Australians ask: What are we really burning?

Devastation to biodiversity/wildlife during prescribed fires

My friends and colleagues at the Portland Field Naturalists’ Club (Portland, Victoria, Australia) sent me this video made jointly by them and another (Hamilton) Field Naturalists’ Club. Together, they created this hard-hitting, difficult-to-watch video, published June 24, 2014.

Back story: The state government of Victoria has an ongoing commitment to the prescribed burning of 5% of the Crown Land in the State of Victoria. The government does this in order to prevent wild (or intentional/unintentional human-set) fires from endangering homes, businesses, livestock and other establishments/organizations/etc which are considered at risk from fire and hence, more important than the conservation and respect for environmental biodiversity, including wildlife.

Despite lobbying the various levels of government, the two Field Naturalist Clubs believe their well-considered opposition to the controlled burns has been ignored. They are particularly concerned about the excruciating death by burning experienced by wildlife such as koalas, wombats, kangaroos, echidnas, powerful owls, and frankly, anything that moves. Not to mention the flora.

Please watch this video to learn what prescribed burns really do. Note: because it contains graphic images of burned animals, this may not be appropriate for children.

Then?

Please also consider that this is not “just” a far-away-in-another-land issue. Here in Canada we allow prescribed burns. How do you feel about this? 

What can we do?

My colleagues at the Portland Field Naturalist Club suggest we write to the Victorian Environment Minister Ryan Smith: They wrote:

“Every year the Victorian Government burns large areas of bush under the banner of protecting human lives and assets, but is this really what is happening? Concerned? Contact the Victorian Environment Minister Ryan Smith, the man responsible for overseeing prescribed burning in Victoria on ryan.smith@parliament.vic.gov.au”

Elizabeth Le Geyt: Bird Lady and centenarian

Former Ottawa Citizen bird columnist publishes book... and turns 100!

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!

Today, Elizabeth Le Geyt celebrated her 100th birthday and launched her first book, Bird Lady: A lifelong Love Affair with Birds.

Check this link for some stunning colour images of birds featured in Bird Lady, taken by such renowned Ottawa-area birders as Tony Beck and Bruce di Labio.

Readers of her popular bird column in the Ottawa Citizen can now read Elizabeth’s stories about how her love of birds was transformed into a highly respected column... and book.

I can’t wait to read a copy!

First kestrel of year

Hunched silhouette a giveaway

So many migrants returning... 

This afternoon around 17:20h I spied an American kestrel on an overhead wire alongside Highway 148 Ouest, gazing at the open ground, looking for a meal.

No image... just a sighting!

A deer kind of morning

White-tailed deer at Church Falls, Gatineau Park

The deer are eager to come to the increasingly exposed edges of roads to feast on last year’s leaves and grasses.

This photo, taken with my iPhone, hand-held while I was inside my car, was a quick snap. I thought these four (yes, four... can you spy one in the background?) would dash away into the forest, so shot four quick images.

These deer look healthy. Some which I have spotted, however, are extremely thin and I think that the thinnest look as though they are yearlings. If they can make it through a frigid, extended winter like this one, I think their chances for survival may be excellent...

... if they can outmanoeuvre the predators, that is...

One deer wasn’t so lucky. A hind leg of a deer, partially chewed, was lying on the Steele Line when I drove into Wakefield yesterday. Upon my return, it was gone... Good fortune for whatever critter was hungry that day!

Ungainly looking black blob in tree...

... Is a grazing wild turkey!

So there I am, minding my own business, driving along the back roads of Pontiac, where I live in the Outaouais. Suddenly, I spy it: a large ungainly black “blob” up in the wild apple tree.

Wild turkey!

There it was, gorging on last season’s now-frozen apples on the tree.

Stopped the car, tried to get a shot -- but as many of you will understand, these wily wild birds are shy and so I missed getting any photographs. It’s one of those special memories I will treasure.

Lichens and mosses of the Eardley Escarpment

Exploring the world of primitive plants

A: Eric photographing rock tripe on Eardley Escarpment.

A world of lichens awaits discovery on the Precambrian rocks of the Eardley Escarpment. I do not yet know all of their names: if you can help to identify them, I invite your comments.

