L'Acadie- a Touch of the Sea- La Mer me fait Signe

By the sea (the Northumberland Strait, New Brunswick) in Mid-August. 


Sunday August 17: Torrential rains greeted us.  Not daunted, we visited with friends Paul and Judy, visiting the local Shediac Museum where daughter Chloe guided.  Paul and Judy are from Northern Ontario, and Montreal respectively.  Chloe was raised in Shediac, and is immersed in the culture of L'Acadie, including the local dialect referred to as Chiac (recognizable as French, with a LOT of nuance).


We asked about the origin of the word "Acadia". Some say it originates from the European concept of Arcadia.  That doesn't make sense to me.  I prefer the other explanation, that it originates from a Mi' kmaq word "Quoddy" (fertile area), a name often found in place names in Maine and New Brunswick, or "Algatig", meaing "camp". I will pass this on to Marv, my friend of Mi' kmaq origin, and ask for his learned response.


Most of the Canadians that read this may recall the 42 seconds of history you learned in grade school related to the Acadian expulsions following the defeat of the French in North America in 1763,  This clumsy and cruel policy resulted in Acadians being moved to the other parts of the newly occupied former French possessions known as Louisiane.  So some Acadians stayed along the Mississippi, and became known as Cajuns.  Many eventually moved back to the Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and PEI shores, where they continue to fish and farm to this day.


One can see the Acadian flag flying along the Northumberland shore of New Brunswick.  And if you are fortunate, as Paul and I were, to arrive at a local dock at 3 PM during lobster season, you may be able to buy a few from the lobster fishers before the wholesalers make off with the harvest.

 At the dock at Cormierville, the Acadien Flag flies, while a Great Black-backed Gull (below) watches and waits for any tasty morsels tossed from the lobster boats.

Paul's friend Danny, had arranged for a few lobsters for us to take home for our supper.  Here he (in blue)  is helping to load lobsters and prepare the boats for the next day.  The lobster fishers explained the proper method of cooking lobsters.  Fill you large pot 3/4 full and add 3/4 cup salt. Bring to a boil.  Fill the pot with lobster (size doesn't matter).  Bring back to boil, for 12 minutes.  Remove immediately from the stove, and immerse in cold water. Ta daaaaa!

This is what our 15 lobsters looked like after the above process.  Hmmm, fresh from the sea is best!

Crated lobsters (above)  just off the boat (below).  The crates, which you can see on the dock, are loaded into refrigerated trucks for shipment to the local processing plant, or they go directly off to North American cities.  Note:  the best ones stay in the Maritimes!

On a previous trip to Shediac, my friend Gershon and I were treated to a full day of lobster fishing with Paul's friend Gilles. We were at the dock at 4 AM and back by 4 PM.  We learned more about the local sea (Northumberland Strait) and the economics of fishing than we could have learned in a year at school. Proving again that direct experience is the best education one can receive.

The next day, Monday August 18,  we toured the Parlee Beach and Pointe des Chenes shoreline with Judy, in the rain.

Post Apocalyptic* Summer Meanderings

* literary licence being used here. Apocalypse refers to moving household from Kanata to Arnprior in later June/early July.  This may be not on the scale that apocalypse is appropriate.  Only those  older folks who are downsizing may understand the use of this word.


Weather: summery (cooler than average than our last 4 summers, with a bit more water...providing a better than average natural bounty).

Arnprior has some great nature sites within the town. Two of these are the Macnamara Trail and Gillies Grove. The latter is a National Historic Site, and a Nature Conservancy-owned conservation area.

I have visited these places, and several lakes in the Gatineau Hills in the Pontiac region of Quebec (a short drive from Arnprior).  Some highlights:

 While enjoying a few late July days with friends Marc, Paul and Cheryl at Lac Bernard, Quebec, I photographed some common flowering plants of the region, including the familiar Black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta above, and White Baneberry Actaea pachypoda (also known as Doll's Eyes) below. The plant is poisonous to humans and the berries especially so, as they contain a toxin which causes cardiac arrest.

Below is Self-heal, Prunella vulgaris, a common mint family flower of our local woods. This plant, as its name implies, has been used historically to treat wounds, and for sore throats.  The whole plant is edible and is, allegedly, a tasty addition to salads, stews and is also used to make an infusion ( I refuse to use the term "herbal tea", as tea is a specific group of Asian herbs).



We often see the plant below along trails in colder woods.  It's large rose flowers are very attractive, and it is indeed a member of the large rose family.  It is Purple-flowering Raspberry Rubus odoratus. The plant is a large (3-6 feet high and broader than that) shrub. The flowers are 2-3 inches across, and very fragrant. This native thornless plant is an excellent addition to a garden. The large hairy raspberries are edible, but are an "acquired taste". I leave them for the birds.

