next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects
--Apple-Mail-18-21059880 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed > To: Nature BNS <nature@blomidonnaturalists.ca>, Patrick Kelly > <patrick.kelly@dal.ca>, Bob & Wendy McDonald <bobathome83@gmail.com> > Cc: Webster Andrews <Andrewwa@gov.ns.ca> > Subject: [ValleyNature] notes from Cape Split walk May 18/13 (BNS/ > HFN)(long) > > To help Patrick's memory for his write-up, here are my own > unfinished notes from the joint BNS/HFN walk. > > MAY 18, 2013 - Blomidon Naturalists Society & Halifax Field > Naturalists joint field trip, CAPE SPLIT WALK -- Very windy and > chilly/cold and overcast conditions greeted us at the new trailhead > & big gravel parking lot with latrines and cans for sorting solid > garbage into paper, compost, recyclables, and refundables. We had > about 20 people at the start of the walk, including leaders Pat > Kelly and Jim Wolford. > > Plants in flower encountered on our walk today: goldthread, > American fly-honeysuckle, purple/red trillium (one with whitish > petals found, too), spring beauty, two species of toothwort > (Cardamine/Dentaria diphylla & C./D. multifida?)(but multifida is > not listed in Zinck's Flora of N.S.)(and a couple of D. diphylla > with leaf undersides showing whitish rust fungus infections), > Dutchman's breeches, rosy twisted-stalk, small-flowered crowfoot > (buttercup), blue violet, red-berried baneberry, wild strawberry, > downy alder (Alnus viridis, subspecies crispa), trailing raspberry > or dewberry, bunchberry (just one plant), wood rush (Luzula), a > sedge species (Carex), common dandelion. > > Regarding the two species of twisted-stalk (I have seen both at > Cape Split, but the rosy species greatly predominates), after the > walk I learned in Zinck's "Roland's Flora of Nova Scotia" (1998, > Nimbus) that the easiest way to distinguish them is by use of a > hand-lens on the leaf margins: leaf edge ciliate or finely hairy in > Streptopus rosea, leaf margin smooth in S. amplexifolius. > > Flowers in bud, and soon to bloom, were wild lily-of-the-valley, > mountain maple (we saw all four native species of maples on the > walk: mountain, striped or moose, red, sugar), > > BALD EAGLE NESTS: Patrick and I checked two nests -- first the one > off Huntley Road in Scots' Bay, had an adult eagle on it, and any > youngsters present were hidden from view under the adult (sensibly > on this cold & windy morning); then we drove after the walk to > Blomidon and the cliff-top nest north of the Mill Creek cluster of > homes, where again one adult was on the nest and any youngsters > hidden underneath the adult. > > At the "Split" end of the trail, quite a few people had a nice view > of a peregrine falcon that was soaring without a wingbeat and > gliding northward, very probably just travelling past the cape from > south to north, into the very strong wind from the north that blew > all day. The falcon was visible to all for a long time, because > its progress into the wind was very slow but steady and apparently > effortless. > > This year no chipmunks were heard and only one was seen crossing > the trail by Patrick. Last year we heard at least three and saw > two chipmunks. > > Along the trail in at least two places, prostrate trunks of shrubs > or small trees showed a lot of de-barking. Initially we thought of > porcupines or snowshoe hares or even mice under the snow. But > further consideration led to the conclusion that the de-barking was > actually scrapings caused by good old humans, namely some sort of > machine used to keep the trail open and keep brush back from the > edges. Whoever did this for Dept. of Nat. Resources, Prov. Parks > division, was overzealous in a few places. > > That strong wind kept bringing us all kinds of skies and weather > for the several hours that we were out there (9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for > Pat & me). Several times the sky cleared briefly and warmed up a > bit when we were out of the wind (not often). > --------------------------- > Cheers from Jim > _______________________________________________ > Nature mailing list > Nature@blomidonnaturalists.ca > http://blomidonnaturalists.ca/mailman/listinfo/ > nature_blomidonnaturalists.ca --Apple-Mail-18-21059880 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset=US-ASCII <html><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; = -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div><br></div><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" color=3D"#000000" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: = #000000"><b>To: </b></font><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" = style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica">Nature BNS <<a = href=3D"mailto:nature@blomidonnaturalists.ca">nature@blomidonnaturalists.c= a</a>>, Patrick Kelly <<a = href=3D"mailto:patrick.kelly@dal.ca">patrick.kelly@dal.ca</a>>, Bob = & Wendy McDonald <<a = href=3D"mailto:bobathome83@gmail.com">bobathome83@gmail.com</a>></font>= </div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: = 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" = color=3D"#000000" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: = #000000"><b>Cc: </b></font><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" = style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica">Webster Andrews <<a = href=3D"mailto:Andrewwa@gov.ns.ca">Andrewwa@gov.ns.ca</a>></font></div>= <div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" color=3D"#000000" = style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><b>Subject: = </b></font><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px = Helvetica"><b>[ValleyNature] notes from Cape Split walk May 18/13 = (BNS/HFN)(long)</b></font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: = 14px; "><br></div> <div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><b>To help Patrick's memory for = his write-up, here are my own unfinished notes from the joint BNS/HFN = walk.