From between the year 2018 to current 2020 I have live on and off in the Russel Scott area located in Eastern Ontario. My Family Moved there when I ventured off to university. I have never had much connection to Russel other than my family. But since I was introduced to the inaturalist app for a summer course , I began exploring Russell and discovered it is pretty cool!
The coolest discoveries of Russell Included wolves, Hawks and small birds.
One of the first nature walks I went on I invited my sister and we saw 2 red fox pups, one came right up to us. Later that night we decided to go with the whole family of 5 we then saw another 4 foxes, they were much larger and were presumed to be young to middle aged adults. Some of these foes would be found playing in the front lawn of country homes.
During The Covid Pandemic I had the opportunity to explore nature and my home province of Quebec.
I purchased a seasons pass that would provide me unlimited access to the Provincial Parks of Quebec.
My Favourite park was Parc National Des iles de Boucherville which was close to home. In one given visit I could see up to 30 different bird species.
Parcs that I visited in the summer of 2020 include:
Mont tremblant
-Parc National D'Oka
-Centre Ecologique Fernand Seguin
-Morgan Arboretum de Montreal
-Cap Saint Jaques
Parc Regionale de Longeuile
-Parc National des Iles de Boucherville
Mont Saint Hilaire
-Parc National De la Yamaska
- Parc National du Mont Orford
- Marais Real D Carboneau
- Parc National du Fjord du Saguenay
Although I could write a journal piece for each I will not. But some key parcs that I would say are must sees in your lifetime is Boucherville, Saguenay and Marais Real D.
Although I am in my last year of University for an Undergraduate degree in Marine Biology. I have recently discovered diverse marine life close to home...
As a kid my parents didn't teach me much about marine life in Central Quebec/ Montreal, and there isn't much wildlife when you live in a busy city anyways.
But as I grew older I found my passions for marine science. I was moved by the Beluga whales of Quebec after seeing a documentary about them. Once I was In university I was extremely passionate about marine science and hoped to one time work in Quebec with these mystical whales.
In 2020, I created my own subject under the supervision of a professor. This course allowed to explore research and general information available on the Beluga Whales of Quebec. Then in another class where we were to chose our own coastal impact topic I decided to chose my beloved belugas. Aswell when I joined a Marine species course again with an individual project of our choice I decided to explore further Beluga whales in Nova Scotia.
I will always love beluga Whales and find satisfaction in educating other of the belugas and other marine life present in Quebec since many are not aware that Quebec is not just a province in the middle of canada but is also a coastal region. Quebec has shores along the Hudson bay (home to 2 operations of belugas, the Atlantic ocean, and the saint Lawrence estuary/river).
Since I had registered for the seaside program by Dalhousie University in 2020, I was not anticipating a pandemic to hit. My plans for the summer quickly changed. I had intended on participating in intensive summer course and exploring Halifax on my free time. When the pandemic hit and many class were either cancelled or transitioned to online format I was no longer able to live in Halifax for the summer as I intended.
I stayed registered in my classes (Ornithology, Marine species, Coastal Ecology, indigenous conservation biology) and participated online and completed modules at home. Towards th end of the summer I had found myself back in my school province. After 2 weeks of Quarantine I decided that I owed it to myself to do as I planned and Explore Halifax and other part of Nova Scotia.
I visited the famous Pleasant point park. This was the first place that I ever saw a wild sea star. The first one I found was the only one for a few kilometers. Then at a boat warf I saw hundreds of sea stars comfortably hidden under and in between rocks.
I decided to visit again the next day since I was still so excited from the day before. This time I walked along the long expanses of beach to see ho many sea stars I could find. To my surprise there were so many sea stars you couldn't even count.
I think this was a very impactful moment in my early marine science career. Since I had been so interested in whales previously these tiny organisms seemed to just capture my entire attention.
Now I'm not sure which marine species is my favourite.
