Some of PEI’s early spring wildflowers are showy, in-your-face sorts. Others are tiny, delicate, and go unnoticed to all except to those specifically looking for them. Today’s plant is in the latter category, and one of my favourites: Beaked Hazelnut ( Corylus cornuta ), flowering now.   Hazelnut is a common, native understorey shrub found in mixed forests and along streams and trails across the Island. It stands out in the landscape this time of year, with finger-like male c

One of my favourite PEI animals is seldom seen despite being fairly common: the Northern Flying Squirrel ( Glaucomys sabrinus ), shown here in a photo by Ron Serres (used with permission).    Flying Squirrels are beautiful, large-eyed, soft-furred animals, with a flap of skin (called a ‘patagium’) running from wrists to ankles on each side. That flap allows them to glide 50 metres or more between trees in the forest and has been copied by the wingsuits used by some BASE jumpe

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

Some PEI wildlife signs are subtle, while others are hard to miss! These are the unmistakable holes of a Pileated Woodpecker.    Pileated Woodpeckers are roughly crow-sized birds, with black bodies, white stripes down their necks, white patches on their wings (visible in flight), and a dramatic red crest on their heads. If you can imagine Woody Woodpecker, you’ll be in the ballpark: the Pileated Woodpecker is said to have been the inspiration for that cartoon character.    Th

We’ve looked at needle-leaved and broadleaved trees this winter but standing and fallen dead trees make enormous contributions to PEI’s forests, too!     Trees die naturally from a variety of causes: old age, disease, insects, fire, weather damage, or environmental stress, among others. The death of a tree is part of the life of a forest and is necessary for the survival of everything from plants, lichens, and fungi to insects, birds, and mammals.    Insects such as Bark Beet

Last month, I posted about the advantages and disadvantages of multi-year needles versus annual broad leaves on trees (You can read about that here: https://www.pei-untamed.com/post/conifer-adaptations ). Some of you asked about Eastern Larch, a tree with a foot in each world. Let’s take a look!   Keeping needles all winter does have a price: it allows snow to build up on the tree, placing tremendous weight on its branches. This can cause branches to break, or entire trees to

Pop quiz: what’s the largest winter wildlife track you’ll find on PEI?  Coyote is our largest animal, so that would be a reasonable – but wrong – guess. Snowshoe Hare’s hind feet are pretty big, but not the largest. The honour goes to an animal you may not have thought of: the Bald Eagle.   When identifying bird tracks, toe arrangement is a helpful starting clue. Here we see three long toes pointing forward and one long toe pointing back, in what’s called the classic (aka ani

Welcome back to Ask a Naturalist, your own personal Google for information on all things natural on PEI. Jeff Matheson sent me this wonderful photo of blue resin on the side of a spruce tree and was curious about the unusual colour. Let’s take a look!   First, it’s useful to know the difference between sap and resin (sometimes called pitch). All trees have sap, and it’s analogous to blood in animals: it carries water, sugar, nutrients, minerals, and hormones throughout the tr

Birds may not be the first animals that come to mind when you think winter wildlife tracks, but some of our avian neighbours spend more time walking than flying. Two good examples are Ruffed Grouse and Ring-necked Pheasant.   When identifying bird tracks, toe arrangement is a helpful place to start. Here we see three long toes pointing forward and one short toe pointing back in what’s called the Game Bird arrangement. Only four PEI bird species sport feet like these, and so r

Snow on spruce trees is a hallmark of the Canadian winter. While most PEI plants lose their leaves or disappear altogether as temperatures drop, you may not have thought about how and why conifers take a different approach. Today, we take a look!     Broad-leaved trees like Maple, Beech, and Birch produce big leaves with huge surface areas that are very efficient at catching sunlight and turning it into food for the tree. Even if those leaves didn’t freeze, they lose water an

Few PEI scenes are more beautiful than frosty winter mornings like the one we had last week. Under certain conditions, ice crystals coat trees, twigs, and fence lines, turning the landscape into something magical. We call this ‘hoar frost’, but there are actually two very different types of ice that cause this phenomenon. Let’s take a look!   ‘Hoar’ is an old word for feathery white, like a beard. It’s an apt description for the delicate, feathery ice crystals that form true

