Re: “Some tough love” [Summer 2008] As was illustrated in Edward Keenan’s “Some tough love” [Summer 2008], ATVs are a controversial topic. As landowners of a 2,100-hectare forest on the Oak Ridges Moraine, it goes without saying that we are very aware of them. I would like to take this opportunity to provide an update […]
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Author: ON Nature
Published quarterly by Ontario Nature, ON Nature brings readers closer to nature by exploring Ontario’s natural areas and wildlife and providing insight into current environmental issues.
This award-winning magazine features in-depth articles on the environment and conservation issues and stunning colour photography. Read about wilderness travel and destinations, natural history and up-to-date news on conservation battles.
Edible Wild Plant Guide
This guide is intended for the boreal forest of northern Ontario where foraging presents an alternative to harvesting lumber and the forest’s ability to absorb the impact of harvesting is greater. Forests and freshwater food systems – comprised of plants, animals, birds, fish and fungi – are important sources of nutrition. They are also key indicators of healthy forest ecosystems and food webs.
Frog and Toad Guide
Ontario is home to 12 species of frogs including two types of toads! Did you know that the wood frog can be found on the tundra in the north as well as in southern woodlands?
Check out our comprehensive field guide about Ontario’s frogs and turtles including descriptions, habitat, biology, threats and trends, range maps, and status and protection.
Lizard Guide
The five-lined skink is Ontario’s only native species of lizard. Did you know that only young skinks have blue tails? Older male and female skinks have more uniform bronze tails?
Check out our comprehensive field guide about the five-lined skink including descriptions, habitat, biology, threats and trends, range maps, and status and protection.
Nature Notes
These four-page resources are geared to kids aged 10 to 12. Read about black bears, woodland caribou, invasive species, Ontario parks, the boreal forest, foxes, wetlands, racoons and so much more. Through these profiles you will connect with Ontario’s wild species and wild spaces, and learn about critical conservation issues.
Northern Forest Foraging Guide
Northern Ontario’s forests, meadows and waters provide an incredible range of nutritious and delicious edible wild plants. Ontario Nature has prepared this foraging guide as an introduction to this local resource, and to encourage people to experience the wonders the natural world provides.
Salamander Guide
Ontario is home to 11 species of salamanders. Did you know that spotted salamanders breed in early spring, often while there is still ice on ponds?
Check out our comprehensive field guide about Ontario’s salamanders including descriptions, habitat, biology, threats and trends, range maps, and status and protection.
Snake Guide
Ontario is home to 15 species of snakes. The more you learn about these reptiles, the more you’ll be fascinated by their diversity.
Check out our comprehensive field guide about Ontario’s snakes including descriptions, habitat, biology, threats and trends, range maps, and status and protection.
Turtle Guide
Turtles, often referred to as modern day dinosaurs, with their distinctive domed, bony shell, are easy to recognize. Ontario has eight native species of turtles and our online field guide covers them all. Check out our comprehensive field guide about Ontario’s reptiles and amphibians including descriptions, habitat, biology, threats and trends, range maps, and status and protection.
ON Nature Magazine Summer 2008
DEPARTMENTS 5 | This Issue The Canada Warbler: One more species at risk. By Victoria Foote 8 | Earth Watch Guelph gets a park for pollinators; reptiles at risk; saving Lake Simcoe; bottled water; Phil Cotton: putting conservation on the map. On the cover 36 | Urban Nature The Butterfly Effect: How to turn your […]
ON Nature Magazine Spring 2008
DEPARTMENTS 5 | This Issue For the Birds: It takes a forest. By Victoria Foote 8 | Earth Watch Harnessing a mighty river; one-of-a-kind paw prints; climate watch; bean count: a trip to the drive-through. 40 | Urban Nature Smart Cars: Car sharing is good for you and the environment. By Jim MacInnis 44 | […]
ON Nature Magazine Winter 2007
DEPARTMENTS 5 | This Issue The Collective: Battling climate change together. By Victoria Foote 8 | Earth Watch Lonely elm trees; recovery program at risk; outdoor education back from the brink; Brendan Toews; super birder. 34 | Field Trip Conifers: Giants of the north. By Dan Schneider and Peter Pautler 44 | Inside Ontario Nature […]
ON Nature Magazine Fall 2007
DEPARTMENTS 5 | This Issue Sneak Preview: The state of Ontario’s birds. By Victoria Foote 8 | Earth Watch Spectacular coastline to be protected; driving through the forest; peregrine falcons face new threat; house cats threaten birds; Ontario Nature’s Eco-Tour. 16 | Profile Environmental crusader Kaid Benfield marries green buildings to smart design and an […]
Flying Squirrels
In the article “Land before time” [Summer 2007], it is stated that “the northern flying squirrel, a creature typical of northern boreal forests, reach their southern limits in the [Frontenac] arch.” This statement, as I read it, is not correct. The northern flying squirrel is found farther south than the Frontenac Arch. In Ontario, the […]
ON Nature Magazine Summer 2007
DEPARTMENTS 5 | This Issue Time to reconsider our baggage. By Victoria Foote 8 | Earth Watch Tiny water flea takes over Muskoka lakes; species-friendly roadwork; logging with a conscience; Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust added 25 hectares; climate watch. 16 | Profile For three decades, aerial photographer Lou Wise has been snapping his unique […]
ON Nature Magazine Spring 2007
DEPARTMENTS 5 | This Issue Last Call: Climate change and the power of one. By Victoria Foote 8 | Earth Watch Wee shorebirds vs the feds; park named for Len Gertler; rare species may be a break; genetically modified trees; Dufferin Aggregates mines more of the escarpment; escarpment hotspot. 15 | Profile The Kunstler Imperative: […]
Spanish River
In the article “The lessons of the Spanish” (Summer 2007), the Spanish River Waterway Provincial Park is described as 400 kilometres wide. Wishful thinking on our part perhaps. The park is only 400 metres wide.
