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--Boundary_(ID_COrYfH+0LYUEWrUQIIHc5w) Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT I apologize for the length of my field trip report, but note the extensive note on the oodles of tadpoles found. Cheers from Jim in Wolfville ----------------------- MAY 23, 2009 - PARKS ARE FOR PEOPLE WALK (annual) at BLOMIDON PROVINCIAL PARK, offered by the Blomidon Naturalists Society and led by Jim Wolford (with help from Bernard Forsythe and Murray Colbo). Beautiful Sunny day, nearly calm in the woods, temperature warm at up to 17 C. Fifteen participants, mostly from the eastern Valley area. FLOWERS seen: toothwort, Clintonia, red or purple trillium, hobblebush, fly-honeysuckle, red-berried baneberry, red-berried elderberry, starflower, blue violets and wild strawberry in the open field where we parked. False Solomon's-seal with flower buds. [Also we stopped briefly at Doug and Joanne Linzey's property a km. west of The Lookoff to see their many trout lilies in bloom.] OTHER PLANTS of interest: WILD LEEKS (onions) in abundance and in leaf at the beginning of the trail, ostrich ferns along the road in the corner of the campground, Christmas ferns, cinnamon ferns, we tried for all four native maples but only found three for sure (sugar, striped, mountain -- and I'm sure we just missed red maple). FUNGI: I pointed out a "witch's broom" of deformed branches of a young balsam fir, and also the bumpy or cankered bark of a small beech tree. BIRDS seen: many blue jays in the open picnic area by the registration building, raven, red-eyed vireo, blue-headed vireo, American redstart, black-throated green warbler, ovenbird, blackburnian warbler, black-throated blue warbler, northern parula warbler, one dark-eyed junco heard? POND LIFE found by dip-netting in the vernal or temporary pond (no inlet nor outlet) along the Jodrey Trail, about 2 km. or less from the ne. corner of the campground: water level in pond very high, flatworms (planarians), snails, FAIRY SHRIMPS (both sexes present, and some females had egg-sacs), lots of small red water mites, one small damselfly larva, no dragonfly larvae seen (but probably present in the bottom), one large adult backswimmer, some small water boatmen, 2 kinds or sizes of whirligig beetles, a mid-sized predaceous diving beetle (and one small larva of the same family), large larva of a phantom midge, small pupae of midges, larvae and pupae of mosquitoes, thousands of BLACKISH TADPOLES (many of them tightly clustered in very shallow water at the shoreline)(tadpoles of wood frogs? or possibly toads?). Bernard Forsythe told us an interesting historical anecdote about this particular woodland vernal pond: many years ago he happened to be there when a strong chorus of trilling AMERICAN TOADS was occurring; he noted that the colour of these calling males was very dark blackish, quite unlike their typical colours when encountered on land; he captured one and put it in something opaque with a lid, and checked on it occasionally as he walked back to his vehicle; the toad gradually changed and faded its colour back to the light or olive brown that is normal for them. I then told them there is an interesting parallel with the colour of calling male WOOD FROGS: in my experience these males in the water are coloured very differently from the wood frogs found on land (and females); the males are coloured quite darkly in a very rich reddish-brown or brownish-red, so dark that the eye mask cannot be seen. Likewise territorial calling male SPRING PEEPERS are often dark brown on their backs, masking their normal pattern of tan or light brown with darker brown markings. In light of the above finding of lots of BLACKISH TADPOLES and their aggregation in very shallow water suggests the possibility that these tadpoles are of AMERICAN TOADS?, whose tadpoles are black and form dense schools as a warning that they tasted bad! Now what we need is someone to follow their development and then be at the pond when the metamorphing froglets or toadlets are emerging in their hundreds? Such young amphibians are quite identifiable when in this tiny stage, even the spring peepers which then have suckers on their toe-tips. I wonder if anyone on NatureNS or the BNS list was at the pond earlier in Spring when the fathers of these tadpoles were calling there? OTHER ANIMALS encountered: oodles of biting adult BLACK FLIES; a smallish MARITIME GARTER SNAKE crossing path at the pond (no coincidence, since garter snakes love water and hunt frogs and toads); one red squirrel. A bit past the pond, we had good visibility at the look-off spot along the cliff trail, at Five Islands Provincial Park across the water from us. --Boundary_(ID_COrYfH+0LYUEWrUQIIHc5w) Content-type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable <html><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; = -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">I apologize for the length of = my field trip report, but note the extensive note on the oodles of = tadpoles found.<div><br></div><div>Cheers from Jim in = Wolfville</div><div>-----------------------</div><div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Arial" size=3D"4" style=3D"font: = 14.0px Arial"><b>MAY 23, 2009 - PARKS ARE FOR PEOPLE WALK (annual) at = BLOMIDON PROVINCIAL PARK,</b> offered by the Blomidon Naturalists = Society and led by Jim Wolford (with help from Bernard Forsythe and = Murray Colbo).=A0 Beautiful Sunny day, nearly calm in the woods, = temperature warm at up to 17 C.=A0 Fifteen participants, mostly from the = eastern Valley area. =A0</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal = normal normal 14px/normal Arial; min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Arial" size=3D"4" style=3D"font: = 14.0px Arial"><b>FLOWERS</b> seen: toothwort, Clintonia, red or purple = trillium, hobblebush, fly-honeysuckle, red-berried baneberry, = red-berried elderberry, starflower, blue violets and wild strawberry in = the open field where we parked.=A0 False Solomon's-seal with flower = buds.