Dr. Heather Hinam 🍁 🇨🇦
@secondnaturemb.bsky.social
Naturalist, writer, artist, and educator with a Ph.D. in Ecology. I make interpretive signs, illustrations, murals, and books. Sometimes, I chase polar bears and belugas. #scicomm #sciart http://www.discoversecondnature.ca
Probably the cleanest cut I’ve ever made with an axe. Quite a satisfying moment this morning. 🪓
February 4, 2026 at 4:25 PM
Probably the cleanest cut I’ve ever made with an axe. Quite a satisfying moment this morning. 🪓
My last really cold walk on the lake for a while if the two week forecast is correct. Going up into the minus single digits in the next few days. It was -26C this morning.
February 4, 2026 at 4:31 AM
My last really cold walk on the lake for a while if the two week forecast is correct. Going up into the minus single digits in the next few days. It was -26C this morning.
February 4, 2026 at 3:54 AM
Look out below! This great gray owl was hunting along the road near my cottage last month. When you get a good look at the wing like this, you can tell that it's a hatch year bird (less than a year old). After hatch year birds will have different coloured flight feathers as some are replaced. #birds
February 4, 2026 at 1:42 AM
Look out below! This great gray owl was hunting along the road near my cottage last month. When you get a good look at the wing like this, you can tell that it's a hatch year bird (less than a year old). After hatch year birds will have different coloured flight feathers as some are replaced. #birds
Your annual reminder that groundhogs are squirrels, and pretty darned good at climbing trees. #mammals 🌿 #GroundhogDay
February 2, 2026 at 7:33 PM
Your annual reminder that groundhogs are squirrels, and pretty darned good at climbing trees. #mammals 🌿 #GroundhogDay
These guys are in my yard every morning, so there's going to a lot of photos of them for the foreseeable future. They're just so good at posing. #birds
February 2, 2026 at 6:02 PM
These guys are in my yard every morning, so there's going to a lot of photos of them for the foreseeable future. They're just so good at posing. #birds
The red-breasted nuthatches that usually dominate in my neck of the woods have been gone for the last few months, letting their white-breasted cousins take over. #birds 🌿
February 2, 2026 at 4:55 PM
The red-breasted nuthatches that usually dominate in my neck of the woods have been gone for the last few months, letting their white-breasted cousins take over. #birds 🌿
Snow Moon on the trail just across from my house.
February 2, 2026 at 3:42 AM
Snow Moon on the trail just across from my house.
Another pine grosbeak just after take off. They look so hefty, but are excellent fliers. I'm pretty sure most of the bulk is feathers to keep them warm. #birds
February 1, 2026 at 6:00 PM
Another pine grosbeak just after take off. They look so hefty, but are excellent fliers. I'm pretty sure most of the bulk is feathers to keep them warm. #birds
I took this photo this morning, and I'm so in love with it - the timing, the focus, the colour. I can't quite believe it worked so well. The new camera definitely helped.
Also, she's so cute and chubby! #birds 🌿
Also, she's so cute and chubby! #birds 🌿
January 31, 2026 at 9:56 PM
I took this photo this morning, and I'm so in love with it - the timing, the focus, the colour. I can't quite believe it worked so well. The new camera definitely helped.
Also, she's so cute and chubby! #birds 🌿
Also, she's so cute and chubby! #birds 🌿
Lots of good guesses and many of you got it right. It's a river otter. While we're used to seeing them in the water, they are active all winter and slide on their bellies in the snow, creating these tracks. #mammals
January 31, 2026 at 9:31 PM
Lots of good guesses and many of you got it right. It's a river otter. While we're used to seeing them in the water, they are active all winter and slide on their bellies in the snow, creating these tracks. #mammals
Okay - something fun to hopefully brighten your day. I was so excited when I spotted these track on the side of the road yesterday. Does anyone want to guess who made them? (answer will follow later).
January 31, 2026 at 7:17 PM
Okay - something fun to hopefully brighten your day. I was so excited when I spotted these track on the side of the road yesterday. Does anyone want to guess who made them? (answer will follow later).
Who needs street lights when you’ve got a moon like this? Made for a lovely walk this evening.
January 30, 2026 at 2:26 AM
Who needs street lights when you’ve got a moon like this? Made for a lovely walk this evening.
The winds have been carving some amazing formations into the snow along the highway. For size reference, these drifts are at least as tall as me.
January 28, 2026 at 5:19 PM
The winds have been carving some amazing formations into the snow along the highway. For size reference, these drifts are at least as tall as me.
Fort Churchill, west of the centre, was a joint Canada/US base until the 1970s. The buildings south of the centre is the old Churchill Rocket Range. They used to study the auroras by sending sounding rockets with instruments into the sky and collecting their payloads when they crashed back to Earth.
January 26, 2026 at 7:14 PM
Fort Churchill, west of the centre, was a joint Canada/US base until the 1970s. The buildings south of the centre is the old Churchill Rocket Range. They used to study the auroras by sending sounding rockets with instruments into the sky and collecting their payloads when they crashed back to Earth.
Backyard encounter this morning. This is both beautiful and frustrating. I have a neighbour a road over who thinks she’s a Disney princess and feeds our local deer which results in some of them ending up too tame. I didn’t feed them, but they were making it really hard. #mammals 🌿
January 26, 2026 at 4:43 PM
Backyard encounter this morning. This is both beautiful and frustrating. I have a neighbour a road over who thinks she’s a Disney princess and feeds our local deer which results in some of them ending up too tame. I didn’t feed them, but they were making it really hard. #mammals 🌿
This little chickadee had likely just woken up from its nocturnal hibernation. It was -39C this when I took this. Chickadees can drop their core temperature up to 10C and go into torpor at night to conserve energy in extreme weather. #birds 🌿
January 26, 2026 at 3:07 AM
This little chickadee had likely just woken up from its nocturnal hibernation. It was -39C this when I took this. Chickadees can drop their core temperature up to 10C and go into torpor at night to conserve energy in extreme weather. #birds 🌿