To catch a chipmunk: It’s not as easy as you might think
I stashed a few peanuts in an awkward place I was fairly certain would prevent the conniving squirrels, but tempt the chipmunk.
Wildlife Viewing
Moose Bush: The way-posts home
In the North, we measure distance by the amount of time it takes. A way-post is an item that marks your progress along a road or trail.
Wildlife viewing program offers free nature walks and talks
What do mushrooms, squirrels, Kokanee salmon, a salt lake and elk have in common? They’re all things you can see in the upcoming Wild Discoveries events hosted by Environment Yukon over the next month. From a focus on fungi to how elk attract mates, the free evening hikes and talks are being held in and around …
Wildlife viewing program offers free nature walks and talks Read More »
Living With Wildlife: Steve Wilson
How can anyone call this guy a tree rat or a pest? Squirrels need to eat too!
Counting birds is a social affair
The International Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is Dec. 14 – Jan 5. last year (2017) saw 12 in The Yukon from Watson Lake to the Tombstones.
Living With Wildlife: Steve Wilson
Hello Everybody, We invite you to share your photos of Yukon wildlife. Email your high-resolution images with a description of what’s going on and what camera equipment you used to [email protected] Living With Wildlife by Steve Wilson Chickadees are the perfect Yukon bird. The crappier the weather, the happier they seem to be. Camera: Nikon …
Living With Wildlife: Steve Wilson
Hello Everybody, We invite you to share your photos of Yukon wildlife. Email your high-resolution images with a description of what’s going on and what camera equipment you used to [email protected] Living With Wildlife by Steve Wilson Driving into Whitehorse on the south access, just past the Robert Service Campground, I had to stop and …
Living With Wildlife: Tim Green
Hello Everybody, We invite you to share your photos of Yukon wildlife. Email your high-resolution images with a description of what’s going on and what camera equipment you used to [email protected] Living With Wildlife by Tim Green The eagles of Rabbit’s Foot Canyon perch at the top of the Eagle Cliffs between the entrance to …
Feeding our feathered friends … do it for joy, and do it for science
It’s winter—time to check out the bird feeders and stock up on “fast food” for our feathered friends. A huge variety of bird feeders are available in local stores or can be made easily from milk jugs or cartons. The cheerful black-capped chickadee is the most frequently reported “feeder bird” in the Yukon and in …
Feeding our feathered friends … do it for joy, and do it for science Read More »
Living With Wildlife: Steve Wilson
Hello Everybody, We invite you to share your photos of Yukon wildlife. Email your high-resolution images with a description of what’s going on and what camera equipment you used to [email protected] Living With Wildlife by Steve Wilson Gray jays, a.k.a. Canada jays, visiting our deck on Duncan Drive in the Golden Horn subdivision. We somehow …
Living With Wildlife: Pat Bragg
Hello Everybody, We invite you to share your photos of Yukon wildlife. Email your high-resolution images with a description of what’s going on and what camera equipment you used to [email protected] Living With Wildlife by Pat Bragg I was lucky enough to take these photos from the White Pass & Yukon Route train, from Skagway …
Keeping Yukon wild at the Yukon Wildlife Preserve
Yukon Wildlife Preserve offers wildlife viewing, school programs, family passes, run/ski/walk events, Yukoner Day and holiday activities.
Living With Wildlife: Jeremy McCoy
Captured this beautiful juvenile bald eagle at my favorite spot along McIntyre Creek.
Living With Wildlife: Don Graham
This is what happens when you put fish heads on a lake shore cabin roof.
Living With Wildlife: Philip Doehler
This little beauty watched me when I hiked up a hill by Schwatka Lake in Whitehorse. Lovely spot and there is always wildlife to admire.
Living with Wildlife: Faye Cable
The Whitehorse Photography Club makes a photo trip to Skagway during June every year to photograph the field of irises at Dyea Tidal Flats. We always see bears on the road on the way home.
Living With Wildlife: Steve Wilson
Here is a red squirrel in our backyard on Duncan Drive in the Golden Horn Subdivision enjoying some 50 per cent off bread from the Independent Store.
