Category: Ecological Integrity

A ghost in the attic

Today’s blog comes to us from Sam Alison, former Ontario Parks Gray Ratsnake researcher at Murphys Point Provincial Park. 

I must admit, as a seven year old, I was a little nervous about spending the night at my great grandmother’s cottage. At the family reunion, I had heard all about the seemingly mythical creature that lived in the attic…

…a creature so good at hiding, you’d never know where it was at any point in time.

…a creature so long, it could reach right around the door frame if it wanted to.

…a creature so mesmerizing, that everyone had a story to tell.

What was this creature? Where was it? I was hooked.

I spent our family vacation looking for this legend. Little did I know, this adventure would inspire my future career.

A university degree and many years later, I’m still searching for Canada’s longest snake species – the Gray Ratsnake.

Continue reading A ghost in the attic

From the abundant to the rare, parks protect them all

Today’s post comes from Natural Heritage Education Supervisor Alistair MacKenzie at Pinery Provincial Park.

The landscape of Ontario Parks is renowned for being strongholds for myriad species, both common and rare.

A primary objective of Ontario Parks is the maintenance and restoration of ecological integrity, and the strengths of our protected areas are evident in the diversity of life found within.

Together, all of the native species found in Ontario make up the province’s biodiversity. Ontario’s biodiversity consists of species that are abundant and widespread across the province as well as others that are very rare and found only in isolated populations.

It is key to keep all of the species that we have to ensure healthy natural communities continue to thrive and provide ecological services to humans.

Continue reading From the abundant to the rare, parks protect them all

How to have a green picnic

Today’s post comes from Sheila Wiebe, marketing specialist at Bronte Creek Provincial Park.

Sometimes you must go back to move forward. Take the family picnic for example. 

Up until Victorian times, picnics were exclusively enjoyed by the wealthy. After all, picnics were very grand affairs with tables, linens, crystal, chairs, servers, — and gourmet fare, of course!

But the Victorian era saw the picnic cross class boundaries. Even the picnics of the early 1900s were more formal than today — a far cry from our blankets and coolers, but the idea was ultimately the same.

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Invader alert! Help us stop the Spiny Waterflea!

This blog comes from Algonquin Provinical Park’s team of biologists and ecologists.

Algonquin is a stronghold of headwaters.

Most of our lakes are fed by cold, clean water that bubbles up from the ground. That water flows out of the park and feeds countless lakes and streams in southern Ontario.

One of the goals in establishing the boundaries of the park was to protect those headwaters…because if headwaters become compromised, so too does everything downstream.

That strategy has worked remarkably well in the park’s 125-year history.

Unfortunately, last summer we made a devastating discovery.

Continue reading Invader alert! Help us stop the Spiny Waterflea!

Building a safe haven with Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park’s artificial turtle nesting site

Today’s post comes from Rose Brandt, a Discovery student at Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park. 

If you’ve been to Bagwa Day-Use Beach at Samuel de Champlain, you might’ve wondered what that seemingly random pile of sand beside the beach is all about.

That would be our artificial turtle nesting site!

Continue reading Building a safe haven with Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park’s artificial turtle nesting site

Can we bring painted rocks to the park?

Art and nature go together like columbine flowers and hummingbird tongues.

Indigenous artists express their relationship to land through art; Canada’s Group of Seven found inspiration in several Ontario Parks; parks offer residency programs, and our park visitors find many artistic ways to capture their memories. We love it when visitors share their artistic creations with us.

However, a new trend is starting to cause problems province-wide: the painted rock.

Continue reading Can we bring painted rocks to the park?

Regarding rattlesnakes at Killbear Provincial Park

Today’s post comes from Killbear Provincial Park‘s Senior Park Naturalist Isabelle Moy. 

Here at Killbear, it’s no secret that we’re home to Ontario’s only species of venomous snake: the Massasauga Rattlesnake.

From our “Please brake for snakes” signs to daily Snake Talks to naturalists telling visitors that if they see a snake to call the park, you can tell we aren’t trying to hide all the cool work we do to protect this unique species-at-risk.

Continue reading Regarding rattlesnakes at Killbear Provincial Park

The flight of the Prothonotary Warbler

Today’s post comes from Jess Matthews, chief park naturalist at Rondeau Provincial Park. Special thanks to Kevin Gevaert for providing Prothonotary Warblers photos!

Close your eyes.

Try to imagine a spring with no birdsong.

A spring without flashes of colour flitting through the bushes.

A silent forest void of oranges, yellows, blues, and reds…

…it may be hard to imagine, especially if you spend springtime in Rondeau Provincial Park, where migrating warblers appear to be dripping from the branches in all colours of the rainbow.

While such a dire situation may be difficult for us to imagine, the reality for one spring singer is one of disappearance, silence, and extinction.

The Prothonotary Warbler is currently listed as endangered in Canada, which means it is facing imminent extirpation (no longer exists in Canada) or extinction.

Continue reading The flight of the Prothonotary Warbler