top of page


Lichens and Rocks
At the end of the last Ice Age about 12,500 years ago, PEI would have looked more lunar than Earthly: no vegetation, just clay, silt,...
katemacquarrie22
7 days ago2 min read
10 views
0 comments


The Story of PEI Part 8: Plagues of Mice
Last week, we looked at some of the large mammals that once roamed PEI, including Black Bears, Lynx, Walrus, and Caribou. You may think...
katemacquarrie22
Mar 123 min read
108 views
0 comments


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
20 views
0 comments


The Story of PEI Part 6: Early Forests
This winter we’ve been looking at PEI’s natural history – the story our landscape tells about itself. So far, we’ve read chapters written...
katemacquarrie22
Feb 263 min read
31 views
0 comments


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
22 views
2 comments

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
12 views
0 comments


The Story of PEI Part 3: A Unique Igneous Rock
The first chapters in the story of PEI are written in sandstone, and they tell us about the environment and the plants and animals that...
katemacquarrie22
Jan 292 min read
22 views
0 comments

The Story of PEI Part 2: Fossils
Some may say that PEI is geologically boring, but I think nothing could be further from the truth! Our sandstone bedrock holds...
katemacquarrie22
Jan 153 min read
128 views
0 comments


The Story of PEI Part 1: Bedrock
Humans think in decades, forests operate in centuries, but the history of the land around us spans eons. This winter, we’ll look at the...
katemacquarrie22
Jan 83 min read
56 views
0 comments


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


Beaver Extirpation and Reintroduction
Over the past few centuries, PEI has lost some native animals and seen introductions of new, non-native ones. One of the most interesting...
katemacquarrie22
Feb 21, 20243 min read
152 views
0 comments


Game Bird Introductions
Releasing new species into the wild is generally frowned upon today, but this wasn’t always the case, and the 1940s were the heyday of...
katemacquarrie22
Feb 14, 20243 min read
107 views
2 comments


Rockhounding on PEI
You may not think of PEI as a rockhounder’s paradise, but there are interesting geological finds here. Sure, you’re not likely to come...
katemacquarrie22
Feb 7, 20242 min read
1,634 views
2 comments


Black Banks
I describe natural history as the story our land tells about itself. PEI’s bogs tell many interesting stories, and at Black Banks the...
katemacquarrie22
Jan 17, 20243 min read
223 views
3 comments


2024 Eclipse
The highlight of this year’s natural calendar is the total eclipse on April 8th. PEI will be in the path of totality, making this among...
katemacquarrie22
Jan 10, 20242 min read
161 views
0 comments


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
117 views
0 comments


A New Year's Resolution: Nature Literacy
We’ve lost our nature literacy. Here’s why that matters. It wasn’t that long ago that just about every Islander knew how to catch a...
katemacquarrie22
Dec 26, 20232 min read
82 views
4 comments


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
54 views
0 comments


Sandstone Oxidation
With the change of seasons, my plant and fungus posts are coming to an end and my two popular winter series – PEI natural history and...
katemacquarrie22
Nov 15, 20232 min read
332 views
0 comments


Walchia Fossil Find
I’ve been checking my favorite coastal sites to see how they’re doing after Hurricane Fiona. As predicted, our sand dunes are recovering...
katemacquarrie22
Jul 12, 20232 min read
198 views
1 comment
bottom of page