Lac Bernard is a typical southern Canadian Shield lake, surrounded by cottages.  Therefore the lake doesn't have the ecological purity of more remote lakes.  This doesn't seem to bother the Whirlygig Beetles, millions of which were patrolling the surface of the entire lake.

More to come soon.  Jan and I are off tomorrow to the Maritimes for 10 days.  I expect some interesting marine mammal and waterfowl sightings!

Park Post-Ponders

It has been some time since I promised this third in the series dating back to early May.  Jan and I sold our house and bought another in Arnprior, Ontario.  This takes the nature buff into the unpleasant world of reality and reality.  Personally, a shack on a coastal shore would suffice.


Our culture seems more house-obsessed than previous cultures.  We invest time energy and money into keeping our house as close to a regal palace as possible and add so  much artificiality, that our connection to the natural world is lost. 


Being wrapped up in keeping the Victorian English ideal of a lawn is ample evidence.  We live in the Great Lakes Forest region of Canada.  Grasses are Savanna or Prairie dominant plants. Here, they are scattered amongst streamsides, alvars and marshes, where they mix with a diversity of rushes and sedges. Plant native trees and shrubs!


Learn more by coming to the next meeting of the Macnamara field Naturalists' Club in Arnprior on September 2 (Tuesday) when Ed Lawrence, noted horticultural guru, will present to us about gardening with native plants which attract wildlife.  Ed, with the most enthusiastic support of the Governor General, re-landscaped Rideau Hall with native plants.


Recap:  we left Prince Edward Point on Friday May 9th and arrived in Brighton, ready for an early foray into Presqu'ile Provincial Park, just to the West of the Bay of Quinte on the north shore of Lake Ontario.  The morning was bright, windy and COLD, certainly not the best conditions for we humans, but the birds were nonplussed, and were arriving in large numbers, feeding, mating, establishing nests and singing their wee feathers off.


Our intrepid small group went trudging through the various habitats this small, diversified park has to offer. Each habitat houses a different array of plants and animals, diversity being the key to life on Earth,  Conserving diversity is a self-serving goal for humanity. Strange that we don't honour it.

(Note: the following 3 photos are from Prince Edward Point. The production staff responsible for equipment maintenance failed to properly charge the blogger's camera batteries, creating a lacuna in the graphic element of today's Blog.  Said staff have been replaced by memory enhancing foods, like fish oil and spinach.  The Blog CEO respectfully apologizes for this gap and promises better photos in the future,)

Our group spots a bird!

The day previously,  we viewed waterfowl in the big lake from the spectacular cliffs on the shore.  It always amazes me how some individual life forms, unlucky in placement, still survive...for a while. This snag attracted friend Steve, a true "treeman". I found his juxtaposition with the snag an interesting study in form and function.



The following day was warm and sunny, mid 20's C, and this Blogger decided to fulfill a favour for Michael |Runtz, a most excellent nature mentor who teaches these things at Carleton University in Ottawa. As many know by constant media reports, a Lemming cornucopia resulted in a Snowy Owl continental swarm over the winter. These population bursts happen cyclically, as the Lemming populations are cyclical.  This was a great year for the owls.  I have already posted a few photos of mature owls enjoying the bounty of our winter fields.

Several owls spent the winter at the Central Experimental Farm along the Rideau Canal in central Ottawa.  Michael wanted the pellets (owls cough up bones, feathers and fur of their prey in pellet form post digestion) the owls had left behind after their departure the week before. Risking personal harm, hopping fences and proceeding into unknown territory, I spotted the owl resting/digesting spots in the fields.

Note several of the pellets, grey and cylindrical, they measured 4-5 inches in length, by far the largest owl pellets I have seen.

This Savanna Sparrow was watching me closely.

Upon completing my collection of about 50 pellets, I went next door to the Fletcher Wildlife Garden, operated by the Ottawa Field Naturalist Club, and found

this immature Red-tailed Hawk closely watching me, or was it posing?

A newly-arrived Least Flycatcher pausing from gorging on midges.

A Red Trillium in full glory.

Podophyllum peltatum, commonly called Mayapple. Common in the deciduous forests around the southern Great Lakes. The white flowers weren't out yet.

The next installment, if I survive, after relocating to Arnprior, in the Ottawa Valley.

Band-it (2) Featuring "The Birds"

Picton Harbour Inn-Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory

Friday, May 9th, 2014 sunny, 20C, a light breeze (significant rain overnight).

An early start to the day, 7 AM breakfast at the Inn...then off to see Arnie and Elly at the banding station, where a team of volunteers are banding the migrants which land on this side of Lake Ontario after flying all night.  Large numbers of midges swarm along the shore, giving warblers, vireos, flycatchers, thrushes and swallows a much needed meal for the final stage of their long journey.

The Bird Observatory is on Prince Edward Point, within the National Wildlife Area.  It is n excellent location for banding a great number and diversity of migratory birds.

