I love getting questions about the wild side of PEI and so was thrilled to get this photo from Megan Jones. She found this clump of bright red insects in some old straw near her barn and was curious about their identification and whether they could be invasive. These are the lovely – and native – nymphs of the White-margined Burrowing Bug (Sehirus cinctus). Let’s take a look! You could be forgiven for thinking these are Lady Beetles at first glance, given their similar red-

PEI’s late summer landscape belongs to the Aster Family: yellow Goldenrods, purple Asters, and – one of my personal favourites – pink Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium maculatum). There are five Joe Pye species in North America, but Spotted Joe Pye Weed, shown here, is the only one we have on the Island. This plant can be found across the province, though I see it far more commonly in Prince County, where it grows in damp roadside ditches, meadows, and coastal areas. Spotted Joe Pye

PEI has many interesting wild animals, but some of the most beautiful – and unusual – are Sea Stars, often called Starfish. The waters around PEI are home to at least five species, including the Common Sea Star (Asterias rubens) and Forbes Sea Star (A. forbesi). It’s not hard to see where these invertebrates get their name: ask any kindergartener to draw a star, and you’ll get something that resembles this five-pointed shape. While our most common Sea Stars do have five arm

I would have liked a better-composed and more in-focus photo of today’s PEI animal, but I was under attack by a hoard of these fierce creatures. If you’ve met them, you know what I mean: these are Horse Flies (Tabanus nigrovittatus or similar). The names Horse Fly and Deer Fly are often used interchangeably for any large, biting fly, but they are two different, albeit related, beasts. Horse Flies and Deer Flies are in the same family (Tabanidae), but Deer Flies (Chrysops sp

There are certain, shared experiences that unite those of us who grew up on PEI. For example, getting storm-stayed in winter, going to the beach in summer, and having annual run-ins with Jellyfish! There are at least three species of Jellyfish in the waters around PEI: the Lion’s Mane (Cyanea capillata), shown here, the smaller and more cinnamon-coloured Atlantic Lion’s Mane (Cyanea fulva), and the white Moon Jelly (Aurelia aurita). Of the three, the Lion’s Mane is the most

PEI has wildflowers that are beautiful, edible, and ecologically important. Today we have an example that’s all three, and flowering now: Fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium)! Fireweed can be found across the Island, blooming in vacant urban lots, along rural roads and fields, and among forests impacted by 2022’s Hurricane Fiona. While it gets its name from an ability to recolonize land following wildfire, it doesn’t need fire to appear: any disturbance will do. Fireweed i

We humans tend to divide insects into two camps. There are those we don’t like (Earwigs, I’m looking at you!), and those we do, with no better example than Fireflies. I captured this lone Firefly’s flash at my home in central PEI recently and thought it’s time we took a closer look at these interesting insects! Fireflies are beetles, not flies, and not all have ‘fire’ – many species are daytime-fliers that use pheromones, rather than light, to communicate. The night-flying,

This week, we’re looking at a couple of edible non-native wildflowers that are in season right now. First up: Tufted Vetch (Vicia cracca). Tufted Vetch is a member of the Pea Family (Fabaceae) with clusters of purple flowers at the ends of stalks that arise from the leaf axils. (If you look closely at a flower cluster in person, you’ll see that each tiny blossom resembles a little bird with its beak against the flower stalk). Vetch leaves are like narrow versions of garden

It’s great to see landscaping with native plants becoming mainstream. Many nurseries now carry at least some native species and seed mixes, while PEI’s Rural Beautification Society has added a Native Planting & Biodiversity category to its popular annual competition. The Island has many common, native plants that make beautiful additions to backyard gardens. One example: Alternate-leaved Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia). PEI has four native Dogwoods, which are all easy to spot

This year’s damp weather may not be popular with everyone, but it has been great for mushrooms! The abundance of fruiting fungi has brought out a crop of social media posts asking about edibility. Here are some tips to help you ask the right questions and get reliable answers! I love encouraging people to try wild plants and fungi, but I cringe every time someone asks “is this edible?” That should never be your first question; instead, start with “what is this, and how can I