Living With Wildlife: Steve Wilson
Here are two photos of a male pine grosbeak in our backyard on Duncan Drive in the Golden Horn Subdivision.
Nothing says spring more than the sounds of birds
The Yukon Bird Club’s new president is Shyloh van Delft (shown here leading a field trip at Tagish). The club has launched a new season of free field trips and special events. PHOTO: Jenny Trapnell The North is a nursery for millions of migratory birds returning from winters in places as far south as South …
Nothing says spring more than the sounds of birds Read More »
Living With Wildlife: Peter Zenkl
This photo of the running fox was shot in Whitehorse at Shipyards Park.
Living With Wildlife: John Birmingham
Hello Everybody, We invite you to share your photos of Yukon wildlife. Email your high-resolution images with a description of what’s going on and what camera equipment you used to [email protected] This guy was busy bringing dinner home for the family when I was lucky enough to snap him at the McIntyre Creek pump house …
See the Amazing Journey
Now’s the time to visit the Whitehorse fish ladder. This month the Yukon River Chinook salmon are migrating through Whitehorse, and the Whitehorse Rapids Fishway, located in Riverdale at the end of Nisutlin Road,is a good place to seem them in action. The wooden fish ladder is the longest of its kind in the world …
Living With Wildlife: Brian Sunico
Hello Everybody,We invite you to share your photos of Yukon wildlife. Email your high-resolution images with a description of what’s going on and what camera equipment you used to [email protected] I’m just new to photography, but here are some of my shotsof the eagles nest and their mom(or dad). I used a Canon EOS 70D …
Big Fun at Little Atlin Lake
You don’t own a boat or a canoe? No problem – Little Atlin Lodge is one of the very rare locations in the Yukon where you can rent a boat or a canoe directly on a lake shore. The Little Atlin Lodge at km 6 of Highway #7 (Atlin Road) offers boat and canoe rentals …
Living With Wildlife: Dave Rach
Hello Everybody,We invite you to share your photos of Yukon wildlife. Email your high-resolution images with a description of what’s going on and what camera equipment you used to [email protected] Camera: Nikon D3100 Lens: 55-300 mm Nikor This eagle has been hanging out in front of what’s turned into our favorite place in the Yukon …
Living With Wildlife: Nadine Peters
Hello Everybody,We invite you to share your photos of Yukon wildlife. Email your high-resolution images with a description of what’s going on and what camera equipment you used to [email protected] We live in Teslin. We took this photo with a Nikon D7100 Camera with a Nikkor AFS18-300 lens. We are sending two photos, one is …
Living With Wildlife: Laura Hill
Hello Everybody, We invite you to share your photos of Yukon wildlife. Email your high-resolution images with a description of what’s going on and what camera equipment you used to [email protected] The Northern Goshawk was spotted south of Watson Lake on an old logging road. The murder of crows was taken near the Yukon River …
Life Lessons Through the Lens
You can learn a lot by studying animals, just ask local photographer Minnie Clarke. Her passion for capturing northern creatures was borne on a remote trapline in Johnson’s Crossing, Yukon. Clarke has been photographing Yukon’s wilderness for 20 years, but one stunning subject in particular is the focal point of many of her studies: the …
Wild Times
“They’re [cranes] a much more delicate bird, compared to the swans,” says Carrie McClelland, a wildlife viewing biologist with Environment Yukon. “They stand three and a half to four feet tall, with a six foot wingspan, but they only weigh around seven or eight pounds. They’re very slender.” Lesser sandhill cranes migrate each year from …
Start South, GoNorth!
