NCC's 2017 fall magazine

Ram’s-head
lady’s-slipper
NCC has protected
more than 15 properties
that provide habitat
for the ram’s-head
lady’s-slipper (near
threatened) in places
such as the Ottawa Valley
and Bruce Peninsula.
This delicate orchid often
grows in rare habitats,
such as alvars and forested
dunes. NCC staff regularly
monitor the health
of ram’s-head lady’sslipper
populations on
many properties.
Boreal felt lichen
The boreal felt lichen (critically endangered)
needs old-growth coastal forest
to survive. This species once occurred in
Norway and Sweden, but is now extinct
there and can only be found in Atlantic
Canada. NCC has protected habitat for this
rare lichen in Newfoundland and Labrador
and Nova Scotia.
Blanding’s turtle
NCC has protected thousands of acres
of Blanding’s turtle (endangered)
habitat in places such as the Frontenac
Arch in Ontario and the Quebec side of
the Ottawa Valley. Maintaining intact
habitats for the Blanding’s turtle is
critical for its survival because many
females are killed each year on roads
when they migrate to nesting areas.
Semipalmated sandpiper,
piping plover
NCC is protecting key coastal habitats
for two declining shorebirds: piping
plover and semipalmated sandpiper
(both near threatened). NCC protects
important piping plover nesting
habitat in places such as Sandy Point,
Newfoundland and Labrador, and along
Nova Scotia’s South Shore. This bird also
nests in the prairies, including on NCC
properties in Saskatchewan’s Missouri
Coteau. At NCC’s Johnson’s Mills
property in New Brunswick, more than
30 per cent of the world’s population
of semipalmated sandpipers stop to
feed during their migration from mid-July
to mid-September.
Red-headed woodpecker
On Ontario’s Rice Lake Plains, northeast of Toronto,
NCC is protecting rare black oak savannah habitat
that supports the red-headed woodpecker (near
threatened). This colourful bird ranges from
Saskatchewan to Quebec in Canada, and has been
declining by close to three per cent each year since
1966. NCC is also restoring the oak savannahs where
the red-headed woodpecker can be found, through
prescribed burns and invasive species removal.
natureconservancy.ca
FALL 2017 5