Here, Eric is photographing rock tripe, a kind of lichen. Rock tripe is common, and is an edible (though not choice) species of fungi. 

Image B is a photo of several lichens. In particular, one reminds me of cedar. This image depicts several different kinds, all of which I would like to have identified for me, so that I start to know what is growing here at Spiritwood.

B. Several lichens.

Nearby, yet another plant attracted our attention, a series of “circles” which might be spores or “young lichens” or -- are they a mature species of a different type of lichen? 

C. These “circles” mystify me. What are they?

And below? Another perspective of these “circles” surrounded by mosses and framed by dead deciduous and evergreen leaves.

D. Another view of the “dots” or “circles”.

E. Feathery or fern-like moss.

To the left, moss which resembles a small fern or perhaps feather.

G. Another “creeping style” of “feathery” moss.

And above, a “creeping” species, with snow receding from it.

Woods in spring... er, winter...

Spring woods after 15 cm snowfall

Snowshoeing through Spiritwood’s woodland trails revealed plants in their various stages of growth... and death.

A young white birch is losing its “baby bark” and getting its mature white bark. Buds are swelling and before long -- only in a few weeks -- the first furled leaves will appear.

Meanwhile, the trails are blanketed with deep snow. Here, balsam fir and white pine are draped with yesterday’s snowfall while a blue sky peeks through the foliage.

Marcescence: the dead leaves which cling onto twigs is well-illustrated here with the American beech. Isn't that a remarkable blue sky?

Finally, a large poplar windfall reveals a complicated, shallow twist of roots.

Who knows what the morrow will bring? We intend to explore again...

Sightings mid-March

Spring approacheth... despite snow

March 20: Bald eagle flies over Spiritwood. Neighbouring farmer says two are feeding on a dead calf at his place. Lots of wild turkeys on the roads; males displaying their fine plumage.

March 21: lots of white-tail deer on Mountain Road and Highway 148 Ouest feeding on exposed dried grasses/foliage of last year’s grasses and leaves. Deer looked like yearlings: small and they all look very thin, with coats moulting. American goldfinch males starting to show golden breeding plumage.

March 22: 15 cm snowfall. Amid the squall, I hear a robin singing. Filled feeders: Approximately 20 goldfinches, ~ 9 juncos enjoying nyger seed, while black-capped chickadees, jays are consuming the black sunflower seeds. Mourning doves flitting about. Crows and ravens keen on the compost pile I've just replenished.

Spring arrives at Spiritwood?

Morning snowsquall deposits 15 cm snow.

15 centimetre snowfall defeats “spring”?

The early morning snowstorm deposited 15 cm of snow here in the Outaouais (West Quebec) and Ottawa Valley. All is well here at Spiritwood, however: Eric and I are looking forward to getting out in the new (wet) snow.

Before doing so, however, there is work to be accomplished.

Eric clearing path from tractor shed to the driveway.

Eric didn’t need to plug in the tractor: It started immediately in our -2  temperatures.

First on the list was snowblowing our front driveway.

The snow is very wet, very heavy. Perfect for making snow animals... but for now, before it becomes even heavier and sodden, we need to blow the snow from the driveway, which enables us to drive in and out without creating nasty tire tracks.

The snowblower needs to be carefully positioned when operating the tractor, so one doesn't blow snow into the garage or against a window.

I’m being surrounded by a mini-gust of snow
from the blower as I'm standing downwind of it.

Plant intelligence: how do we measure it?

Canadian Museum of Nature explores concept of plant intelligence

The latest session of the Museum’s “Nature Talks” series of lectures was held Tuesday March 18. Topic? Globe and Mail science reporter Ivan Semeniuk interviewed Paul Sokoloff, a botany research assistant at the Museum, on the subject of plant intelligence. (Watch a video of this next week at nature.ca.)

Do plants “think”? Not as human beings do. However, Sokoloff said they possess something analogous.

“Electrical pathways are analogous to animals’ central nervous systems,” he said, “Of course, plants have no brain. But even though plants are stationary, they do a lot of what we often consider to be ‘intelligence’' They move in response to light. Roots detect gravity and send their shoots up through the soil to the sky.”

