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Showing posts from May, 2019

An Invitation to Come Walk With Us

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  The two of us are passionate about nature, hiking, photography, birding and of course exploring new places. In the past year we have left our jobs, sold our house, donated our possessions and beginning on June 1st 2019 we will begin walking 24,000 km across Canada on The Great Trail, formerly the Trans Canada Trail , from Cape Spear Newfoundland to Victoria British Columbia and then trek from Edmonton, Alberta to Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories to learn more about Canada’s landscapes, its wildlife, and its people. For us this journey is about connections - people to people, people to nature, communities to communities, past to present, and coast-to-coast-to-coast. We strongly believe that taking a few minutes each day to get outside into nature, disconnect from the digital world, and spend some time with our thoughts or talking to other people helps us all connect with ourselves, our families, our communities, and our natural environment.   We are walkin

A few notes of Thanks (before we begin)!

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  Tomorrow our 28,000 km #Hike4Birds across Canada on the Trans Canada Trail commences, however, before we begin, a few notes of thanks.... Any decent scientist will admit, while there are often fascinating discoveries made on a regular basis, little is achieved on your own.   Our accomplishments today are built on the shoulders of the giants who came before us and the efforts of well staffed laboratories.   Our year of preparations and the successes of this trip are no different. We certainly could not have prepared, planned, coordinated, designed, trained and organized much of our trek without the help of a lot of people. Wonderfully we have had assistance from so many people and organizations!   Thank you so very much! Thank you to those people who continue to help us refine our message, who designed the digital classroom, kept us on track, raised our spirits, and those whose sponsorship and donations have proved to be the invaluable difference transforming this pro

Explore Canada, it's the natural thing to do!

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Perhaps the clearest argument every put forward by a great Canadian to get out and explore the nation, and enjoy its natural spaces comes from Rick Mercer!   For years he has been a source of humour, human interest, and Canadiana in my household.   In 2015 he visited Bird Studies Canada highlighting the wonderful work done in Long Point and other bird banding stations across the country.    I thought that today I would take a moment to share (what to me) is one of his best rants and pieces of advice (as well as one that profoundly influenced me).   Rick Mercer’s Last Rant . “…. the best part? … Hands down it’s the travel. I don’t know if we are the greatest country on Earth, but I know this—we’re the best looking. And I also know in my heart of hearts, we would be better, stronger, and more unified if more Canadians could make it their business to see more of Canada. And I know it’s not easy. Not everyone has the resources to travel to see the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia or the