Species at Risk Spotlight: Least Bittern
April 2024 Dawson Trail Dispatch: The least bittern is North America’s smallest member of the heron family.
Species at Risk Spotlight: Mapleleaf Mussel
March 2024 Dawson Trail Dispatch: When living in a healthy water system, the mapleleaf mussel has a lifespan that can reach over sixty years.
Species at Risk Spotlight: Barn Swallow
February 2024 Dawson Trail Dispatch: In the tall-grass prairie, there is no other species at risk that we live more closely with than the barn swallow.
Species at Risk Spotlight: Yellow Rail
January 2024 Dawson Trail Dispatch: Yellow rail are very seldom seen; more often, they are heard making a distinct “click-click” call that sounds as if two small stones are being tapped together.
Species at Risk Spotlight: Common Nighthawk
December 2023 Dawson Trail Dispatch: The common nighthawk has picked up the nickname “mosquito hawk” due to their ability to eat over five hundred mosquitoes and other insects in a single night.
Species at Risk Spotlight: American Badger
November 2023 Dawson Trail Dispatch: The American badger is a member of the weasel family. They are equipped with powerful front legs and claws, making them excellent diggers.
Species at Risk Spotlight: Olive-sided Flycatcher
October 2023 Dawson Trail Dispatch: One way to distinguish olive-sided flycatchers from other flycatchers is by their distinct call, which has been said to sound like “quick, three beers.”
Species at Risk Spotlight: Golden-winged Warbler
September 2023 Dawson Trail Dispatch: The golden-winged warbler may be hard to spot, but if you are lucky enough to see this showy songbird, it could be a highlight of your autumn birding season.
Species at Risk Spotlight: Culver’s Root
August 2023 Dawson Trail Dispatch: Culver’s root was named after Dr. Culver, an early eighteenth-century physician who recommended the plant for various medicinal uses.
Preserving a precarious orchid
July 2023 Carillon News: The only place in Canada the endangered western prairie fringed orchid can be found is in this little corner of Manitoba. Roughly 50 per cent of the world’s population of the flower grows on a 48 square kilometre piece of land just outside Vita in the RM of Stuartburn.