The Northern Naturalist: Experiences with Wildlife in the Canadian Parkland

Nora T. Corley is a librarian in Ottawa.

Aspen parkland, the narrowest of the vegetation zones of Western Canada, stretches from southern Manitoba to the Rockies. It is characterized by small and large groups of trees scattered throughout areas of open grasslands. Though much of the original parkland has been disturbed by farming, still, some remains in hilly areas and areas of poor soil, such as that found overlying glacial moraines. The author has lived in the aspen parkland, in the Cooking Lake moraine country east of Edmonton, for some 25 years, during which time he has observed the bird and mammal wildlife of the area. Hohn, a professor at the University of Alberta, has written papers on birds and mammals for numerous scientific and popular magazines. The Northern Naturalist is a personal account of observations made over the years in the area of Cooking Lake. The first part of the book describes the aspen parkland. The second part, titled “Sketches of Some Animals,” discusses the marsh hawk, moose and deer, coyotes, the Cooper’s hawk, lynx, loons, and the solitary sandpiper. The third part of the book discusses the ways in which the seasons affect the lives of the local wildlife, both yearly and seasonally. Hohn’s keen eye for detail is evident in the accounts of the lives of the various birds and animals, about whom he writes with warmth, sometimes augmenting the text with accounts of his experiences with the same species in Canada’s Arctic tundra and in Alaska. This is a pleasant book that will be of interest to the wild-life lover and the specialist alike. There is a short bibliography of 25 items.