ON Nature Magazine Winter 2006
DEPARTMENTS 5 | This IssueMoving Day: Ontario Nature takes it downtown.By Victoria Foote 7 | In The MailFine dining. 8 | Earth WatchThe fantastic migration; deep cuts to Ontario Parks’ budget; First Nations block mining exploration. 15 | ProfileThe Numbers Guy: Environmental activist and city councillor Allan Algar has mastered a rare skill; saving habitats […]
Adaptive behaviour
Re: “Deadwood forest” [Autumn 2006] The print and broadcast coverage of this spring’s garlic mustard story was disheartening, to say the least. Dawn Bazely, a York University biologist and an expert on invasive plants, has been keeping a close eye on garlic mustard for more than a decade, watching as it marches inland from the […]
Fine dining
Re: “Fine dining” [Autumn 2006] You are to be congratulated on your outstanding Autumn 2006 issue, which focuses on the important relationship between food production and ecology. As a retired social science teacher and as an organic farmer with 37 years of experience, I know how critical it is for people of all ages to […]
ON Nature Magazine Fall 2006
DEPARTMENTS 5 | This Issue Fine dining: Eat what you grow. By Victoria Foote 8 | Earth Watch Development pushes endangered caribou further north; garlic mustard pushes trees out; eco-tourism outfit pushes back. 15 | Profile The Quiet Passion: With much patience and fortitude, Kathy Nihei of the Wild Bird Care Centre has nursed countless […]
ON Nature Magazine Summer 2006
DEPARTMENTS 5 | This Issue Sick Days: Children are the most at risk from pollutants. By Victoria Foote 8 | Earth Watch The province’s record on the boreal forest; Ottawa quarry; urban sprawl plays leapfrog; First Nations ask for mining moratorium; Greater Golden Horseshoe plan. 15 | Profile Bred in the Bone: Drawing from his […]
ON Nature Magazine Spring 2006
DEPARTMENTS 5 | This Issue Big Thinker: Len Gertler, a planner for nature. By Linda Pim 8 | Earth Watch Loggers in caribou territory; rare birds in your neighbourhood; big blob in Three Mile Lake. 15 | Profile The Quiet Activist: Retired teacher-librarian Betty Learmouth has stared down developers before; now there’s talk of a […]
ON Nature Magazine Winter 2005
DEPARTMENTS 5 | This Issue Happy Anniversary: Congratulations to our members for making Ontario a better place for three-quarters of a century. By Victoria Foote 8 | Earth Watch Tall grass prairie in peril; herbicide kills more than just weeds; rejuvenating a forest. 15 | Profile Tree Hugger—Environmental commissioner and Ontario Nature life member Gord […]
ON Nature Magazine Fall 2005
DEPARTMENTS 5 | This Issue Paper Makers: Who says we need trees? By Victoria Foote 8 | Earth Watch Why the snake won’t cross the road; diamonds in the far, far north; the sprawl crawl. 28 | Urban Nature To many, it’s just lichen. To those who know, this strange hybrid of fungi and algae […]
ON Nature Magazine Summer 2005
DEPARTMENTS 5 | This Issue Safe Places: Is anywhere truly protected? By Victoria Foote 8 | Earth Watch Mining-friendly provincial policy; PWC drivers run amok; let your children go au naturel. 36 | Field Trip Native grasses. By Dan Schneider and Peter Pautler 41 | Inside Ontario Nature Meet our new executive director; tell us […]
ON Nature Magazine Spring 2005
DEPARTMENTS 5 | This Issue One Big Contributor: Saying goodbye to Gregor Beck. By Victoria Foote 8 | Earth Watch Oak Ridges Moraine update; no EA for proposed quarry along Lake Superior; caribou population in decline. 15 | Profile Miracle Worker—Absent for the province since the 1700’s, the trumpeter swan is back thanks to Harry […]
ON Nature Magazine Winter 2004
DEPARTMENTS 5 | This Issue New Arrivals: Are all invasive species bad all the time? By Victoria Foote 8 | Earth Watch Saving our sand dunes; bird watching in the boreal forest; clotheslines in your neighbourhood. 15 | Profile Bearing Witness: Brian McHattie watches unhappily as Hamilton proceeds with its expressway through Red Hill Valley. […]
