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--Boundary_(ID_G81SHt2vLcKMnjNZQruqBw) Content-type: text/plain; CHARSET=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT MAY 15, 2010 - Joint Cape Split field trip for Halifax Field Naturalists and Blomidon Naturalists Society, led by Lesley Butters (HFN) and Jim Wolford (BNS), with ample help by Bernard Forsythe, Richard Stern, and Donna Crossland (all BNS). Others I knew in the group were Jim Medill and his wife and Stephanie Robertson and ? from Halifax and David Dermott from Wolfville Ridge. I think there were a couple of others too. Our group was small probably partly because of the forecast of rain, but we lucked out a bit by not getting any rain until very late morning when we were almost to the Tip. Then it rained through our lunch under spruces and when we started to walk back, but the rain stopped for most of our return trip. And the usually muddy parts of the trail were drier than I have ever seen them and easily traversed. Nancy Nickerson of BNS had chosen to do a much earlier walk, and we met her coming back shortly after we had started. She had spotted a pair of blue-headed or solitary vireos at a very unfinished new nest in a fir and left us a note on an adjacent tree-trunk. We didn't see any vireos there but did spot the nest after Nancy described where it was -- it looked to me like a few early fern fronds that had been laid as a possible foundation, but perhaps they had decided to actually build elsewhere? I'll ask Richard Stern to embellish this preliminary list of birds heard or otherwise encountered: some I remember were purple finch and white-throated sparrow at the trailhead house, black-throated green warblers, black-and-white warblers, yellow-rumped or myrtle warblers, northern parula warbler, ovenbird, blue-headed vireo, winter wren (about 3 were heard), robin, downy woodpecker, song sparrow, mourning dove, blue jays, black-capped chickadees, herring and great black- backed gulls, double-crested cormorants, common eider (1 male). Nancy Nickerson saw 2 male black-throated blue warblers in the hardwood and flower areas. Lots of red squirrels seen and heard, and their signs were everywhere, but no signs of other wild mammals. Flowers encountered were very abundant, and we were happy to see oodles of spring beauties, many of which were thankfully open, plus lots of red trilliums (a.k.a. wake robins or stinking Willies or "wet beagle flowers" (Bernard's suggestion)) and perhaps a dozen or more individual trilliums that were whitish or in between red and whitish. Other flowers seen were lots of toothwort and rosy twisted-stalk, plus alder, goldthread, small-flowered crowfoot or wood butterup, baneberry sp., American fly-honeysuckle, blue violets of a couple of species, wild strawberry, red-berried elder, bunchberry (just starting), and common dandelion. Flower-buds: wild or false lily-of-the-valley, false Solomon's-seal, wild sarsaparilla or Aralia. Just leaves: Clintonia or blue-bead lily, wood sorrel, Ferns: many of these were quite advanced in this year of very early Spring events. Identified fern species included ostrich fern very tall fiddleheads (hot news concerns their richness in antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids), Christmas fern, Braun's holly fern, cinnamon fern, interrupted fern, sensitive fern, wood or spinulose fern (now a complex of species), beech fern, marginal fern?, and lots of lady ferns. Mosses: Donna and Stephanie had recently done a workshop on bryophytes and forced a couple of genus names on us. Finally, a single large living land snail (Cepaea) was found on the path, someone mentioned having seen some bumble bees, and only a few fungi were noted, including a bright white, large, flat crust on the cut edge of a stump. Cheers from Jim in Wolfville --Boundary_(ID_G81SHt2vLcKMnjNZQruqBw) Content-type: text/html; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable <html><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; = -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = face=3D"Verdana" size=3D"4" style=3D"font: 13.0px Verdana"><b>MAY 15, = 2010 - Joint Cape Split field trip for Halifax Field Naturalists and = Blomidon Naturalists Society</b>, led by Lesley Butters (HFN) and Jim = Wolford (BNS), with ample help by Bernard Forsythe, Richard Stern, and = Donna Crossland (all BNS). Others I knew in the group were Jim = Medill and his wife and Stephanie Robertson and ? from Halifax and David = Dermott from Wolfville Ridge. I think there were a couple of = others too. Our group was small probably partly because of the = forecast of rain, but we lucked out a bit by not getting any rain until = very late morning when we were almost to the Tip. Then it rained = through our lunch under spruces and when we started to walk back, but = the rain stopped for most of our return trip. And the usually = muddy parts of the trail were drier than I have ever seen them and = easily traversed.</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal = normal normal 13px/normal Verdana; min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Verdana" size=3D"4" style=3D"font: = 13.0px Verdana">Nancy Nickerson of BNS had chosen to do a much earlier = walk, and we met her coming back shortly after we had started. She = had spotted a pair of <b>blue-headed or solitary vireos</b> at a very = unfinished new <b>nest</b> in a fir and left us a note on an adjacent = tree-trunk. We didn't see any vireos there but did spot the nest = after Nancy described where it was -- it looked to me like a few early = fern fronds that had been laid as a possible foundation, but perhaps = they had decided to actually build elsewhere?