</b></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><br></b></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"><b>MAY 18, 2013 - Blomidon Naturalists Society & = Halifax Field Naturalists joint field trip, CAPE SPLIT WALK</b> -- Very = windy and chilly/cold and overcast conditions greeted us at the new = trailhead & big gravel parking lot with latrines and cans for = sorting solid garbage into paper, compost, recyclables, and = refundables. We had about 20 people at the start of the walk, = including leaders Pat Kelly and Jim Wolford.</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>Plants = in flower encountered on our walk today: </b>goldthread, American = fly-honeysuckle, purple/red trillium (one with whitish petals found, = too), spring beauty, two species of toothwort (<i>Cardamine/Dentaria = diphylla</i> & <i>C./D. multifida</i>?)(but <i>multifida</i> is not = listed in Zinck's Flora of N.S.)(and a couple of <i>D. diphylla</i> with = leaf undersides showing whitish<b> rust fungus</b> infections), = Dutchman's breeches, rosy twisted-stalk, small-flowered crowfoot = (buttercup), blue violet, red-berried baneberry, wild strawberry, = downy alder (<i>Alnus viridis</i>, subspecies<i> crispa</i>), trailing = raspberry or dewberry, bunchberry (just one plant), wood rush = <i>(Luzula</i>), a sedge species (<i>Carex</i>), common = dandelion.</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>Regarding the two species of twisted-stalk</b> (I = have seen both at Cape Split, but the rosy species greatly = predominates), after the walk I learned in Zinck's "Roland's Flora of = Nova Scotia" (1998, Nimbus) that the easiest way to distinguish them is = by use of a hand-lens on the leaf margins: leaf edge ciliate or finely = hairy in <i>Streptopus rosea</i>, leaf margin smooth in <i>S. = amplexifolius</i>. </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>Flowers in bud</b>, and soon to bloom, were wild = lily-of-the-valley, mountain maple (we saw all four native species of = maples on the walk: mountain, striped or moose, red, = sugar),</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>BALD EAGLE NESTS: </b> Patrick and I checked = two nests -- first the one off Huntley Road in <b>Scots' Bay</b>, had an = adult eagle on it, and any youngsters present were hidden from view = under the adult (sensibly on this cold & windy morning); then we = drove after the walk to <b>Blomidon</b> and the cliff-top nest north of = the Mill Creek cluster of homes, where again one adult was on the nest = and any youngsters hidden underneath the adult. </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 the = "Split" end of the trail, quite a few people had a nice view of a = <b>peregrine falcon</b> that was soaring without a wingbeat and gliding = northward, very probably just travelling past the cape from south to = north, into the very strong wind from the north that blew all day. = The falcon was visible to all for a long time, because its progress into = the wind was very slow but steady and apparently = effortless.</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">This year<b> no chipmunks</b> were heard and only one = was seen crossing the trail by Patrick. Last year we heard at = least three and saw two chipmunks.</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">Along the trail in at least = two places, prostrate trunks of shrubs or small trees showed a lot of<b> = de-barking</b>. Initially we thought of porcupines or snowshoe = hares or even mice under the snow. But further consideration led = to the conclusion that the de-barking was actually scrapings caused by = good old humans, namely some sort of machine used to keep the trail open = and keep brush back from the edges. Whoever did this for Dept. of = Nat. Resources, Prov. Parks division, was overzealous in a few = places.</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">That <b>strong wind</b> kept bringing us <b>all kinds = of skies and weather</b> for the several hours that we were out there (9 = a.m. to 5 p.m. for Pat & me). Several times the sky cleared = briefly and warmed up a bit when we were out of the wind (not = often). </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">Cheers from Jim</font></div><div style=3D"margin-top: = 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; = ">_______________________________________________</div><div = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; ">Nature mailing list</div><div style=3D"margin-top: = 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><a = href=3D"mailto:Nature@blomidonnaturalists.ca">Nature@blomidonnaturalists.c= a</a></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><a = href=3D"http://blomidonnaturalists.ca/mailman/listinfo/nature_blomidonnatu= ralists.ca">http://blomidonnaturalists.ca/mailman/listinfo/nature_blomidon= naturalists.ca</a></div> </blockquote></div><br></body></html>= --Apple-Mail-18-21059880--
next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects