biologists, ecologists, and more!
Take a look at a few of our awesome women scientists:
Continue reading International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2022
Happy World Wetlands Day! Today we celebrate the important ecological contributions of wetlands.
Wetlands, like the one pictured above, come in many shapes, types, and sizes. In today’s post, Mark Read, chief park naturalist at Murphys Point Provincial Park, takes us on a journey through one of the wetlands you may find at our parks.
Our “Forever protected” series shares why each and every park belongs in Ontario Parks. In today’s post, Social Media Specialist Alexander Renaud tells us Mark S. Burnham’s story.
For almost two centuries — as the area around Mark S. Burnham Provincial Park turned from wilderness to farm fields, and eventually, to a bustling city — the trees within its boundaries have remained relatively untouched.
This lack of development is a rare phenomenon in southern Ontario. The ecosystem within has been able to thrive and provide habitat for a variety of species, becoming one of the best-preserved old-growth forests in the county.
For these reasons, Mark S. Burnham belongs. Continue reading Forever protected: why Mark S. Burnham belongs
Some of the technology to fight forest fires was first developed almost a century ago. The province has used this technology for many decades to prevent and extinguish wildfires in Ontario Parks and other protected areas.
Over time, we discovered something interesting. Aggressively extinguishing fires didn’t stop forest fires. It only postponed them.
We needed a strategy that protects people and property, but keeps forests strong and healthy too.
