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--Boundary_(ID_zQZlDgiaF/2cUHv+8H8L/g) Content-type: text/plain; CHARSET=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Wolfville Harbour at high tide at 4 p.m.: 12+ greater yellowlegs and 3 willets on the rocks below the railroad tracks as usual. AND some unidentified insect painfully stung or bit me in the ankle right through my sock! I can only guess it was perhaps an angry yellowjacket wasp? because I was too close to an underground nest?? But I didn't see or hear any other angry wasps, just that single one, if that is what it was. ------------------------ And, finally, a small addendum to yesterday's report on the mudflats of eastern Evangeline Beach. We encountered tracks of raccoons in several places on the mud and quite far from the shore, although we never got further than the middle intertidal zone. I have often noted such tracks along the uppermost parts of the beach on my other walks there, and probably it is not unusual for raccoons to forage on the mudflats for all sorts of possible foods, since they are omnivores. ------------------------ On 18-Aug-11, at 6:04 PM, Jim Wolford wrote: > AUG. 18, 2011 - Daytime high tide today 4:35 p.m. with a mediocre > amplitude of 11.7 metres (cf. amplitude of 15.2 m. on Aug. 31). > Here are the next 13 days' worth of tide times and amplitudes. The > times are for Horton Bluff, just east of Avonport. Tides at Scots' > Bay or Blomidon would be an hour to a half-hour earlier, and times > toward Truro would be later and with higher amplitudes. There are > two highs and two lows every 24 hours and 50 minutes, so one cycle > from high to high or low to low would be 12 hrs. 25 min., and from > high to low or from low to high would be 6 hrs. 12 minutes. Thus > the other times can be easily approximated. Remember too that the > times and amplitudes are predictions and can actually vary > considerably because of, for instance, atmospheric conditions and > presence or absence of onshore or offshore winds of any strength. > (THANKS TO SHERMAN WILLIAMS for providing these data for the whole > year in our Blomidon Naturalists Society Calendar for the past 15 > years or so.) > > Aug. 19, Friday -- daytime h.t. 5:19 p.m. (11.0 metres) > Aug. 20, Sat. -- d.h.t. 6:05 p.m. (10.2 m.) > Aug. 21, Sun. -- dht 6:31 a.m. (9.3 m.) > Aug. 22, Mon. -- dht 7:24 a.m. (8.6 m.) > Aug. 23, Tues. -- dht 8:22 a.m. (8.2 m.) > Aug. 24, Wed. -- dht 9:21 a.m. (8.3 m.) > Aug. 25, Thurs. -- dht 10:18 a.m. (8.9 m.) > Aug. 26, Fri. -- dht 11:12 a.m. (10.0 m.) > Aug. 27, Sat. -- dht 12:03 p.m. (11.4 m.) > Aug. 28, Sun. -- dht 12:51 p.m. (12.8 m.) > Aug. 29, Mon. -- dht 1:38 p.m. (14.0 m.) > Aug. 30, Tues. -- dht 2:24 p.m. (14.8 m.) > Aug. 31, Wed. -- dht 3:11 p.m. (15.2 m.) > > At low tide today I met Janet & John Foster again, this time at > Cape Blomidon and Blomidon Provincial Park's beach area called > White Waters, adjacent to the lower Park gate parking lot. We met > in late morning, with the tide out. Like yesterday, I took them > along the south edge of the main waterfall's outfall, and showed > them the surface signs of soft-shelled clams and small Macoma > clams. But they really wanted to see the surface signs plus > burrows and actual critters for the mud shrimps, Corophium > volutator, which are small amphipod crustaceans that live in U- > shaped burrows in the sandy-mud sediments of the upper and middle > intertidal zones. > > All I needed was a shovel to show all three of these organisms. > The burrow holes for the soft-shelled clams are quite large, but > the holes for the Macoma clams are much smaller and show radiating > feeding lines in a star-pattern on the surface. For the mud > shrimps the surface signs are several: (1) narrow curving trails > from early in the ebbing tide when the male shrimps crawl over the > wet surface and search for burrows inhabited by females (for sex, > of course)(early in the feeding cycle the sandpipers feverishly > hunt the surface for these crawling males); (2) tracks of the small > sandpipers are usually present, too; (3) lots of small surface > holes, which are entrances and exits for water currents from the > filter-feeding mud shrimps in the burrows when the tide is in; (4) > revealed by the shovel, the U-shaped burrows containing the mud > shrimps themselves, which at this time of year tend to be quite > small (a huge one would be 1 cm. long); and (5) variably sized > circular shallow excavations in the surface sediment, from bottom- > feeding fishes like flounders and skates that show up when the tide > gets high. These feeding depressions from the fishes are excellent > clues as to where the sediments contain a lot of food critters! > > John & Janet & I had to dig many times in order to find the right > angles and right camera/lens plus cooperative mud shrimps for the > high-definition footage they wanted. Hopefully that was achieved, > and not too many critters died for educational reasons! > > Thus a good time to look for them would be early in the ebbing tide > when the mud is still wet. When male and female get together, they > can amplex like frogs and toads do, and then the male fertilizes > the eggs externally as the female releases them into her brood > pouch, where she will carry them around until the eggs hatch. > > Other intertidal life there on the rocks just above the outfall on > the upper beach were loads of barnacles, which don't look like > crustaceans but really are so, and oodles of common periwinkle > snails, plus a few kinds of small seaweeds. > > One weird sighting occurred while we were on the Blomidon beach at > low tide: 2 or 3 double-crested cormorants repeatedly flew along > the beach, back and forth, at low altitude and seemed to be > interested