A Northern Saw-whet Owl in rehab with Safe Wings. If you find an owl in distress, call Safe Wings at 613-216-8999 or the Ottawa Valley Wild Bird Care Centre at (613) 854-2849 (photo credit: Safe Wings). First, Do No Harm Ottawa is home to six resident owl species throughout the year. In the late fall [...]
There are a number of Christmas Bird Counts taking place in the area. The attached table provides information on dates and contacts for counts that are in or touch upon the OFNC Study Area. You don't have to be an expert to participate. It's an opportunity to learn and meet fellow birders while contributing to [...]
Cosy Reading for Cooler Nights In the introduction to his highly acclaimed book, An Immense World, the science writer Ed Yong creates an imaginary scenario with a room full of animals: an elephant, a mouse, a robin, an owl, a bat, a rattlesnake, a spider, a mosquito, a bumblebee, and a human. The chaos that [...]
It was recently brought to our attention that we haven't been posting results of our annual butterfly count. The last time we shared the data was for 2020 (see blog post). Here are the numbers for the latest years and updated totals for all counts since 1998. 2021 2022 2023 - rained out, no data [...]
Free Online Access to Feature Article in 138(2) is at https://doi.org/10.22621/cfn.v138i2.3301 Free Online Access to Feature Article in 138(3) is at https://doi.org/10.22621/cfn.v138i3.3391 Photo: Dr. Tom Reimchen recording data on the coast of British Columbia. While I and others received print copies of volume 138, issue 2 of The Canadian Field-Naturalist (CFN) some time ago—and issue [...]
Text and photos by Jakob Mueller Recently, a report of a “rattlesnake” in a local greenspace got some media attention. The observer reported that the blotchy snake, when found by her dog, shook its tail and made a sound – as a rattlesnake would – so she urged caution. This was a case of mistaken [...]
We still need your help to protect the Endangered Species Act! Bill 5, which contains a provision to eliminate the Ontario Endangered Species Act, has been referred to the province's Standing Committee on the Interior. The committee has already held one hearing on May 22, and another is set for Monday, May 26. The proposed [...]
We Need Your Help to Protect the Endangered Species Act! Please read this Action Alert from Ontario Nature. Sign the petition to the Ontario government here. Pictured to the left: The Spotted Turtle is one of many Endangered species in Ontario that relies on legislated habitat protection for its survival. The primary threat to most [...]
*** Update: Speaker Announcement! *** At our next meeting on Tuesday, May 27 at 7 p.m. (via Zoom) we are excited to welcome Jennifer Doubt, Curator of Botany at the Canadian Museum of Nature. Jennifer will be talking about the National Herbarium of Canada, which she manages. A herbarium (plural: ‘herbaria’) is essentially a library for plants. [...]
Two important documents have been updated to December 31, 2024 and are now available on the OFNC website. Thank you to Greg Zbitnew for his efforts at keeping this information current. One is an annotated checklist of the birds in the Ottawa-Gatineau district. This document lists all 379 species that have been seen in the [...]