Winter in Whitehorse is beautiful, but long. By the end of April 2016 we traveled down south to find Vancouver fully in bloom already. A reasonably priced and very scenic train ride along the coast brought us to Seattle. After discovering this attractive city for a few days, we took over a truck camper at …
Spring Guests
If the crocus is the official flower of spring, then the swan must be the official bird of spring in the Yukon. Each year thousands of swans ascend to the Yukon from winter feeding grounds along the coasts of Washington and southern British Columbia. Their annual stop brings them to Marsh Lake, where the birds …
Swans are an ‘easy sell’
Sylvie Binette probably has the easiest job at the Department of Natural Resources. As a wildlife viewing technician, it is her job to make the public aware of swan habitat and why it is important to preserve it. It’s an easy job because Swan Haven, on Marsh Lake’s M’Clintock Bay, offers a marvellous view of …
Living With Wildlife: Jackie Clancy
Hello Everybody, We invite you to share your photos of Yukon wildlife. Email your high-resolution images with a description of what’s going on and what camera equipment you used to [email protected] These pictures are taken with a Lumix Panasonic DMC-TZ5 at the Dredge Pond Sub. near Dawson City, YT. in my yard…..resident wildlife. The momma …
Living With Wildlife: Josh O’Brien
Hello Everybody, We invite you to share your photos of Yukon wildlife. Email your high-resolution images with a description of what’s going on and what camera equipment you used to [email protected] All photos were captured with a Nikon d800 and a Sigma 150-500mm lens. I am an aspiring photographer who is currently attending the University …
Birding on the Fly
I’ve joined her in a Riverdale neighbourhood in search of a rare Mountain chickadee. The first species we see, however, is a noisy woodpecker, a “Hairy.” Whitehorse resident Tracy Allard brings out her smartphone and taps an app called eBird to start her checklist: the type, number and location of each bird she’ll see on this …
Why Fly South When You Can Tough it out Here
Mary Whitley felt surprise and compassion when she saw a robin perched in a tree in her Hillcrest yard on December 9th. It was -19ºC — and a strange place for a bird that heralds Yukon spring. Her husband saw it first. “He looked out the window and said, ‘There’s a robin out there!’ And …
A Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis)
I am pleased to announce that I recently had my first encounter with a sandhill crane. I have never gone to the Crane and Sheep Festival in Faro, which is held in May, and the time and place when the cranes fly over the town. Years ago, I saw flocks of sandhill cranes in November …
To go where few people go: I wonder if that is why we saw four wolverines playing?
On August 13, my friend Nancy Ohm and I went for a hike in my backyard. I’ve been working on a walking trail towards the mountains for 20 years. I am making slow process, using only a small ax and clippers. Lately, I have seen signs of people, probably neighbours, establishing the trail. Great! Still, …
To go where few people go: I wonder if that is why we saw four wolverines playing? Read More »
Getting Ready for Fall and Winter Birding
We’re getting ready for winter and so are the birds. They’re chirping and feeding everywhere and the sky is alive with flocks of all kinds. It’s so busy one of Yukon’s most avid birders, Tracey Allard, says fall can seem like spring for a few weeks. “There are so many sparrows and warblers and you’ll …
Avoiding Calamity with Bears
Yes, bear stories, undoubtedly a favourite topic in the Yukon and one that gets people talking. As I write here, there is a black bear poking around on our property. I have never had a true calamity involving a bear in my 30 years of hiking and living in the Yukon. Recently, I tripped and …
Summer Birding: It’s All About the Kids
In summer, birding is all about the kids. Or, chicks. After the spring blitz of migration and mating, many birds are rearing offspring and staying closer to their nests. It’s a time when many Yukoners stop birding. “Our forests are usually more silent and less colourful as males no longer have to advertise for mates or rivals,” …
Putting the WOW in Tombstone Park
Looking for a memorable northern road trip? The 17th annual Tombstone Weekend on the Wing (WOW) offers three days of fabulous hiking, a birding festival and interpretive events for all ages. The weekend of free events takes place June 3 to 5 and will start from the Tombstone Territorial Park campground, at kilometre 71 of …
You Know It’s Spring When the Swans Arrive
“Last year was a big year,” says Scott Cameron, Environment Yukon’s Wildlife Viewing Technician. “We were up to 2,000 swans every day for a few days.” The height, he says, was April 9, when 2,200 were counted out on M’Clintock Bay. Typically that number is closer to 1,200. “And early too – usually you expect …
What You Might Not Know About Ducks
Back in the early 1960s, I spent a couple of years banding waterfowl in one of the newly-created marshes of the hydro project in Lake St. Lawrence, just west of Cornwall, Ontario. This is when I really got the opportunity to know the many features of waterfowl (duck, geese and swans). The flooding of the …
Ode to Kusawa Lake
Boxing Day: we drive out to Kusawa Lake. My beloved lake, Kusawa. The joys of the lake for me include swimming, boating, floating, skating, to be in it/ on it or crossing the lake. I have even bicycled on it and now I walk on it. I have often sunbathed on its sandy beaches or …
Living with Wildlife: Urs Wyss
Hello Everybody, We invite you to share your photos of Yukon wildlife. Email your high-resolution images with a description of what’s going on and what camera equipment you used to [email protected] We observed this funny Bison near the Alaska Highway between Contact Creek and Liard Hot springs on September 14th last year. I used a Canon EOS …
One-Two-Tweet…
There’s nothing like a bird count to inspire new and seasoned birders. This Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) takes place Feb. 12-15 and it’s a family-friendly event for any skill level. The GBBC helps to give a snapshot of bird life throughout Canada, the continent, and the world. Last year 5,090 species were recorded – …
Living with Wildlife: Jozien Keijzer
Hello Everybody, We invite you to share your photos of Yukon wildlife. Email your high-resolution images with a description of what’s going on and what camera equipment you used to [email protected] The photo taken with my Panasonic lumix DMC FZ200 On Christmas Morning, I went out to photograph a pink sky bordered by the forever …
Living with Wildlife: Michele Newell
Hello Everybody, We invite you to share your photos of Yukon wildlife. Email your high-resolution images with a description of what’s going on and what camera equipment you used to [email protected] Hi my name is Michele Newell. I found this critter in my bird feeder this morning. I don’t know what it is. Must be …
Living with Wildlife: Richard Brochet
Hello Everybody, We invite you to share your photos of Yukon wildlife. Email your high-resolution images with a description of what’s going on and what camera equipment you used to [email protected] I got this sweet picture of a mama Grizzly. A family of three was hangin’ out near the carcross desert. The cubs were chewing on roots while …
Living With Wildlife: Michele Newell
Hello Everybody, We invite you to share your photos of Yukon wildlife. Email your high-resolution images with a description of what’s going on and what camera equipment you used to [email protected] My Mom Joanne Newell from Sardis B.C was visiting me this summer. She stayed with a friend for a week up by Destruction Bay. …
Living with wildlife: 2015-11-05
Hello Everybody, We invite you to share your photos of Yukon wildlife. Email your high-resolution images with a description of what’s going on and what camera equipment you used to [email protected] This is what happens when you put fish heads on a lake shore cabin roof. Camera: FinePix S8000 set on continuous mode.
Living With Wildlife: John Birmingham
Hello Everybody, We invite you to share your photos of Yukon wildlife. Email your high-resolution images with a description of what’s going on and what camera equipment you used to [email protected] Golfing at Annie Lake I thought I could shave a few strokes off of my scorecard but, this Yukon sentinel was keeping me honest. Camera: Samsung Galaxy …
Living with Wildlife: Nancy Ohm
Hello Everybody, We invite you to share your photos of Yukon wildlife. Email your high-resolution images with a description of what’s going on and what camera equipment you used to [email protected] Walking along the Millennium Trail in mid-July, it was just perfect to catch a shot of these two guys, sitting on the cliffs across the …
Living With Wildlife: Jacqueline Clancy
Hello Everybody, We invite you to share your photos of Yukon wildlife. Email your high-resolution images with a description of what’s going on and what camera equipment you used to [email protected] These pictures were taken at the Dredge Pond subdivision near Dawson City. It’s the resident wildlife in my yard. The momma bear and her three …
Cranes Fly High Up in the Sky
The thermals above the town of Faro may account for the “tens of thousands” of sand hill cranes that fly above it each spring. Or so Rose Fulton speculates. Fulton works for the town, and is the Faro Crane and Sheep Viewing Festival coordinator. She says she’d be the event coordinator, but there aren’t enough …
Living With Wildlife: Maggie Leary
