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Van Waffle

Writer, Naturalist, Photographer

Category: nature

Drawing water from the spring

Drawing water from the spring

Posted on August 21, 2017March 30, 2022 by Van Waffle

Drawing water from a spring inspires reflection on where this essential resource comes from.

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Grand River, Waterloo, Ontario

Where have all the flowers gone?

Posted on June 12, 2016March 30, 2022 by Van Waffle

Where have all the flowers gone? It’s a hackneyed question, but I needed an answer today. I found them growing by the Grand…

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Goldthread, spring wildflower

Goldthread, brief beauty in the woods

Posted on May 21, 2015March 30, 2022 by Van Waffle

The charming wildflower, goldthread, is one of the earliest to appear in Central Ontario woodlands, even before trilliums. The ground around our cottage…

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Red fox

Close encounter with a red fox

Posted on October 20, 2014March 30, 2022 by Van Waffle

At the cottage a few days ago I had a close encounter with this red fox. From time to time over the years…

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A stream in Hanlon Creek Conservation Area, Guelph

Thanksgiving hope for a transformative future

Posted on October 13, 2014March 30, 2022 by Van Waffle

I’m grateful to be able to step outside my backdoor and into green space. I had to work ahead on a writing assignment…

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Praying mantis

Praying mantis: look for this effective predator

Posted on September 17, 2014March 30, 2022 by Van Waffle

“Watch for them in later summer when they fly from place to place in fields and clearings,” suggests Bugs of Ontario, a Lone…

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The vole that ate my potatoes

Posted on September 11, 2014 by Van Waffle

This morning while digging the last potatoes from the garden, I disturbed this vole. At first sight, it darted from a clod of…

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Water striders move on water beside an arrowhead plant

Nine interesting facts about water striders

Posted on September 9, 2014March 30, 2022 by Van Waffle

I could sit for hours on the dock at the cottage, just watching the water glide and nature unfold. On calm days (and…

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Bullfrogs return to the lake, bellowing Beethoven

Posted on June 23, 2014June 23, 2014 by Van Waffle

The bullfrogs are back, at least for this summer, and I found a musical mnemonic for their song in one of Beethoven’s symphonies….

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Dendroica: a great tool for learning birdsong

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Van Waffle

Every spring I review my birdsong recognition skills in time to run my route for the annual Breeding Bird Survey sometime around the…

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Latest Articles

  • Information box: Where We Spin
    Handspinning Seminar will nourish your soul
    May 24, 2022
  • Discover wilderness in a small urban creek
    Apr 6, 2022
  • A photo of a great blue heron taking flight is not part of my memory of the encounter
    Improve memory and take great photos
    Mar 30, 2022
  • Mud: a poetic meditation on early spring
    Mar 23, 2022
  • A calendula in my garden on a rainy day appears to emanate its own light from within.
    Check my new photo albums
    Mar 16, 2022
  • Three beech trunks to the left on the left show white fluff indicating the onset of beech bark disease.
    Two diseases invade Ontario beech forests
    Mar 9, 2022
  • Enchanter’s nightshade
    Jul 10, 2019
  • Cottage vignettes: flora and fauna around the dock
    Jul 5, 2019

Van on Flickr

  • Fundament of origin IV
  • Waiting for the thaw
  • Sunset over Singing Sands, Bruce Peninsula National Park
  • Two-Spirit celebrants at Toronto Pride 2006
  • Fundament of origin III
  • Fundament of origin II
  • Travel advisory
  • Communications
Genius Loci: The Spirit of a Place is a Flickr group curated by Van with 250 members and growing, exploring how places influence our lives.

Genius Loci

  • Landscape
  • ...Entre dos mares
  • Kolkata – Porters
  • Three
  • Grotte di Collepardo
  • Rockwood
  • Morning
  • Shivah - Archive 2019

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