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Ground Ivy
Today’s PEI plant is one that many of you will be familiar with. This time of year, the scent of its flowers and sound of bees buzzing...
katemacquarrie22
Jun 112 min read


White-lipped Snail
Let’s start the day with a quiz: which PEI animals can be found in saltwater, freshwater, and on land? If you guessed snails, give...
katemacquarrie22
May 283 min read


The Story of PEI Part 9: Land Clearing
In the last few posts, we’ve looked at aspects of PEI’s forests and wildlife hundreds of years ago, before European settlement. In each...
katemacquarrie22
Mar 263 min read


Meadow Vole (aka Field Mouse) Tracks
If it looks like a Mouse and squeaks like a Mouse it. . . might be a Vole! This week, we explore Vole tracks and sign, and look at Voles’...
katemacquarrie22
Mar 93 min read


The Story of PEI Part 7: Early Wildlife
Last week, we explored the PEI landscape of three centuries ago, around the time Europeans arrived. Those pre-settlement forests and...
katemacquarrie22
Mar 53 min read


New Book Coming Soon!
My new book, Wild Foods of Prince Edward Island is coming out this spring and now available for pre-order. Published by The Acorn Press,...
katemacquarrie22
Feb 221 min read


The Story of PEI Part 5: Post-glacial Land and People
So far this winter, we’ve explored the formation of the Island’s sedimentary sandstone, fossils that can be found within it, a unique...
katemacquarrie22
Feb 193 min read


The Story of PEI Part 4: Glaciation
PEI has experienced many ice ages over its long history, but the landscape we know and love today was shaped by the most recent – the...
katemacquarrie22
Feb 123 min read


Wild Rose
The Rose Family gives PEI so many beautiful and delicious plants: Apples, Blackberries, Chokeberries, Chokecherries, Raspberries,...
katemacquarrie22
Nov 27, 20243 min read


Sea Lavender
PEI’s salt marshes are among our most under-appreciated habitats: they’re wet, smelly, buggy, and have few showy,...
katemacquarrie22
Aug 25, 20242 min read


Sand Ripples
Few things say PEI more than the expanses of red, ripple-marked sand on our shores at low tide. One of my favourite things about those...
katemacquarrie22
Aug 21, 20242 min read


Swamp Dodder
The beautiful shades of green in PEI’s landscape are thanks to the 99.5% of our plants that photosynthesize – they make their own food...
katemacquarrie22
Aug 18, 20242 min read


Soapwort
No soap? No problem! This PEI plant has you covered. Meet Soapwort (aka Bouncing Bet, Saponaria officinalis ). I learn new things about...
katemacquarrie22
Aug 11, 20242 min read


Beach Wormwood
If you’ve been enjoying PEI’s famous beaches during this hot weather, you may have noticed a distinctive silvery-green plant standing out...
katemacquarrie22
Jul 17, 20242 min read


Sea Milkwort
Fields and forests may come to mind when you think about PEI’s wildflowers, but our coastlines have beautiful flowering plants you may...
katemacquarrie22
Jul 3, 20242 min read


Cat-tail Pickles
Springtime on PEI provides an amazing selection of edible wild plants. From tasty greens like Dandelions, Fiddleheads, and Spruce Tips to...
katemacquarrie22
May 22, 20243 min read


Wetland Sheen
Welcome back to Ask a Naturalist: your own personal “Google” for information on all things natural on PEI. This time of year, I get a...
katemacquarrie22
Apr 17, 20242 min read


Sand Dune Fungi
If you are at all familiar with PEI’s famous sand dunes, you likely understand the importance of Marram Grass (Ammophila breviligulata)...
katemacquarrie22
Mar 20, 20243 min read


Coal
I hope you didn’t find a lump of coal in your Christmas stocking, but did you know you can find it along PEI’s shores? Let’s start the...
katemacquarrie22
Jan 3, 20242 min read


Stories in Sandstone
To me, Natural History is the story our land tells about itself. PEI’s oldest stories are told by our sandstone cliffs and go back some...
katemacquarrie22
Dec 6, 20233 min read
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