Polar Bear - Polar Bear Provincial Park

Common Loon - Bon Echo Provincial Park

Peregrine Falcon - Lake Superior Provincial Park

Woodland Caribou - Woodland Caribou Provincial Park

"To climb over our back fence was to enter another world. It became my world ... a ravine slicing through the urban landscape of Toronto. I was a mid 20th century version of Ernest Thompson Seton's "Two Little Savages". Actually there were 3 or 4 little savages exploring nature along our tributary of the Don River. I had my first bird list by the age of 12 and found the ravine an endless realm of discovery. But in my teens I was hearing tales of more exotic places in the province ... the marshes of Lake Erie and the wild northlands.

As it turns out, all of these "exotic" areas are provincial parks. Here are some memories of wonderful natural areas that have permeated my psyche and helped to create the person I am. The first memory is a very early morning on an early spring day at Long Point. It is very foggy and just before dawn. We hear them first and then see them flying low, silvery in the mist, hundreds of tundra swans (we called them whistling swans then). In the years since I have rambled almost every bit of Long Point, even to the other world of the tip. I have spent countless hours revelling in spring migration and searching for marsh birds on my own and during Birdathons.

Turkey Point was a similar destination with a different landscape feel. Hamilton Naturalist Club weekends there produced many joyous memories. I could speak of visits to Bon Echo Park, Lake Superior Park, as well as canoeing and painting in the old Group of Seven haunts of Killarney Park.

But the biggest impact of all was Algonquin Park. Until my late teen years I had thought of "The Park" as being an almost mythical place ... the great Canadian northland, the heart of Tom Thomson country and a place where I would see moose, black bear, ravens, spruce grouse and boreal chickadees. I landed a dream job for 3 summers ... chore boy at the Wildlife Research Camp. Here I was helping graduate students and scientists with genuine research projects. Those summers changed my life. In a broader sense, that is the thing about Ontario Parks. They can be, and in fact are, life changing."

- Robert Bateman