Wildlife doesn’t always follow the rules, and despite their name, Red Squirrels are sometimes black. PEI has a higher-than-average number of black-furred Red Squirrels (such as this one photographed by Dave Campbell), so let’s take a look at this phenomenon! In mammals, skin and hair colour are determined by how much and what type of melanin is produced. Genetics controls melanin production, and most individuals within a species have similar colours: for example, Skunks are

Right now, wildflowers are doing an amazing job of brightening up PEI’s spring landscape. Even bogs – habitats that go unnoticed most of the year – are putting on glorious displays of colourful Rhodora (Rhododendron canadense). Islanders are lucky enough to live in one of the few places in the world where we can enjoy Rhodora’s amazing spring show. While many of PEI’s native plants are also common in central and western Canada, or extend down the Atlantic coast of the US, R

With their tiny size, fearless personalities, and amazing agility, Hummingbirds capture our imaginations in a way few other birds can. PEI has only one species – the Ruby-throated Hummingbird – and their time with us is as short as an Island summer: from roughly Mother’s Day to Labour Day. Hummingbirds are creatures of extremes. They’re our smallest birds by far, weighing just a few grams (or about as much as a Canadian nickel); it would take more than 1,000 Ruby-throats to

I love flowering tree season on PEI. Right now, roadsides and hedgerows are alive with blossoms of Chokecherry, Pin Cherry, Hawthorne, Serviceberry and soon, the showiest of all: wild Apple. Unlike many of our other familiar fruit, Apples are not native to PEI. Strawberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, and wild Cherries have all been here for thousands of years, but Apples were brought by the earliest settlers in the 1700s. Given the limited and unpredictable nature of wild

Perhaps it’s because there are so few blue plants, animals, or fungi in nature that they seem to really catch our attention. That is definitely true of this beautiful Oil Beetle (aka Short-winged Blister Beetle, Meloe angusticollis), photographed in eastern PEI earlier this month by Carla McKie. Oil Beetles get their name from oily, orange droplets that ooze from their joints when the beetles are threatened. That substance is haemolymph (insect blood), and it also gives the

They’re baaaack! Here in Central PEI, the first Hummingbird and the first June Bug arrived within a couple of days of each other last week. Most people look forward to seeing the tiny birds far more than they do the shiny insects, but what exactly are June Bugs anyway? Let’s take a look! “June Bug” is a general term used to refer to many different species in the Scarab Beetle Family (Scarabaeidae). The ones found most often on PEI are the native Phyllophaga anxia, although at

There’s one PEI plant that most people are very familiar with, but few have seen growing in its natural habitat: Eelgrass (Zostera marina). This is how most of us know Eelgrass: washed up along the shore. Eelgrass actually grows in extensive beds offshore as well as in our bays and estuaries, and – despite what you may think – it’s a true flowering plant and not a seaweed. Eelgrass has roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and vascular tissue (structures that move water and nutr

This is a great time of year to spot a PEI fungust that's best known as a disease of Cherry trees: Black Knot ( Apiosporina morbosa ). Black Knot fungus forms distinctive, black galls on stems and branches of our native Pin Cherry and Chokecherry, as well as ornamental Cherries and Plums. While it’s unattractive, reduces fruit production, and may kill the infected branch, Black Knot doesn’t usually kill the entire tree unless the infection is very severe. Within those black

One of PEI’s first botanical signs of spring are Pussy Willows ( Salix spp.). We have more than a dozen different Willows on the Island, but only one – Salix discolor – officially has the common name ‘Pussy Willow’. Willows are notoriously difficult to tell apart, but don’t worry: all our species are commonly called Pussy Willows this time of year so, right now, you can’t go wrong! Those soft, fuzzy balls are the male flower buds, called catkins. (Female catkins are sim

You may think there’s no old growth forest or wilderness on PEI, but that’s not true. We have amazing ancient and wild spaces if you know where to look and can recognize the signs. Lung Lichen ( Lobaria pulmonaria ) is one of those signs. A lichen is a unique creature: usually, it’s a combination of a fungus and an alga or cyanobacterium functioning as one organism. But Lung Lichen is one PEI’s few tripartite lichens: it includes a fungus, a green alga, and a cyanobacter