Among many other things, noted Sokoloff, plants detect humidity, minute changes in carbon dioxide, and soil PH. Of special interest to me was his claim that plants can resist being consumed by grazing animals because they can adapt chemically, to become less palatable. (Does this drive hybridization, I wonder, as we develop more tasty and nutritious grazing plants for beef and dairy cattle, for instance?)

During the conversation with Semeniuk, Sokoloff discussed plant memory and learning. He cited a researcher’s lab tests with Mimosa pudica (sensitive plant) where plants were repeatedly dropped. At first, as always happens when this species’ leaves are touched, they folded upon impact with the ground. However, after a while, they stopped doing so. The question is: Did these Mimosa plants learn to ignore stimuli which did not hurt them?

In a follow-up interview on Thursday March 20, I asked Sokoloff what types of chemicals plants use to successfully compete for space, light, and hence, survival.

“Black walnut trees emit a chemical called juglone which is released by their roots.” Insodoing, other plants cannot grow in soil adjacent to this species. In fact, Sokoloff told me, “Probably nothing much grows until the chemical is metabolized by the soil.” 

We don't normally think of plants polluting the soil... However, is this intelligence?  Thoughts? For more information, check Oxford Journals: Annals of Botany blog.

 

Exploring the explorer: predators in nature

Tracking on snowshoes reveals curious predator

Beautiful day for a snowshoe on  March 16, with snow still very deep despite the approach of spring...

Here my friend and I have discovered a sheltered piece of ground, evidently where creatures such as mice, voles and squirrels hang out for protection.

The pawprints of a curious coyote tell the story of what happened here. The carnivore has checked out this hiding spot more than once.

No blood. No fur. So perhaps sheltering critters have escaped... for now...

White-tail deer eating wild apples

Why I love where I live!

Driving along back roads of the Pontiac region of the Outaouais, where I live, often brings me face to face with the wildlife which shares my world.

Today I spied a white-tail deer feeding on a wild apple tree’s late harvest of fruit. I couldn’t believe my good fortune: I slowed my vehicle, prepped my iPhone, and approached the deer very slowly.

It was not sure what I was doing, and turned as if to slip away a few times. I simply paused, then crept forward, to finally win this image. No, it is not technically anywhere near “perfect” because I took it through my windscreen. However, it is an image depicting the spectacular beauty within which I live.

When I was simply too close for comfort, it slipped off into the woods of Gatineau Park.

Memories of last summer

Marcescence: Hanging on

Deciduous Oak and Maple from 2013
in snowshoe track.

At this time of the year, most of the deciduous leaves have fallen to the forest floor. Here at Spiritwood, we have both red and white oak trees. Although Quercus (oak) leaves are tenacious, they don’t cling on to their twigs as resolutely as do beech leaves (Fagus).

The reason beech and oak do remain on their twigs longer, however, is because of a phenomenon called Marcescence. Wikipedia tells us this is “the retention of dead plant organs that normally are shed.”

The online free encyclopedia continues, “It is most obvious in deciduous trees that retain leaves through the winter. Several trees normally have marcescent leaves such as oak (Quercus), beech (Fagus) and hornbeam (Carpinus). Marcescent leaves of pin oak (Quercus palustris) complete development of their abscission layer in the spring. The base of the petiole remains alive over the winter. Many other trees may have marcescent leaves in seasons where an early freeze kills the leaves before the abscission layer develops or completes development. Diseases or pests can also kill leaves before they can develop an abscission layer.”

Soon, I will go outside and get a photo of marcescent leaves of American Beech. This image, however, shows deciduous maple and oak leaves, which have fallen into our snowshoe trail.

Lichen what I see

Rock Tripe with ice formation.

Rock Tripe on PreCambrian rock of Eardley Escarpment

What a gorgeous afternoon for a snowshoe tramp through Spiritwood’s woodland trails! With temperatures of 6 degrees Celsius, we strapped on our snowshoes and headed out for an hour’s exploration. What did we see? Rock tripe.

Rock tripe is a member of the lichen genus Umbilicaria. They grow on rocks and have a leathery look, being khaki-to-green on their surface, and black underneath. Although they simply taste leathery to my palate, they are a known survival food.

What is a lichen? First of all, they are indicators of air quality, so it’s a good thing that tripe and other lichens flourish here at Spiritwood, along the southerly facing ridge of the Eardley Escarpment.

