Bird-watching: Brown headed Cowbirds

In Birds, News by couchiching

Brown-headed Cowbirds are birds of the Western Prairies. They acquired their name from following herds of bison, feeding on the insects stirred up as the animals grazed the grasses. As the forests of Eastern Canada were cleared to provide agricultural farm lands, the cowbirds began to expand eastward, and their range now extends across Ontario.

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Volunteer take on invaders to care for our earth

In Flora, News by couchiching

Garlic mustard. Purple loosestrife. Phragmites reed. Dog-strangling vine. The list of invading plants keeps getting longer, and our knowledge of how to battle them is ever changing. The species listed here, plus many more, are ones that have shown up in the Couchiching region from their distant home ranges, and they are quickly displacing the native species.