So far this winter, I’ve had more questions about this type of track than all others combined. It seems everyone is curious about Snowshoe Hares!    I get it: Snowshoe Hare tracks look like they were made by Muppets and they’re everywhere . It’s been like this for the past couple of years, and I do think 2022’s Hurricane Fiona played a role. Leaning or downed hardwoods put tasty branches and buds within reach, and fallen conifers provide useful cover from predators.   The dis

The Island’s winter landscape is mostly monochrome, making the occasional burst of colour all that more beautiful. One of my favourite bright spots is the aptly-named Maritime Sunburst Lichen ( Xanthoria parietina ). Lichens are interesting in many ways, including how they survive our coldest months. Most living things go to great lengths to protect themselves from drying out or freezing: two major (and usually lethal) side effects of winter. That’s why PEI’s trees, plants, f

It’s breeding season for PEI’s wild canines, meaning foxes and coyotes are more active right now. Even if you haven’t seen (or heard) any in your neighbourhood, tracks will tell you who’s been around. Here’s my annual refresher on identifying fox, coyote, and dog tracks. You can check the Wildlife Tracks & Sign section of this blog for previous posts and additional photos of the features I look for.   Too often, I see one-word answers to track ID questions online that are rea

There have been some bitterly cold days this winter, with temperatures well into the minus teens and twenties Celsius. Clear, cold days are great times to be in the woods, but you may notice some unusual noises: the snap, crackle and pop of trees! Media have been having fun with sensational ‘exploding tree’ headlines, but let’s look beyond the clickbait. A clear, bitterly cold day in the woods on PEI. Trees do their best to prepare for winter. This includes getting rid of tho

Welcome to the final Mushroom Monday of 2025. We’ll end with a large and easy-to-identify species that hasn’t been recorded all that often on the Island: Northern Tooth ( Climacodon septentrionalis ).   As we’ve seen throughout this series, mushrooms come in all shapes and sizes, and can share physical traits without being closely related. The spore-bearing surface of Northern Tooth has spine-like ‘teeth’ rather than gills, folds, or pores (inset photo). Despite this, it is m

Earlier this year, my youngest (and largest) dog was cornered on the deck by something that was clearly very scary. I rushed to rescue him and immediately saw the fearsome creature: this lovely Northern Parula Warbler ( Setophaga americana ). ( No birds were harmed in the taking of this photo ). The Northern Parula is one of about 20 species of migratory warblers that breed on PEI. I’m no birder, but the Parula Warbler’s distinctive call is one of the few I recognize: a fast

Welcome back to Ask a Naturalist, your own personal Google for information on all things natural on PEI. Today we have an insect that people often mistake for a fungus. Meet Woolly Alder Aphids ( Prociphilus tessellatus ).   From a distance, Woolly Aphids do look like some sort of fluffy, fungal mould on the branch of a tree. But take a closer look and you’ll see that those fuzzy clusters are actually dozens – sometimes hundreds – of individual insects crowded together.   The

Welcome back to Mushroom Monday, your weekly look at some of PEI’s fascinating fungi. I taste-tested today’s species for the first time this year, and it’s now among my favourite edible wild mushrooms. Meet the Olive Shaggy Parasol ( Chlorophyllum olivieri ). Shaggy Parasols are large, eye-catching mushrooms that can be found in grassy, open areas as well as in forests (especially under Spruce). Field guides often list them as lookalikes for edible Shaggy Manes, but they’re n

This fall, we’ve been exploring some of PEI’s least-common trees, including Balsam Poplar, Ironwood, and Jack Pine. Today it’s one many people haven’t even heard of: Bog Birch ( Betula pumila ).   We often think of Birch as among the majestic trees of PEI’s early forests. Nineteenth century writers told of Yellow Birch ( Betula alleghaniensis ) three to four feet in diameter, and it was said that Mi’kmaq people were able to make a six-person canoe from the bark of a single Wh