Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada
TRIBUTE TO A BARN by Nola Sprague© November 17, 1980 Your weathered walls have stood many storms, And watched the new cattle being born, It seems a disgrace to tear you down, And scatter your hewn logs around. You once were proud and stood…
PREDICTING THE BIRDS AT OUR FEEDERS December, 2014/January, 2015 issue Having pursued the study of birds as a hobby for close to 60 years now, it is always fun to reflect on how much we have learned about bird behaviour in that time. A…
GETTING READY TO HUNKER DOWN October/November, 2014 issue There was a skin of ice on our car windshield, and frost on the grass around our campsite at Ferris Provincial Park on September 14th. Had fall started already? By noon, we were back to T-shirts…
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST August/September, 2014 issue The tropical groove-billed ani is one, and also the couas and coucals of Madagascar. Even that star of cartoons, the famous roadrunner who is relentlessly pursued by Wiley Coyote, is also a member of the…
June/July, 2014 issue Last year at this time, my column in The Scoop dealt with how the natural world promotes good health and longevity. How some on our guided hikes have health issues, while others do not. Arthritis comes up frequently during conversations behind…
SPRING AWAKENING EVERYWHERE April/May, 2014 issue Expressions like “old fashioned winter” and “winters of my youth” became obsolete terms this past season after enduring the hardest winter in memory. In Prince Edward County, almost daily snow squalls off Lake Ontario kept snowblowers and shovels…
THIS RUFFED GROUSE HAS ME ON EDGE February/March, 2014 issue I have never killed a bird intentionally. However, there is one along the road I walk every morning whose days may be numbered. The bird is a ruffed grouse that purposely waits for…
WOOD FIRES AND CHRISTMAS December, 2013/January, 2014 issue I had the pleasure one winter of participating in a Twelve Days of Christmas presentation at a museum not far from where I live. I represented the Four Calling Birds. However, there were only three of…
GIRL OF LIMBERLOST AND SON OF POSEIDON November/December, 2013 issue The photo of the caterpillar that Scoop editor Angela Saxe sent me, taken by Isadora Spielmann, was a mystery. Covered in tiny white spiracles, the caterpillar’s identity was lost in the carpet of these…
ROCK DUNDER IS A CLIMB TO THE TOP OF THE WORLD August/September, 2013 issue When I attended elementary school back in the 1950s, all of us kids always looked forward to visiting “The Big Stone” on Arbour Day. It was located at the back…