Muskoka Watershed Council

Biodiversity science for global environmental change.

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Another highly engaging presentation, this one by Andrew Gonzalez of McGill University and the Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science, is the 3rd lecture from the biennial Muskoka Summit on the Environment . On June 6th and 7th I recorded the presentations over the two day summit. Broadcast, in part, by CBC Radio’s Ideas with Paul … Read more

Cottager’s questions about lake quality answered.

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Last  Saturday I made a presentation on behalf of the Muskoka Watershed Council to the Sparrow Lake Association. The SLA was founded way back in 1926,  and is one of many lake/cottager’s associations throughout Muskoka and elsewhere. As always, there were a lot of questions at the end of the talk and because we ran … Read more

Emerging challenges and converging responses: Challenges and opportunities for conservation in an era of global change.

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Engagingly presented by Jeremy Kerr of the University of Ottawa, this is the 2nd lecture from the biennial Muskoka Summit on the Environment . On June 6th and 7th I recorded the presentations over the two day summit. Broadcast, in part, by CBC Radio’s Ideas with Paul Kennedy, (search for Buying Into Biodiversity), these were … Read more

Mothers, don’t let your babies grow up to be biologists!

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I am working on a project currently named the “Muskoka Minute”; after today we may have to revise the title. Today was quite a week. Biologists track reptiles, fish, birds etc. – everybody knows that. I always thought that if they weren’t sitting in their office/lab chair looking at streams of perfect data, sent wirelessly … Read more

Loss of biodiversity, is it important if we don’t see it?

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As a volunteer, as well as being on the executive of the Muskoka Watershed Council, I am the videographer. This gives me a great opportunity to ensure that truly wonderful ideas and presentations are not lost after the words are spoken and the video projector is turned off. I record, edit and post to YouTube, … Read more

Mice at your cottage – snakes may be your best friends.

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Don’t love snakes? They are harmless, all except the Massasauga rattler, which is virtually harmless; and 5 are in trouble in Ontario. Learning to live with them near your cottage, even going so far as to create some habitat for them may be the most effective and natural way to get rid of those rodents … Read more

Habitat Types in Muskoka

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Think of Muskoka, not as a single habitat, but a mosaic of different inter-dependent habitats. I just finished editing, and posted a video on YouTube. Dirk Janas of Beacon Environmental presented at the Muskoka Watershed Council‘s Muskoka Stewardship Conference. In about 40 minutes you’ll be able to tell all your friends how a bog is … Read more

Moon River Walleye Fishery

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Here’s another video for the Muskoka Watershed Council‘s YouTube channel. Eric McIntyre, of the Eastern Georgian Bay Stewardship Council discusses spiking water flow downstream from Bala Falls, its devastating implications to Walleye reproduction and the current status of the agreement between the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ontario Power Generation. Eric spoke at the Muskoka … Read more

Andrew Daniels Fish Stewardship Program, Lake of Bays

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I just finished editing and posted a video on the Muskoka Watershed Council‘s YouTube channel. George Daniels has obviously been a driving force behind some terrific conservation efforts on fish habitat in and around Muskoka’s Lake of  Bays. After the death of George’s son Andrew, a couple of Andrew’s buddies launched the Andrew Daniel’s Fish … Read more