in us people who were on the beach. > > We didn't see any shorebirds there today, but yesterday the Fosters > did see about 10 peeps there. Other birds seen were an adult bald > eagle, 2+ ravens, about 20 mixed gulls, and, on the power lines > along the road to get there, oodles of starlings in flocks. > > Cheers from Jim in Wolfville --Boundary_(ID_zQZlDgiaF/2cUHv+8H8L/g) 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"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: = 12.0px Helvetica"><b>Wolfville Harbour </b>at high tide at 4 p.m.: 12+ = <b>greater yellowlegs</b> and 3 <b>willets</b> on the rocks below the = railroad tracks as usual. </font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: = 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: = normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; = "><br></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" = size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica"><b>AND some unidentified = insect painfully stung or bit me in the ankle right through my = sock! </b>I can only guess it was <b>perhaps an angry yellowjacket = wasp?</b> because I was too close to an underground nest?? But I = didn't see or hear any other angry wasps, just that single one, if that = is what it was.</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: = 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" = size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px = Helvetica">------------------------</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: = 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica">And, = finally, a small <b>addendum to yesterday's report </b>on the = <b>mudflats of eastern Evangeline Beach</b>. We encountered<b> = tracks of raccoons</b> in several places on the mud and quite far from = the shore, although we never got further than the middle intertidal = zone. I have often noted such tracks along the uppermost parts of = the beach on my other walks there, and probably it is not unusual for = raccoons to forage on the mudflats for all sorts of possible foods, = since they are omnivores.</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px = Helvetica">------------------------</font></div><div><div>On 18-Aug-11, = at 6:04 PM, Jim Wolford wrote:</div><br = class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type=3D"cite"><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: = 12.0px Helvetica"><b>AUG. 18, 2011</b> - Daytime <b>high tide today 4:35 = p.m. </b>with a mediocre amplitude of 11.7 metres (cf. amplitude of 15.2 = m. on Aug. 31). Here are the <b>next 13 days' worth of tide times = and amplitudes</b>. The times are for Horton Bluff, just east of = Avonport. Tides at Scots' Bay or Blomidon would be an hour to a = half-hour earlier, and times toward Truro would be later and with higher = amplitudes. There are two highs and two lows every 24 hours and 50 = minutes, so one cycle from high to high or low to low would be 12 hrs. = 25 min., and from high to low or from low to high would be 6 hrs. 12 = minutes. Thus the other times can be easily approximated. = Remember too that the times and amplitudes are predictions and can = actually vary considerably because of, for instance, atmospheric = conditions and presence or absence of onshore or offshore winds of any = strength. (THANKS TO SHERMAN WILLIAMS for providing these data for = the whole year in our Blomidon Naturalists Society Calendar for the past = 15 years or so.)</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal = normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: = 12.0px Helvetica"><span class=3D"Apple-tab-span" = style=3D"white-space:pre"> </span>Aug. 19, Friday -- daytime h.t. = 5:19 p.m. (11.0 metres)</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span = class=3D"Apple-tab-span" style=3D"white-space:pre"> </span>Aug. 20, = Sat. -- d.h.t. 6:05 p.m. (10.2 m.)</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: = 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span = class=3D"Apple-tab-span" style=3D"white-space:pre"> </span>Aug. 21, = Sun. -- dht 6:31 a.m. (9.3 m.)</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top:= 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span = class=3D"Apple-tab-span" style=3D"white-space:pre"> </span>Aug. 22, = Mon. -- dht 7:24 a.m. (8.6 m.)</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: = 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span = class=3D"Apple-tab-span" style=3D"white-space:pre"> </span>Aug. 23, = Tues. -- dht 8:22 a.m. (8.2 m.)</font></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: = 12.0px Helvetica"><span class=3D"Apple-tab-span" = style=3D"white-space:pre"> </span>Aug. 24, Wed. -- dht 9:21 a.m. = (8.3 m.)</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" = size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class=3D"Apple-tab-span"= style=3D"white-space:pre"> </span>Aug. 25, Thurs. -- dht 10:18 a.m. = (8.9 m.)</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" = size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class=3D"Apple-tab-span"= style=3D"white-space:pre"> </span>Aug. 26, Fri. -- dht 11:12 a.m. = (10.0 m.)</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" = size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class=3D"Apple-tab-span"= style=3D"white-space:pre"> </span>Aug. 27, Sat. -- dht 12:03 p.m. = (11.4 m.)</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" = size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class=3D"Apple-tab-span"= style=3D"white-space:pre"> </span>Aug. 28, Sun. -- dht 12:51 p.m. = (12.8 m.)</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" = size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class=3D"Apple-tab-span"= style=3D"white-space:pre"> </span>Aug. 29, Mon. -- dht 1:38 p.m. = (14.0 m.)