Hiking up the headlands looking out over the Gulf of St Lawrence near Mabou this past fall, David McCorquodale and Steven McGrath came across a tiny, parasitic plant that grows on spruce trees. It was the little fruits on the tree that caught their eye. Huddling around the tree to take a closer look, curious passersby stopped to ask what they were peering at, which allowed David to introduce a family to Eastern Dwarf Mistletoe. While not rare, it is inconspicuous if you don’t know what to look out for. It was not David’s first sighting, but he enjoyed sharing it with others passing by and he logged his Mabou sighting in iNaturalist. A photo by Steven McGrath of this sighting was added to the Wikipedia page for Eastern Dwarf Mistletoe in late May 2026.

For over thirty years David McCorquodale taught biology at Cape Breton University. He also served on COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada) as a member of the group that assessed insects for more than fifteen years and as the co-chair of the insect group for four years. Now retired, David dedicates himself to conservation by volunteering and spending his time outside taking photos for iNaturalist; if he is found indoors he is likely to be uploading and logging his observations on the platform. Several friends were Property Guardians for the Nature Trust, and David was interesting in bringing his conservation background and professional expertise in species at risk by becoming a volunteer as well. Joining his friends at a volunteer meet up, he felt it was like a natural fit to get involved as it allows him another way to support conservation and get outside.

As a Property Guardian, David now monitors two properties near his home in Cape Breton. For the past few years he has joined the annual Mabou bioblitz and the spring Cape Breton hub meeting. Each time, he looks forward to seeing fellow volunteers and catching up; hiking the trails alongside others brings a sense of community for David. He shares that “I came at it from one way, other people are coming at it from a completely different direction. I really appreciate the diversity in perspective and approach.” One of the benefits of returning each year to the same place to take photos, he finds, is that you learn new things about a property, each person bringing a different angle or expertise to a subject. “I’ve got some expertise in insects and plants…So it’s a way to contribute to the inventory of the properties that I’m looking at and responsible for, while documenting the changes there, which could be a new invasive species or interesting orchids or ferns.”

David’s professional expertise is in bumblebees and lady beetles and he looks for them on Nature Trust properties. He especially keeps his eyes out for the Yellow-banded Bumble Bee, which is listed as Special Concern by COSEWIC and listed as Vulnerable in the province. At Cape Breton University, several students studied changes in bumble bee populations on Unama’ki and in 2020 broader, more consistent surveys were established with with the Unama’ki Institute for Natural Resources (UINR).  He is very pleased to see these surveys continue and expand after his retirement.

His curiosity for learning about species continues with a recent course on moss identification that he took with Sean Haughian at the Natural History Museum. “It’s like going back to first year high school, I feel like I basically know nothing about 400 species of moss in Nova Scotia, but I am now seeing things that I never knew existed. And I’m sure when I go back home, I’m going to start wandering around the woods around my house and see things for the first time. I’ve only lived there for 35 years.”

While David is committed to expanding his knowledge to support conservation efforts as a Property Guardian and through iNaturalist, he has already logged an impressive 97,033 observations and counting.

In reflecting on his experience, David shares that volunteering with the Nature Trust as a Property Guardian is an opportunity to feel that you’re really contributing to a specific property year over year. Additionally, he shares that it connects you to a network of other people who have similar interests. “I’m not completely changing the world on my own, but it is a way to contribute.” David encourages others to ask, What are your interests? How can you contribute to the bigger picture on conservation? Knowledge and curiosity are needed to address biodiversity loss in the province and beyond, and everyone has something unique to bring to the outdoors.

Thank you to David McCorquodale for his dedication, expertise, and commitment as a volunteer! Learn more about our volunteer opportunities.