Can You Smell It?

Sometimes, when I am hiking along the ocean's edge 

or making my way under the canopy

in the thick of the forest,

I just wish I could share the essence du jour!

Old Growth Forest

Glendyre,

Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

Glendyre is a small, Scottish gaelic community 

that hosts a very large and almost

obsolete phenomenom - one of the last remaining 

and possibly the best example of an old growth forest.

With white birch and sugar maple trees 

measuring over 10 feet around!!

I was in a total state of bliss.

An off-trail hike of only 1.1 km seemed like 10!

The banks of the brook we crossed were steep

and laden with downed trees covered with moss

and hidden from view by mammoth ferns.

There were treasures everywhere!

Wood Frog
(Rana sylvatica)

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker holes.

Artist's Conk
(Ganoderma applanatum)

This is only a small sampling!

Rest assured, this parcel of land is being strongly considered

in the 12 Per Cent Plan,

an effort by the Nova Scotia government

to secure the natural wonders

of the province.

Fuzzy Visitor

Fingered Dagger Moth Caterpillar

(Acronicta dactylina)

(5th instar larva)

I found this little guy walking through my rock garden.

Listed as uncommon but widely spread,

the Dagger Finger Moth,

as pictured below,

(Janice Stiefel/bugguide.com)

is found in deciduous and mixed wood forests 

in all of the U.S. and S. Canada.

Larva feed on willow, alder, birch, poplar and hawthorn,

overwintering as a pupa in leaves or debris.

Larvae are present from July to October.

A Quiet River Paddle

Framboise River

Cape Breton

I don't know if the name of the river really is Framboise River, 

but it is a river and it is in Framboise.

Originally, plans were to paddle the mudflats a few miles up the road 

to observe migrating shore birds,

but the flats were fogged in and it was cold!

However, a few miles down the road, 

the sun was shining, the air was hot,

and the river beckoned.

Eastern Forktail, (Ischmura verticalis)

Horned Bladderwort, (Utricularia cornuta)

 A lone white water lily.

 I don't know my water bugs!

Juncus canadensis

Variable Dancer, (Argia fumipennis),

hitching a ride.

Not a clue, but oh, so pretty!

All visiting paddlers 'otter' be entertained!

There were four and they were SO cute!

I'm still toiling over my hawk identification skills.

Judging from all the other photos I took,

I believe this to be a juvenile Red-tailed.

Sparganiium spp, perhaps emersum, with Northern Bluet (Enallagma cyathigerum).

And last, but not least, a Greater Yellowlegs.

Simple Abundance

Gooseberry Cove

Cape Breton, NS

Perhaps one of the most beautiful spots
along the Cape Breton coast,

Gooseberry Cove took my breath away
the first time I visited the area.

On that particular day, the angry sea
sent waves crashing among the rocks.

But today's visit was relatively calm.

This is 'Crown Land', owned by the government,

and much to my delight, Nova Scotia is considering

making Gooseberry Cove 

a protected wilderness area.

An hour and a half drive, and well worth every mile.

Approximately 30% of the land in Nova Scotia

is 'Crown Land', and the government has proposed

to set aside 12% as protected areas by 2015.

If I'm reading the information correctly, 

they are not adding an additional 12%, but are

combining new properties to bring 

the total of protected wilderness areas

up to the 12% mark.

Black Guillemots were everwhere!

If only I could include the delicious smell of the sea air,
almost acrid at low tide. 

The only way I was going to capture

this Chalk-fronted Corporal (Ladona julia) 

was to catch him in mid-air!

This little toad was there all day.

One of my most favorite bog plants to photograph,

the Cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus) 

is considered a delicacy!  

Locations are often kept secret!

The carnivorous Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea).

Blue Flag (Iris versicolor)

I applaud Nova Scotia's efforts to preserve the wilderness.

Progress is encroaching rapidly.

I have the opportunity to see a lot.

and it isn't always pretty.

Lots of ATV's damaging the bogs

and dunes, illegally, of course.

Forested areas are just as abused.

Simple Abundance?

Only if they become more conscientious about managing

these protected areas. 

That's

Silly Willet

Eastern Willet

(Catoptrophorus semipalmatus)

Upon my return to Cape Breton late this spring,

(spring was late, too!!),

The Ranger surprised me with 3 completed 

and installed Tree Swallow nesting boxes.

Much to my delight, the Tree Swallows returned the very next day

and after much 'to-do', inhabited all 3 boxes.

What does that have to do with silly Willets, you ask?
Well, they were under the impression that the Tree Swallow houses
were installed for their benefit!

It gives them a perfect vantage point for

keeping an eye on their territory, my 2.5 acre wet meadow.

From spring until mid-July, my airspace is filled with

their relentless, loud, piercing call.

On this particular morning, there were two willets

 really making a racket,

and they were everywhere....

These two birds filled the sky.  

You could have easily thought there were 20!

The Willet is often described as a large, chunky, shore bird with drab brown plumage.

That is until it takes of in flight!!

They were on the house top.

On the shed roof.

On the street lamp and.

even on the road.

This went on all day long.  I couldn't figure out what was going on.

Until around 2:00 when I was taking clothes in from the line.

Yep!  Three baby willets finally emerged from the grass 

and went across the road to the shore, one at a time.

A fourth wasn't too far behind. 

 I grabbed my camera and binoculars 

and sat on the shore,waiting patiently. 

 Almost one hour later, they worked their way through more grass,

and popped out onto the shore, 

where I lost them because they blended in so well.

It took them all day, but those babies made it 

across the 2.5 acres of meadow,

and across the ditch by the side of the road.

I was so impressed with the parent birds.  

They stuck to those babies like glue.

An eagle came down 4 times, 

and they fought him off each time.

They stuck around for a day and a half, 

then worked their way down the shore.

Today I observed them about 1/2 mile away

 at a friend's house.

I will miss them.

The female will eventually take off 

and leave the rest of the parenting to the male.

Reminder:  Tuesday is the last day to enter for a chance to win
a copy of Avian Architecture over at KaHolly.