Magwood Park, 2017 (TFN Archives)
Get to know TFN by exploring our latest news & updates!
by Jason Ramsay-Brown It’s funny the things we don’t think to question. Some time before I was ten years old, my mother taught me that song sparrows were called chickadees. I never had any reason to question this. Even if I had, those were the days before the Internet, where fact-checking such a thing would Read More
Over the past year, the crew of CBC’s The Nature of Things has been all over Tommy Thompson Park filming Accidental Wilderness: The Leslie Street Spit. This documentary debuted February 14, 2020 at 9 PM on CBC-TV, and the full episode is now streaming online via CBC Gem! Watch the Episode Now Read More
On Saturday, February 1, TFN Members descended on the S. Walter Stewart Library for our annual Nature Images Show, a wonderful afternoon full of amazing work, good friends, and tasty snacks. The images on display were as varied as the members who presented them: snap shots of weird finds, scenes from citizen science, highlights from Read More
Thanks to everyone for joining us at Toronto Wildlife Centre yesterday and for bringing many practical gifts to help out with the work of the Centre. Victoria Badham, the Centre’s Outreach co-ordinator, gave a wonderful presentation, and we got to ask Sarah, one of the rescue team questions. We learned so much from the Centre’s Read More
In September, 2019, TFN provided full scholarships for five GTA high school students to attend Ontario Nature’s annual Youth Summit for Biodiversity and Environmental Leadership at Geneva Park on Lake Couchiching. From September 20-22 some 102 students from 70 communities across the province participated in a wealth of activities and workshops addressing diverse environmental matters Read More
Join the TFN Junior Naturalists for a visit to the Toronto Wildlife Centre, where each year thousands of wild animals are rescued, rehabilitated and released. We will have the opportunity to meet the Centre’s Ambassador Animals, and learn about the amazing work the staff of the centre does. We will also make snow sculptures and Read More
Baycrest Hospital is looking for TFN members to participate in a fascinating study that examines how experience with bird identification reshapes the brain’s visual system and changes memory and attention. The two-session study is open to members interested “in biology/nature/classification but don’t have a specialized bird-related background”. It offers a flexible schedule and compensation for Read More
The Southern Ontario Orchid Society (SOOS) is holding their annual show on February 8th and 9th at the Toronto Botanical Gardens. This is a great opportunity to view some beautiful flowers and learn about ongoing efforts to protect and conserve Canadian orchids. There is a $2 discount coupon available on their website: https://soos.ca/. Fellow TFN Read More
Thanks to everyone who braved swirling snow, and a choppy ferry crossing to join us, yesterday, for a wonderful winter nature adventure at Ward’s Island. A special thanks to Jenny and Bob, island residents and excellent botanist and birder, who guided our hike. Our arctic-nesting and over-wintering ducks were staying close to shore to take advantage Read More
by Jason Ramsay-Brown In December, reporter Asher Elbein dragged some innocuous and irreverent seeming tidbits of Internet culture in to the venerable pages of Audubon Magazine when he posed the question “When Is a Bird a ‘Birb’?” While millions of naturalists pursue their passions on the Internet each and every day, it’s probably a safe Read More
Toronto Field Naturalists wishes to acknowledge this Land through which we walk. For thousands of years, the Land has been shared by the Wendat, the Haudenosaunee, and the Anishinaabe. Toronto is situated on the Land within the Toronto Purchase, Treaty 13, the traditional and treaty Lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. This territory is also part of the Dish with One Spoon Wampum, a covenant agreement between Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Wendat peoples and allied nations to peaceably share the land and all its resources. Today, the Land is home to peoples of numerous nations. We are all grateful to have the opportunity to continue to care for and share the beauty of this Land.