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PODCAST

to know the land

A show about relationships with the landbase, striving to evoke resilience, resistance, and reverence for the land. Interviews with authors, researchers, activists and students of the land.

science nature

All Episodes

00:42:14

Ep. 214 : North American Flycatchers with Cin-Ty Lee...

to know the land ·

2023/04/17

Cardinals, Blue Jays, Robins, Mourning Doves, Mallards, Black-capped Chickadees. Quite common and familiar birds most folks seem to know. One of the reasons is that they have very distinct patterning and physical traits that render them easily identifiable. Even some of the Sparrows can be differentiated by a slightly advanced beginner. Flycatchers? They can be tough. When I see a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (Empidonax flaviventris) in the woods, despite being one of the more recognizable,

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00:53:55

Ep. 213 : Nesting Behaviours of Red-tailed Hawks

to know the land ·

2023/04/10

Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) are always exciting to see. However ubiquitous or plentiful they may be on the land, it is always a gift to observe them circling and soaring overhead. I have been noting their behaviours for a few years now, trying to catch a glimpse whenever I can. A couple of years ago I watched a pair eager to find out if they were nesting in the valley I walk or ride on my way into work. I never did find that nest, but I hoped I would in the future. On Monday, a colleague

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00:40:22

Ep. 212 : Voices of the Spring Birds

to know the land ·

2023/04/03

When you want to get to know someone, you listen to the stories they have to share. We might ask some questions once in a while, but mostly we watch and listen and that’s how we learn more about who they are and how they exist in the world. We might go visit them in their spaces and ask more questions, like why do they hang out in a particular space more than another? Slowly we start to build a deeper understanding and awareness of who this someone is, and usually, deeper connection. Listening to

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00:56:38

Ep. 211 : Fisher Researcher Dr. Scott LaPoint

to know the land ·

2023/03/20

Recently while tracking a Fisher (Pekania pennanti) in Algonquin Park we encountered a large galloping trail that had a long stride length of 106 cm (41¾ in). This was about 28 cm (10 in) longer than what is recorded in Mark Elbroch's “Mammal Tracks and Sign” (Stackpole, 2019). When I finished measuring, I was discussing this extraordinarily long stride with some colleagues. They told me about a National Geographic article, based on a paper about increasing body sizes and range expansion of Fishers

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00:44:10

Ep. 210 : BIPOC Outdoor Gear Library

to know the land ·

2023/03/13

Over and over on this podcast (and through the blog) I have spoken to the need to be outdoors and the value for us emotionally, physically, spiritually and socially in participating with the wider wilder world around us. But when these opportunities are interrupted by white-supremacist narratives on who belongs outdoors, the BIPOC Outdoor Gear Library steps up and reminds us that everyone belongs outside! BIPOC Outdoor Gear Library is a community-based lending library focused on providing access to

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00:54:03

Ep. 209 : Tracker Certification North America

to know the land ·

2023/03/06

Tracker Certification North America is an evaluating body in the field of wildlife tracking and trailing, and so much more. They host evaluations which double as in depth community tracking and trailing training sessions, going deep on the explanations and pointing out how the evaluator can see what they can see. This process encourages dialogue, feedback and reflection, community discussion and a deeper understanding of the trails the animals are leaving behind. From a tool which was designed by

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00:58:46

Ep. 208 : Stop Cop City

to know the land ·

2023/02/27

Cop City is an urban warfare training facility being built on the South side of Atlanta. To construct this sprawling $90 million compound stretching 85 acres, developers are bulldozing a forest. The stated motive for this project was to boost morale of police in the wake of the George Floyd uprisings, which showed that the public in Atlanta and elsewhere had lessening faith in the role of policing in keeping them safe. I first heard about the Stop Cop City campaign in 2022 when a friend shared the

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00:59:31

Ep. 207 : Journey With Our Kin with Dani...

to know the land ·

2023/01/30

Dani Kastelein-Longlade and Amina Lalor along with with guest artists Katherine Rae Diemert and Brenda Mabel Reid have created an inspiring and beautiful exhibition, Journey With Our Kin, at the Queens Square Idea Exchange gallery in Cambridge Ontario. The exhibition is open until Feb. 5th, 2023. I got to talk with Dani and Amina about their work at the exhibition, and about how getting to know the lands where we live may interrupt the colonial frameworks we daily navigate. We discuss relationships

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00:41:32

Ep. 206 : Pileated Woodpecker Sign

to know the land ·

2023/01/16

Without much snow so far this winter, my tracking has been shifting towards other sign out on the land. Lately this has been signs on plants, scats, rubs, with a focus on Pileated Woodpecker feeding sign written in the bodies of the trees. I first noticed this kind of sign along the Bruce trail many years ago, and then again in Algonquin Park. These days, I just see it everywhere, and through sharing what I am noticing with friends, colleagues and students, I am coming to realize that others just

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00:37:49

Ep. 205 : Eastern Screech Owl

to know the land ·

2023/01/09

I have a big affinity for the suburbs (I know, it’s weird), and the Eastern Screech feels like a suburban bird. They hang out along the riparian corridors with the tall older trees, hunting mice, crayfish, songbirds, and whomever else they can catch. I did the same when I grew up in Brampton, Ontario, but instead of mice, crayfish and songbirds, I was hunting for feral Apple (Malus domestica) trees, Wild Grapes (Vitis riparia), and anything else I could eat. I bet there were Screech’s along the