Birds, birds, birds.......let's take a break. The above photo is taken at Morris Island Conservation Area,  beside the Ottawa River, not too far from home. This break is brought to you by the Reptilian Appreciation Society...after all the birds evolved from predecessors of this sun-basking Garter Snake.

We arrived at the banding station to find it a beehive(closer to an aviary, really!) of activity.  Volunteers emerging from the bush with cloth bags of birds (one to a bag), ready for the knowledgeable and steady hand of David Okines, master Ontario bird bander.  David was able to describe the process, continue to band each bird and call out, to the data entry volunteer, a wealth of important data....gender, weight, age etc.

Yup, this is the humane way to weigh a wee songbird..they stay quiet.

A Brown Thrasher gets a band

This is one unhappy female Rose-breasted Grosbeak. David demonstrated an occupational hazard with this species...that GROS BEAK is used for defence. Once they grasp some flesh, they do not let go easily. It hurts!

If you look closely, you might see some skin bits!

This Lincoln Sparrow was far gentler.

A Black and White Warbler gets a band.  With songbirds like these which weigh just grams, a quick, knowing and gentle hand is necessary,

A male Magnolia Warbler quietly awaits a volunteer to bag him.  It also takes a lot of training to properly remove birds from mist nets.

Most of the scientific data on bird populations is collected in this way. Targeted studies are also conducted by governments (less and less) and organizations like the National Audubon Society (US) and Bird Studies Canada.


We went out again during the afternoon, seeing so many species of freshly-arrived migrating birds, which avail themselves of southerly breezes to reduce energy during their long flights from Central and South America.  They land in places like Prince Edward Point after their nighttime flight, eager to feed on the clouds of Midges which fill every nook and cranny amongst the scraggly shoreline vegetation. Some have already started to nest, like the Cliff Swallows at the eaves of the old lighthouse.


With a cold front due overnight, we decide to squeeze every minute out of this ideal day, ending along the magnificent cliffs which border the east side of Prince Edward Point, looking out into Lake Ontario. Here, a flotilla of migrating northern oceanic birds are feeding, including Long-tailed Ducks and Scoters (Surf and White-winged), also seaducks.

In the woods around the banding station (Bird Observatory):

Rose-breasted Grosbeak reunited with his mate after she ate a chunk of bird-bander

Scarlet (ain't it?) Tanager

Eastern Towhee (says "Drink your teaaaaaaaaaaaa"

The Group surveys Lake Ontario, while Maureen smiles for the camera.

At the tip of the point, under the eaves, remnant of an old lighthouse...Cliff Swallows at their mud nest

After being banded, this Red-eyed Vireo looks menacingly at me...please don't let him go...YET!

Purple Cress
(Cardamine douglassii)

White Trout Lily (Erythronium albidum) with its more common yellow cousin just to the back and right

Indeed, a Long-tailed Duck as attested to by the next photo...

From the cliffs of Prince Edward County-Lake Ontario

And onto Part 3....a day at Presqu'ile Provincial Park.

It's Raining Birds-Band-IT (1)

Trip:  Kanata-Queen University Biological Station-Picton Harbour Inn.

Thursday, May 8th, 2014 Partly Cloudy, mid 20's C, a strong southerly breeze.

Accompanied by friend Steve, we are making our way to Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area (Quinte region, Ontario) on Friday morning.  We make a few stops.  One of my favourite places is the 1500 acre Pangman tract of the Queens University Biological Station near Chaffeys Locks (Rideau Lakes), Ontario.

The Biological Station began 40 years ago with 100 acres of land beside Lake Opinicon.  It now manages 7800 acres in the region, and is one of North America's premier research destinations, with researchers from many corners of North America.

The leaves had just started to come out on the deciduous trees.  Few forest birds had arrived here.  We expect to see many of the species which will nest here in a few days down at Prince Edward Point, as the songbirds do migrate on a southerly breeze, and drop onto the north side of Lake Ontario's shore.

Cerulean Warblers, for example, nest in good numbers here. None were seen on this date.

We DID see, given the lack of leaves, many spring ephemerals...a different mix than back home in Kanata, and somewhat further ahead, due to a local microclimate which is conducive to some Carolinean species.

Spring Beauty-Claytonia virginica (Claytonia caroliniana is the broader leaf Spring Beauty, featured in a previous blog)

Dutchman's Breeches

Wild Leek

Trout Lily or Dog-tooth Violet

Bloodroot

White Trillium

Also, the site is a former mica mine. The slope of the mine tailings, long abandoned, dazzles in the strong sunlight, as the mica glitters, like small mirrors.

We leave via CR 10 to Kingston, ON, and drive the remainder of the way to Picton, through the lovely vineyards, farms and Loyalist homes of Prince Edward County.  We go the the dock area of the Inn, and check out the birds in Picton Harbour.  We are very surprised to see two Red-throated Loons and the expected Caspian Terns.

Red-throated Loon, non-breeding adult

Onward to the National Wildlife Area and the bird banding station.