</font></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Verdana; = min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = face=3D"Verdana" size=3D"4" style=3D"font: 13.0px Verdana">I'll ask = Richard Stern to embellish this preliminary list of <b>birds</b> heard = or otherwise encountered: some I remember were purple finch and = white-throated sparrow at the trailhead house, black-throated green = warblers, black-and-white warblers, yellow-rumped or myrtle warblers, = northern parula warbler, ovenbird, blue-headed vireo, winter wren (about = 3 were heard), robin, downy woodpecker, song sparrow, mourning dove, = blue jays, black-capped chickadees, herring and great black-backed = gulls, double-crested cormorants, common eider (1 = male).</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal = 13px/normal Verdana; min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Verdana" size=3D"4" style=3D"font: = 13.0px Verdana">Nancy Nickerson saw 2 male <b>black-throated blue = warblers</b> in the hardwood and flower areas.</font></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Verdana; = min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = face=3D"Verdana" size=3D"4" style=3D"font: 13.0px Verdana">Lots of = <b>red squirrels</b> seen and heard, and their signs were = everywhere, but no signs of other wild mammals.</font></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Verdana; = min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = face=3D"Verdana" size=3D"4" style=3D"font: 13.0px Verdana">Flowers = encountered were very abundant, and we were happy to see oodles of = <b>spring beauties</b>, many of which were thankfully open, plus lots of = <b>red trilliums </b>(a.k.a. wake robins or stinking Willies or "wet = beagle flowers" (Bernard's suggestion)) and perhaps a dozen or more = individual trilliums that were whitish or in between red and = whitish.</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal = 13px/normal Verdana; min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Verdana" size=3D"4" style=3D"font: = 13.0px Verdana"><b>Other flowers </b>seen were lots of toothwort and = rosy twisted-stalk, plus alder, goldthread, small-flowered = crowfoot or wood butterup, baneberry sp., American fly-honeysuckle, blue = violets of a couple of species, wild strawberry, red-berried elder, = bunchberry (just starting), and common dandelion.</font></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Verdana; = min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = face=3D"Verdana" size=3D"4" style=3D"font: 13.0px = Verdana"><b>Flower-buds:</b> wild or false lily-of-the-valley, false = Solomon's-seal, wild sarsaparilla or Aralia. </font></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Verdana; = min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = face=3D"Verdana" size=3D"4" style=3D"font: 13.0px Verdana"><b>Just = leaves:</b> Clintonia or blue-bead lily, wood sorrel, = </font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal = 13px/normal Verdana; min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Verdana" size=3D"4" style=3D"font: = 13.0px Verdana"><b>Ferns: </b>many of these were quite advanced in this = year of very early Spring events. Identified fern species included = ostrich fern very tall fiddleheads (hot news concerns their richness in = antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids), Christmas fern, Braun's holly = fern, cinnamon fern, interrupted fern, sensitive fern, wood or spinulose = fern (now a complex of species), beech fern, marginal fern?, and lots of = lady ferns.<b> </b></font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal = normal normal 13px/normal Verdana; min-height: 16px; = "><b></b><br></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Verdana" size=3D"4" = style=3D"font: 13.0px Verdana"><b>Mosses: </b>Donna and Stephanie had = recently done a workshop on bryophytes and forced a couple of genus = names on us.</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: = 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal = 13px/normal Verdana; min-height: 16px; "><br></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Verdana" size=3D"4" style=3D"font: = 13.0px Verdana">Finally, a single large living <b>land snail = </b>(<i>Cepaea</i>) was found on the path, someone mentioned having seen = some <b>bumble bees</b>, and only a few <b>fungi</b> were noted, = including a bright white, larg<b>e, flat crust on the cut edge of a = stump. </b></font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = class=3D"Apple-style-span" face=3D"Verdana" size=3D"3"><span = class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"font-size: = 13px;"><b><br></b></span></font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = class=3D"Apple-style-span" face=3D"Verdana" size=3D"3"><span = class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"font-size: 13px;"><b>Cheers from Jim = in Wolfville</b></span></font></div> </body></html>= --Boundary_(ID_G81SHt2vLcKMnjNZQruqBw)--
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