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> the day became windy, there wa This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0294_01D1CD6E.50E55B00 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Darn! Ha, ha, I=E2=80=99ve heard the song played on CBC but never saw = the video. It=E2=80=99s true the black flies seem larger in northern = Ontario. I think a different species from here. =20 =20 I seem to be too late with thoughts on the black fly. Annapolis Royal = has claimed a =E2=80=98black fly festival=E2=80=99, though I=E2=80=99ve = never seen a black fly there, and they=E2=80=99d be nothing compared to = the wooded heartlands of NS. A =E2=80=98black fly supper=E2=80=99 = probably wouldn=E2=80=99t draw a big crowd.... : ) =20 Donna =20 From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca = [mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] On Behalf Of Rick Whitman Sent: June-23-16 4:01 PM To: naturens Subject: Re: [NatureNS] absence of insects =20 We can't claim it, Donna. Ontario already has it: =20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DqjLBXb1kgMo =20 Rick Whitman =20 On 23 June 2016 at 15:00, Donna Crossland <dcrossland@eastlink.ca> = wrote: Thanks, John, for offering the thought of blackflies being keystone = species. Being a non-aquatic person, I hadn=E2=80=99t thought of their = filtering abilities and incorporating organic matter. Do you think = we=E2=80=99d get very far offering the black fly as a new and official = provincial insect of our wonderful province? Ha, ha. =20 =20 Donna =20 From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca = [mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] On Behalf Of John Kearney Sent: June-23-16 8:25 AM To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca Subject: RE: [NatureNS] absence of insects =20 As always Donna, you have given an excellent explanation of the possible = effects of forestry on Black Fly populations. In addition to the lack of = food for birds resulting from fewer flies, the Black Fly larvae are an = important food source for fish and the larvae of larger aquatic insects = such as mayflies and damselflies. As filter feeders, the Black Fly = larvae play a crucial role in incorporating organic matter into the = aquatic food chain. As filter feeders, they could also serve as = indicator species for aquatic pollution, and in Nova Scotia especially, = for mercury pollution. The adult male Black Fly, which feeds on nectar, = may even play some role in pollination. Here we have a species that is = crucial to both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Certainly the Black = Fly is a keystone forest species. John =20 From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca = [mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] On Behalf Of Donna Crossland Sent: June-22-16 19:20 To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca Subject: [NatureNS] absence of insects =20 In response to Susann=E2=80=99s question regarding whether other birders = have noticed a lack of insects: I=E2=80=99ve noticed the past couple of = years that black flies seem to =E2=80=98not be what they used to = be=E2=80=99. Mostly, the season seems to be noticeably abbreviated. = Also the past two spring have witness very cold temperatures in the = mornings (last Saturday there was a frost at Milford House and only 4 C = when I arrived at 5:20 am). I measure the temperature at every bird = survey post and notice that 10-11 C is required before I need to put on = some bug deterrent. By then, on most mornings until the warm temps of = this week, I=E2=80=99ve pretty well completed the bird survey. =20 Earlier this spring, some of the fishermen were commenting that the = blackflies were biting just like in the old days. Things started out = =E2=80=98normally=E2=80=99 enough, but then we hit the prolonged cold = snap and waters were rapidly dropping, too. The blackflies quickly = became less of an issue. =20 I=E2=80=99m not a bug expert, but I grew up in one of the buggiest areas = of the province. My theory with the black fly is that it=E2=80=99s = traditionally successful life cycle in NS has been altered somewhat from = the rampant levels of deforestation. On private lands, it seems that = operations have reverted back to cutting right up to the stream edges = with no trees remaining (I=E2=80=99ve got photos of last = winter=E2=80=99s cuts in the southwest). Even where buffers are left as = per legal requirements, the lack of trees remaining on the rest of the = landscape serve to let streams rapidly fill after a rain and then empty = quickly, rather than retain moderate flows from filtering through = forests. For the black fly, if waters keep running more will emerge, = but streams are now drying up more quickly than before when our great = Acadian forest blanketed the landscape. The black fly season is = shortened. =20 =20 Also bear in mind that breeding success of black flies is sensitive to = water pollution in streams (which may be relevant to some areas of our = great province). =20 Most folks will herald the shorter black fly season, but I=E2=80=99ve = become more reflective about our migrant birds now than I used to be. = Neotropical birds have been coming to this land solely for its = =E2=80=9Cbugs=E2=80=9D and the remarkable =E2=80=98forest = habitats=E2=80=99 found here for centuries! What are we indirectly = doing to their precious food supply needed to feed young birds? (I = won=E2=80=99t go into habitat issues.) When I watch the chimney swifts = and tree swallows flying around, I wonder how things are going for them = and their progeny... =20 =20 Donna Crossland =20 =20 From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca = [mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] On Behalf Of = rita.paul@ns.sympatico.ca Sent: June-20-16 8:48 AM To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Golden-crowned Kinglet family group =20 Maybe birders are noticing a lack of insects Susann!=20 but anglers seem not in agreement but maybe birders=20 blood is not in this year! Just like wine. Enjoy the last days of spring Paul =20 On June 20, 2016 at 7:02 AM Susann Myers <myerss@eastlink.ca> wrote:=20 Pat McKay and I did some woods birding yesterday along the Old Mineville = Road, a very quiet rough track that runs between West Porters Lake and = Mineville, HRM. In one area there were a lot of Golden-crowned Kinglet = calls, and we saw a group of more than 4 kinglets flitting around in the = woods together, feeding and calling. We couldn't get a good enough look = to confirm fledgling plumage, but this appeared to be a family group.=20 =20 A little research confirmed that this is the right season for a first = brood of fledglings to be out of the nest and moving about with their = parents. Tufts gives April 16 for the average start of nesting on = Wolfville Ridge, and roughly mid-May for the completion of egg laying. = The Birders' Handbook indicates that incubation takes 14-15 days, and = fledging another 14-19; it also indicates that this kinglet typically = has 2 broods.=20 =20 Also notable were a good showing of butterflies and a lack of other = flying insects - no black flies, and the