Hello Everybody, We invite you to share your photos of Yukon wildlife. Email your high-resolution images with a description of what’s going on and what camera equipment you used to [email protected] This photo submitted by Maggie Leary The pine grosbeak was sitting in a tree in our backyard, planning his launch onto the birdfeeder. I took this …
I Lived to tell the Tale
April 19, 2013 was a beautiful sunny day. I got out of bed and cooked eggs and ham for breakfast. I packed my hunting gear, two bottles of water, some rope, nuts, and some dried fruit, and put it all into my backpack. I put on my new knee brace, and some thick pants and grabbed my …
Spring migration means a busy time for birders
The end of April’s Celebration of Swans at Marsh Lake comes at a good time. That’s because at least a hundred other bird species are now arriving as part of the long-awaited spring migration. This year, the Yukon Bird Club is offering free guided field trips in Whitehorse and 10 other locations to help both visitors …
Birds, Bats & Bees
For more than a decade, the Yukon Fish and Game Association has helped youngsters build houses for our winged friends. That tradition will continue on May 10 with a workshop to build bat and bird houses at the Canada Games Centre from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The workshop is a free drop-in event aimed …
Bad News, Bears
If Carmen Smith has her way, there will no free lunch for bears or other critters in Whitehorse wheelie-bins. Smith is program co-ordinator for a non-profit society with the imposing moniker of Centre for Human-Wildlife-Human Conflict Solutions. “Try saying that ten times fast,” she jokes. Not surprisingly, the organization prefers to be known as WildWise …
Living With Wildlife: Erin Purdie
It was a cloudy afternoon in late August at approximately 2 p.m. when my husband called me to come to our bedroom. Through the bedroom window I was shocked to see this beautiful owl perched on the ledge of our deck. He stayed there for approximately 15 minutes looking into our greenbelt and back to …
The Arrival of the Swans Means Spring is Near
If you spend time at Marsh Lake’s M’Clintock Bay this week, you may see new visitors. At up to four-and-a-half feet tall, 35 pounds, with 8-foot wingspans, these visitors are hard to miss. Majestic swans: trumpeters arriving first, tundras shortly after. Both species are now in a holding pattern in this shallow bay as they …
Swans Return to Their Second Home
April marks the glorious return of thousands of swans to the M’Clintock Bay area of Marsh Lake. This year is particularly special because it marks the 20th anniversary of Swan Haven Interpretive Centre, the facility that has been designed to help humans get a good look at the spectacle – without disturbing the migrating birds. …
The Art of Bird Watching
A sprawling landscape of trees and snow-covered mountains pours in through the large living room windows. As the sun shines on the scenic view, Heidi Hehn tells stories of animals that have crept out of the forest setting and into her backyard. Having this setting at her doorstep couldn’t be more fitting for Hehn. Wildlife …
Protecting our fine feathered friends
Who among us hasn’t, at one time or another, gazed upon a bird in flight and marvelled at it … or even wondered what it would be like to fly? Ducks Unlimited calls us to do more than just wonder — to become actively involved in caring for and protecting Canadian wetlands. Kevin Bowers, who …
The Preserve is for Kids
On my very first day at the Preserve, I met someone. It was a beautiful, cold and sunny February day and I was engrossed in a solitary stroll when a car drove up and stopped beside me. Since the Preserve was closed, and I was new, I was definitely surprised. The driver introduced himself and …
Sandhills on Demand
A quarter million sandhill cranes! When, anywhere in this territory, do we have the opportunity to see a quarter million anything? Caribou? Nope. People? Not even close. Trees? Well, probably, but trees aren’t typically very active; they don’t really provide a spectator sport, as it were. But a quarter million sandhill cranes, flying overhead in …
Rehab at the Wildlife Preserve
It has been a real pleasure utilizing our new facility, which is filled with unique and exciting features that allow us to provide excellent care for injured and orphaned wildlife. Check it out: in-floor heating and advanced lighting that can be individually controlled for each animal care room. Lighting is fade-adjustable to create sunset/sunrise-like transitions. …
Here There Be Bats
This weekend, I wanted to show the boys something I knew they would love. To tell the story properly, I need to go back to last fall. A friend of mine, Janice Mazerolle, mentioned she had been hiking in the Chadburn Lake area. A couple of kilometres down the trail from the parking and day …