Secondly, lichens are not mosses... although they are related. Instead, according to London, England’s Natural History Museum, they represent a symbiotic relationship between two or more organisms: a fungus and an algae.

Here at Spiritwood, we have many lichens. Today we found several fully hydrated “fields” of rock tripe. In fact, they were swollen with from the snow and ice which today’s sunlight had transformed into meltwater.

Mourning the wild coyote

Morning

Coyote runs free

run proves fatal

Our horses tell us what’s going on, here at Spiritwood. With pricked ears and gaze fixed due south, all Eric and I have to do is follow their line of sight. 

Six coyotes were dashing across the snowy fields. Friday’s icy sleet gave them a firm surface upon which to race, and there they were, running free. Amazed at the energy they were expending, we watched as the pack split up: three came right for us, then veered west racing immediately south of the Steele Line. The other three sped eastwards.

With binoculars we enjoyed observing their glossy fur rising and falling as they moved. We thought the last of the three westward-bound animals looked old. Its fur appeared duller, perhaps a bit matted, and it was panting, unlike the two leaders who ran effortlessly with muzzles shut. 

What a thrill to witness their morning race! 

Suddenly our neighbours’dogs started barking, sounding the alarm. And then the inevitable... The crack of a rifle. Then a second “finishing” shot.

Coyote down. Was it the slowest one? I’ll never know.

That’s what it’s like living here on the edge, where the sanctuary of Gatineau Park opens into the killing fields of the countryside. Outside the Park, coyotes are considered noxious pests, not clever predators with a right to live, so as to keep whatever natural order is left in balance.

As for me and Eric? We mourn the loss of a magnificent wild creature. I can only hope its death was merciful and swift.

Rainscape

View from my window

Pouring rain. Friends are coming over this afternoon to snowshoe... Hmm. Perhaps not. I bet we’ll decide to curl up beside the wood stove and chat... perchance with a glass of red.

The metre-deep snow blanketing the meadows and woodland trails will take a beating after today’s rain and sleet.

After the showers, Eric removed the dense, wet snow from the garage roof.

Unfortunately, when the freeze comes later on this afternoon, our laneway and yard will become a sheet of ice.

I will need to reattach my Yaktrax onto my boots so I can walk safely on the glare ice.

Notice there are no birds at the feeding stations in this pouring rain.

Story in the snow

What is this? Can you guess? 

Snowshoeing at Spiritwood reveals amazing tracks, stories to interpret

A late afternoon (17:15h) snowshoe hike along our farm’s woodland trails revealed many animal tracks today.

Take a look at the image here: can you guess what it is?

My photo shows the imprint left by a Ruffed Grouse... the tail, body, wings.

Happily, this year we have many grouse in our meadows and woods, with a couple visiting our feeder for the first time since we moved here in 1989.

Clearing snow from roof

Deep snow can damage a roof, so removing it is important. Here’s how!

Eric and Gaby clearing snow from her home’s roof. 

On a sunny bright day with no snowfall in sight, here in Eastern Canada it is a good time to clear accumulations of snow from a roof.

Today, Eric and I seized the opportunity to help a friend. We took our long roof rake over to her home and Eric joined her on the roof, clearing snow.

As official documentary photographer (!) here are some images of what Life in Canada is like, this time of the year. 

And yes, I did help by removing snow from the walkway! 

Perfection of the snowshoe!

Wonders of nature at Spiritwood

Beautiful +3C with sunshine and blue sky and freshly fallen snow. A perfect afternoon enticed us from our computers, beckoning us to get some outdoor exercise and fresh air.

Along Wildflower Lane inside the verge of the forest, patterns on snow-draped balsam fir reminded me of the prints of a wild goose... 

Further along Wildlflower Lane, Eric paused to photograph the sunshine through the trees.

Later, on Magic Road, I captured the gentle sunset through our mixed deciduous forest...

And, back on our western field, Eric photographed milkweed pods sticking like ears through the blanket of snow.

Just an hour’s snowshoe... Such an invigorating break.

What happened here?

What an impression! 

Perfect wing and body print as an unknown bird species (raven?) swept down onto the snow, grabbed a snack (perhaps a vole?), then hopped away behind where I am crouching to devour whatever it was.