Species of the Month

Restoring Lands, One Seed At A Time – A Spotlight on New Jersey Tea, Wild Lupine, Butterfly Milkweed
By Emily Ratch, Stewardship and Outreach Technician
Over the past 6 months, some of the LPBLT nature reserves have undergone major restoration efforts, including logging of monoculture pine plantations, prescribed burns to

Species of the Month – Black Oak (Quercus velutina)
By Brianne Curry, Outreach and Fund Development Manager 
Although not uncommon across North America, the Black Oak (Quercus velutina) is relatively uncommon in Ontario. Here in Southwestern Ontario, we are actually in the northernmost range of the species. Most of the

The brumating Wood Frog (Lithobates sylvaticus)
By Emily Ratch, Stewardship & Outreach Technician
Winter is a very deceptive season. At a glance, it seems like not much is happening in the natural world; it’s almost like nature is put on pause. But behind the scenes, life is still thriving –

Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis)
By David Agro, Director
Read Sandhill Crane Part 1 (published in January 2022) here! 
With early winter comes one of Long Point’s better spectacles, the arrival of the cranes. Just yesterday I was stopped along Front Road watching some 2000 cranes as they flew across the

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)
By: Emily Ratch
Stewardship and Outreach Technician
 
The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is a native butterfly to eastern North America, including southern Ontario. This common butterfly has a wingspan of around 3 to 5 inches. Males are typically yellow with black stripes, and females are

Species of the Month, October 2022: Paw Paw (Asimina triloba)
By: Brianne Curry
 
The pawpaw is a small tree or tall shrub (growing to about 10 m tall) which is native to Carolinian forests in southern Ontario, and produces edible fruit. The large fruit are about the size of

Species of the Month, September 2022: Monarch Butterfly 
by Adam Timpf
I think it’s safe to say that pretty much everybody is familiar with this black-and-orange migratory butterfly that winters in Mexico, and its association with native Milkweeds as the larval host plant here in Ontario.  Sometimes people mistake the

Species of the Month, August 2022: Field Thistle
by Basil Conlin
I wake up early on a humid mid-July morning, my eyes opening as soon as the first robins start singing. I rush downstairs to the front garden because last night it was almost ready. This is the moment I’ve

Species of the Month, July 2022: Moth Nights in Norfolk
by Mary Gartshore
In the 70s I was travelling north in Nigeria when I met a Polish scientist who counted the numbers and species of moths coming to his porch light every night. Decades later I am still impressed

Species of the Month, June 2022: Bumble Bees
by Dr. Victoria MacPhail, Research Associate, Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, York University
June is International Pollinator Month and so it’s a great time to focus on my favourite pollinators – the bumble bees! These cute fuzzy bees are probably our