An Outside Chance

Pollination Nation

There are many beautiful flowers in the meadows and marshes this month, and the insects that visit the plants are photogenic in their own right. For today’s post we venture to some of the farthest reaches of greater metropolitan Port Darlington – from the east end of West Beach Road out to the meadow beyond … Read More

Energy And Civilization: a review

Also published at Resilience.org and BiophysEco. If you were to find yourself huddled with a small group of people in a post-crash, post-internet world, hoping to recreate some of the comforts of civilization, you’d do well to have saved a printed copy of Vaclav Smil’s Energy and Civilization: A History. Smil’s new 550-page magnum opus would … Read More

salsify etcetera

The colours of June: they’re often at their most intense at the smallest scales. Today’s photos feature wild and cultivated beauties growing around the yard right now. Yellow salsify goes by many aliases. Goat’s beard. Johnnie-go-to-bed-at-noon (for its flower’s habit of opening in the early morning sunshine, but folding back into a bud in the … Read More

birds birds birds

Today’s post features just a few of the birds seen in the waters, on the shore, and in the treetops in recent weeks in our neighbourhood.

tricks of the light

While the sun is low or storm clouds blow through, light beams bend and scatter, painting sky and water in extraordinary tints. Between thunderstorms last night, a vivid rainbow fragment held its place over Lake Ontario for twenty minutes or more. The standard rectangular framing imposed by digital cameras is a reasonable default for most images. … Read More

The Carbon Code – imperfect answers to impossible questions

Also published at Resilience.org. “How can we reconcile our desire to save the planet from the worst effects of climate change with our dependence on the systems that cause it? How can we demand that industry and governments reduce their pollution, when ultimately we are the ones buying the polluting products and contributing to the … Read More

the rock blooms

On a tiny island in a small lake at the southern edge of the Canadian shield, flowers grow in the few millimeters of soil that collects in the crevices. A glistening trove of clam shells lies submerged at one side of the island, the remains of some fine dining by one of … Read More

Higher Ground

With Lake Ontario at record high levels, coastal marshes have now spilled over large areas which are normally more or less dry land. To take pictures along the walking trail along Bowmanville Creek at the north side of Bowmanville Marsh, you need to add hip waders to your photography kit – mere knee-high boots will only get you around … Read More

Being right, and being persuasive: a primer on ‘talking climate’

Also published at Resilience.org. Given that most people in industrialized countries accept that climate change is a scientific reality, why do so few rank climate change as one of their high priorities? Why do so few people discuss climate change with their families, friends, and neighbours? Are clear explanations of the ‘big numbers’ of climate … Read More

Coastal Engineering

Lake Ontario and the coastal marshes are near record highs this spring. While this can lead to sleepless nights due to fears of flooding, the high water also makes for great kayaking and wonderful views at sunset and sunrise. Port Darlington cottages (click image for larger view) Channel Sunset (click image for larger view) … Read More