=A0 [Also we stopped briefly at Doug and Joanne Linzey's property a = km. west of The Lookoff to see their many trout lilies in = bloom.]</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal = 14px/normal Arial; min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style=3D"margin-top:= 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = face=3D"Arial" size=3D"4" style=3D"font: 14.0px Arial"><b>OTHER PLANTS = </b>of interest: <b>WILD LEEKS</b> (onions) in abundance and in leaf at = the beginning of the trail, ostrich ferns along the road in the corner = of the campground, Christmas ferns, cinnamon ferns, we tried for all = four native maples but only found three for sure (sugar, striped, = mountain -- and I'm sure we just missed red maple).</font></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Arial; = min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = face=3D"Arial" size=3D"4" style=3D"font: 14.0px Arial"><b>FUNGI</b>: I = pointed out a "witch's broom" of deformed branches of a young balsam = fir, and also the bumpy or cankered bark of a small beech = tree.</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal = 14px/normal Arial; min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style=3D"margin-top:= 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = face=3D"Arial" size=3D"4" style=3D"font: 14.0px Arial"><b>BIRDS</b> = seen: many blue jays in the open picnic area by the registration = building, raven, red-eyed vireo, blue-headed vireo, American redstart, = black-throated green warbler, ovenbird, blackburnian warbler, = black-throated blue warbler, northern parula warbler, one dark-eyed = junco heard?</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: = 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal = 14px/normal Arial; min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style=3D"margin-top:= 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = face=3D"Arial" size=3D"4" style=3D"font: 14.0px Arial"><b>POND LIFE = </b>found by dip-netting in the vernal or temporary pond (no inlet nor = outlet) along the Jodrey Trail, about 2 km. or less from the ne. corner = of the campground: water level in pond very high, flatworms = (planarians), snails, <b>FAIRY SHRIMPS</b> (both sexes present, and some = females had egg-sacs), lots of small red water mites, one small = damselfly larva, no dragonfly larvae seen (but probably present in the = bottom), one large adult backswimmer, some small water boatmen, 2 kinds = or sizes of whirligig beetles, a mid-sized predaceous diving beetle (and = one small larva of the same family), large larva of a phantom midge, = small pupae of midges, larvae and pupae of mosquitoes, thousands of = <b>BLACKISH TADPOLES</b> (many of them tightly clustered in very shallow = water at the shoreline)(tadpoles of wood frogs? or possibly = toads?).</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal = 14px/normal Arial; min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style=3D"margin-top:= 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = face=3D"Arial" size=3D"4" style=3D"font: 14.0px Arial">Bernard Forsythe = told us an interesting historical anecdote about this particular = woodland vernal pond: many years ago he happened to be there when a = strong chorus of trilling <b>AMERICAN TOADS</b> was occurring; he noted = that the colour of these calling males was very dark blackish, quite = unlike their typical colours when encountered on land; he captured one = and put it in something opaque with a lid, and checked on it = occasionally as he walked back to his vehicle; the toad gradually = changed and faded its colour back to the light or olive brown that is = normal for them.=A0 I then told them there is an interesting parallel = with the colour of calling male <b>WOOD FROGS</b>: in my experience = these males in the water are coloured very differently from the wood = frogs found on land (and females); the males are coloured quite darkly = in a very rich reddish-brown or brownish-red, so dark that the eye mask = cannot be seen.=A0 Likewise territorial calling male <b>SPRING PEEPERS = </b>are often dark brown on their backs, masking their normal pattern of = tan or light brown with darker brown markings.</font></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Arial; = min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = face=3D"Arial" size=3D"4" style=3D"font: 14.0px Arial">In light of the = above finding of lots of <b>BLACKISH TADPOLES</b> and their aggregation = in very shallow water suggests the possibility that these tadpoles are = of <b>AMERICAN TOADS?</b>, whose tadpoles are black and form dense = schools as a warning that they tasted bad!=A0 Now what we need is = someone to follow their development and then be at the pond when the = metamorphing <b>froglets or toadlets </b>are emerging in their = hundreds?=A0 Such young amphibians are quite identifiable when in this = tiny stage, even the spring peepers which then have suckers on their = toe-tips.=A0 I wonder if anyone on NatureNS or the BNS list was at the = pond earlier in Spring when the fathers of these tadpoles were calling = there?</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal = 14px/normal Arial; min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style=3D"margin-top:= 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = face=3D"Arial" size=3D"4" style=3D"font: 14.0px Arial"><b>OTHER ANIMALS = </b>encountered: oodles of biting adult <b>BLACK FLIES</b>; a = smallish<b> MARITIME GARTER SNAKE</b> crossing path at the pond (no = coincidence, since garter snakes love water and hunt frogs and toads); = one red squirrel. =A0</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal = normal normal 14px/normal Arial; min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Arial" size=3D"4" style=3D"font: = 14.0px Arial">A bit past the pond, we had good visibility at the = look-off spot along=A0 the cliff trail, at Five Islands Provincial Park = across the water from us.</font></div></div></body></html>= --Boundary_(ID_COrYfH+0LYUEWrUQIIHc5w)--
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