Species of the Month – Tiger Beetles – July 2023

 
Tiger Beetles (family Cicindelidae) are a fiercely named group of beetles, as both the larvae and adults are extremely predatory. While many beetles are rather slow and lumbering, Tiger beetles are fast runners with large eyes and oversized menacing mandibles that they use to catch and kill prey. The

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Species of the Month – Blanding’s Turtle – April 2023

 
 
The uncommon but relatively widespread Blanding’s Turtle is a medium-sized turtle with a bright yellow throat and an obvious domed shell. The dark domed upper shell is speckled with numerous faint yellow markings and the black and yellow under-shell is hinged, allowing it to partially close. Blanding’s Turtle

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Oak Savanna Restoration

Long Point Basin Land Trust manages several nature reserves for the restoration of oak woodland-savanna habitat – a unique forest type found on the sandiest soils in Norfolk County. Oak woodland savannas can be found at Harlow Dune Nature Reserve, Stead Family Scientific Reserve, and Trout Creek Nature Reserve. In

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Species of the month – January 2023 – Wood Frog

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 –

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Species of the month – December 2022 – Sandhill Crane (Part 2)

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

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Species of the Month, October 2022: Pawpaw

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

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Species of the Month, September 2022: Monarch Butterfly

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

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Species of the Month, August 2022: Field Thistle

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

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Species of the Month, July 2022: Moths

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

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