ON Nature Magazine Autumn 2004
DEPARTMENTS 5 | This Issue A Fine Balance: Is there a meeting ground between environmentalists and the aggregate industry? By Victoria Foote 8 | Earth Watch Mining along Lake Superior’s shoreline; new chemical compounds found in gull eggs; an energy boost for Ontario. 15 | Profile Man With a Plan: Superintendent Robin Reilly wants Quetico […]
ON Nature Magazine Summer 2004
DEPARTMENTS 5 | This Issue Who You Are: Our members tell us what they think. By Victoria Foote 8 | Earth Watch Why some exotic plants thrive; curbing urban sprawl; is bottled water really cleaner than tap water? 15 | Profile The Domino Effect: Professor Yan and the spiny water flea that changed an entire […]
ON Nature Magazine Spring 2004
DEPARTMENTS 5 | This Issue Decision Time: We need to stop the ongoing degradation of our fresh water. By Victoria Foote 8 | Earth Watch Join the spring owl survey; protest the Red Hill Creek Expressway; stop the quarry in rare bird habitat; protect the escarpment from development. 15 | Profile The Riverkeeper: Lara Van […]
Seasons Magazine Winter 2003
DEPARTMENTS 5 | This Issue The Last Issue of Seasons: The name of the magazine is changing, but the content remains the same. By Victoria Foote 8 | Earth Watch Asian longhorned beetle threatens our forest; proper EAs needed even for green power; river rafting down the Groundhog; caribou and gray wolf habitat at risk; […]
Seasons Magazine Autumn 2003
DEPARTMENTS 5 | This Issue Paper Grows on Trees: Why can’t Seasons be printed on FSC-certified stock? By Victoria Foote 8 | Earth Watch Ontario adds 109 OLL sites; fungus could decimate flowering dogwood; invasion of the emerald ash borer; Crothers Woods revival; pesticides in our rivers; government slow to reinstate much needed land tax […]
Seasons Magazine Summer 2003
DEPARTMENTS 5 | View from Locke House Saying Goodbye: After five and a half years, it’s time for a new view. By Nancy Clark 8 | Earth Watch Reporting on the OLL; the decline of the goblin fern; species-at-risk list grows; alarming decrease in the number of boreal bird species; profiling bad fish; on the […]
Seasons Magazine Spring 2003
DEPARTMENTS 5 | View from Locke House Wilderness with rules. By Nancy Clark 8 | Earth Watch That’s one cool rock; barrier-free wilderness; Ouellette’s miscue; natural garden pest controls; Marshfield Woods saved; court supports Grey County group on groundwater extraction; Ontario’s species championed by provincial auditor; outdoor education is endangered. 15 | The Seasoned Pro […]
Seasons Magazine Winter 2002
DEPARTMENTS 5 | View from Locke House Big, black birds: Why do we like some animals and not others? By Nancy Clark 8 | Earth Watch Teenagers can take action; giant swallowtails overwinter in Niagara; salamanders count on trees; the dirt on road salt; saving the Carden Alvar; province may loosen logging rules; builder makes […]
Seasons Magazine Autumn 2002
DEPARTMENTS 5 | View from Locke House Front porch wildlife viewing: Wildlife watching at home has its own rewards. By Nancy Clark 8 | Earth Watch Ontario Living Legacy parks; protecting Lake Superior’s waters; monarchs will recover from Mexican freeze; what’s a tree worth. 13 | The Seasoned Pro For the love of turtles: Biologist […]
Seasons Magazine Summer 2002
DEPARTMENTS 5 | View from Locke House Canoe trip: How my four-year-old weathered two days of rain in Bon Echo. By Nancy Clark 8 | Earth Watch Site protects rare species; tracking turtle smugglers; keeping mosquitoes away naturally; Canada fails to protect nests; turn off your car engines; Ontario curriculum not green enough; lawn pesticide […]
Seasons Magazine Spring 2002
DEPARTMENTS 5 | View from Locke House ‘Tis the season when familiar creatures, including magazines, are seen in a new light. By Nancy Clark 8 | Earth Watch Birding in the Arctic; Algonquin wolves safe for now; reptiles need help; baby bird rescues; trees to brag about; walking in poets’ footsteps. 15 | The Seasoned […]