</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" = size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class=3D"Apple-tab-span"= style=3D"white-space:pre"> </span>Aug. 30, Tues. -- dht 2:24 p.m. = (14.8 m.)</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" = size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class=3D"Apple-tab-span"= style=3D"white-space:pre"> </span>Aug. 31, Wed. -- dht 3:11 p.m. = (15.2 m.)</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal = 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: = 12.0px Helvetica">At low tide today I met Janet & John Foster again, = this time at Cape Blomidon and Blomidon Provincial Park's beach area = called White Waters, adjacent to the lower Park gate parking lot. = We met in late morning, with the tide out. Like yesterday, I took = them along the south edge of the main waterfall's outfall, and showed = them the surface signs of <b>soft-shelled clams</b> and small <i>Macoma = </i><b>clams</b>. But they really wanted to see the surface signs = plus burrows and actual critters for the <b>mud shrimps</b>, = <i>Corophium volutator</i>, which are small amphipod crustaceans that = live in U-shaped burrows in the sandy-mud sediments of the upper and = middle intertidal zones. </font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: = 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: = normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; = "><br></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" = size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica">All I needed was a shovel to = show all three of these organisms. The burrow holes for the = soft-shelled clams are quite large, but the holes for the Macoma clams = are much smaller and show radiating feeding lines in a star-pattern on = the surface. <b> For the mud shrimps the surface signs are several: = </b>(1) narrow curving trails from early in the ebbing tide when the = male shrimps crawl over the wet surface and search for burrows inhabited = by females (for sex, of course)(early in the feeding cycle the = sandpipers feverishly hunt the surface for these crawling males); (2) = tracks of the small sandpipers are usually present, too; (3) lots of = small surface holes, which are entrances and exits for water currents = from the filter-feeding mud shrimps in the burrows when the tide is in; = (4) revealed by the shovel, the U-shaped burrows containing the mud = shrimps themselves, which at this time of year tend to be quite small (a = huge one would be 1 cm. long); and (5) variably sized circular shallow = excavations in the surface sediment, from bottom-feeding fishes like = flounders and skates that show up when the tide gets high. = These<b> feeding depressions from the fishes</b> are excellent clues as = to where the sediments contain a lot of food critters! = </font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" = size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica"><br></font></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: = 12.0px Helvetica"><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" = size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica">John & Janet & I had = to dig many times in order to find the right angles and right = camera/lens plus cooperative mud shrimps for the high-definition footage = they wanted. Hopefully that was achieved, and not too many = critters died for educational = reasons! </font></div></font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal = normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: = 12.0px Helvetica">Thus a good time to look for them would be early in = the ebbing tide when the mud is still wet. When male and female = get together, they can amplex like frogs and toads do, and then the male = fertilizes the eggs externally as the female releases them into her = brood pouch, where she will carry them around until the eggs = hatch. </font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: = 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal = 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: = 12.0px Helvetica"><b>Other intertidal life</b> there on the rocks just = above the outfall on the upper beach were loads of <b>barnacles</b>, = which don't look like crustaceans but really are so, and oodles of = <b>common periwinkle snails</b>, plus a few kinds of small = seaweeds.</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal = 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: = 12.0px Helvetica">One weird sighting occurred while we were on the = Blomidon beach at low tide: <b>2 or 3 double-crested cormorants</b> = repeatedly flew along the beach, back and forth, at low altitude and = seemed to be interested in us people who were on the beach. = </font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal = 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: = 12.0px Helvetica">We didn't see any <b>shorebirds</b> there today, but = yesterday the Fosters did see about 10 peeps there. <b> Other = birds</b> seen were an adult bald eagle, 2+ ravens, about 20 mixed = gulls, and, on the power lines along the road to get there, oodles of = starlings in flocks.</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font = face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px = Helvetica"><br></font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: = 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" = size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica">Cheers from Jim in = Wolfville</font></div> </blockquote></div><br></body></html>= --Boundary_(ID_zQZlDgiaF/2cUHv+8H8L/g)--
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