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00:42:00

Ep. 204 : Winter Solstice

to know the land ·

2022/12/19

“Wither, wither, black flowering night. May your dark juices bleed, burn up like a pool on the summer plain, shrivel like a stain upon sand, dwindle to a basalt pebble, tiny as a slow-worms eye is. Vanish, to nothing.” Here we are again, in the deepest of the doom season, yet with light on the way. The rebirth of the Sun. A time for our seasonal celestial celebrations with stories, food and fire. Celebrations to beat back the cold. The winter solstice is such a special time for me these days. I used

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00:37:27

Ep. 203 : I’ve Been Thinkin ‘Bout Yew..

to know the land ·

2022/12/12

It started with a suggestion that I could learn a little about how to differentiate between Canada Yew (Taxus canadensis), Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), and Balsam Fir (Picea balsamifera), but then it turned into a zany rabbit-hole of discovery, confusion and awe. This episode details a lot of the complicated information I have been coming into while trying to learn more about Canada Yew, and the Yew family, Taxaceae, more broadly. A beautiful family, holding long lines of mythos and

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00:39:27

Ep. 202 : Baby Bird Identification with Linda...

to know the land ·

2022/12/05

Many of us have been there. You find a nest, you look inside, and there huddled amid the grasses, vines and twigs are small nearly naked nestlings. Maybe the nest isn’t familiar, or soon as you realize it is occupied you get out as fast as you can so as to not disturb.. but later when reviewing some photographs you begin to wonder who is was in the nest? Or maybe you are a wildlife rehabilitator, and someone calls your team with a baby bird, separated from their kin and they aren’t sure what to do

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00:51:33

Ep. 201 : Harvesting for Conservation with Sarah...

to know the land ·

2022/11/28

“Fewer ramps per pound means more ramps in the ground”. Ramps? Wild Leeks? Allium tricoccum? Whatever you call them, they are a type species for foraging and everyone wants to be in relationship with them. Often that means everyone is looking for them and trying to bring some home, or sell them at markets or fine restaurants, sometimes without care or consideration as to what is best for the Ramps themselves. This hasty desire to be in relationship, through foraging and consumption, can lead to

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00:38:07

Ep. 200 : Lessons From A Dead Owl

to know the land ·

2022/10/31

This episode is a bit of a vulnerable one. I talk about some profound lessons which really impacted me, and shook some of my self image. I also feel a bit exposed by acknowledging I have honestly received some profound lessons from interactions with a dead Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus). Essentially the show is about theft, and honouring our values & commitments to the world around us, and how we want to be in relationship with those we share this world with and with those whom we teach and

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00:42:38

Ep. 199 : Death and Decomposers

to know the land ·

2022/10/24

Tis’ the season to be considering the concepts of death and decay. We can smell it in the cool wet woods, and we can see it draped across the doorways along our streets. Skeletal trees sway with boney branches scratching at grey skies, and the dark is ever creeping in. Why not celebrate some of the most profound and interesting parties involved in this death and decomposition : Fungi! This weeks show I zoom in on a game, “Death and Decomposers” to help teach about how essential these factors of life

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00:42:14

Ep. 198 : Understanding Ecopsychology with Memona...

to know the land ·

2022/10/17

“One of the things we tend to do culturally, the framework is to separate humans from the earth and to see them as two separate entities, rather then seeing that as an interconnected relationship..” My experience with Memona is that she is all about challenging that feeling of separateness and working towards restoring and remediating that disconnect between the sacred Earth and us humans who may have forgotten it. She has described Ecopsychology in the past as “the area of study that explores the

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00:38:13

Ep. 197 : Sit Spots

to know the land ·

2022/10/10

It’s easy, pretty accessible and turns out to be a lot of fun and often full of learning. A sit spot, or magic spot, or secret spot or whatever else you might call it is simple. Just go find your sit spot, close to home, accessible and easy and then sit there, quietly. That’s it. The act, or lack of acting really, really pays off. I have a ton of stories of exciting encounters with the world beyond the human. Perhaps it was noticing the infinite detail in Goldenrod (Solidago spp.) flowers, or the

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00:36:16

Ep. 196 : Hair Scale Identification Guide to...

to know the land ·

2022/09/26

After a delay of a week, Justin Kestler and I got to talk about his new book The Hair Scale Identification Guide to Terrestrial Mammalian Carnivores of Canada. This concise book is a quick guide to interpreting the origin of hairs based on the morphology of scales along the cuticle (outer side) of the hair. It’s not like a fingerprint per se, which attempts to identify an individual human, but instead may help to identify a species. This is because the scale structure is different across species but

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00:50:11

Ep. 195 : Gallformers.org

to know the land ·

2022/09/12

Gallformers.org has been referred to me by a few friends over the past few months as they helped me to identify some unknown galls I have found in the field. I have written about galls on the toknowtheland.com website many times as well (1)(2)(3), usually having to refer back to gallformers.org finally figure out who made them. I got to ask a ton of questions and we got to talk about why Jeff and Adam started gallformers.org, what a gall is, gall research resources, individuation between gall forms

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144 results

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