A misty walk at East Pine Island Pond on Canada Day 2023

Posted on July 5, 2023 by admin

Photos by Joshua Barss Donham and Rosa Barss Donham at East Pine Island Pond in the Purcells Cove Backlands on Canada Day

Serviceberry, reindeer lichen, and crowberry

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Presumptive Exobasidium infestation on Black Huckleberry extends well beyond Osprey Trail area (Halifax Backlands) 5July2023

Posted on July 5, 2023 by admin

It took only 2 days following my initial post about this “mystery pest” on Black Huckleberry in the Osprey Trail area (McIntosh Run barrens) to document, courtesy of Joshua Barss Donham & Rosa Barss Donham & iNaturalist, occurrences of the infestations well beyond the area I examined on July 2. Here’s the new iNaturalist Map:

Occurrences of Exobasidium in the Backlands as reported on iNaturalist 9 am on June 5, 2023

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Fruit production by Black Huckleberry on the McIntosh Run barrens reduced by mystery pest 3Jul2023

Posted on July 3, 2023 by admin

Gall-like structures  on leaves
Click on images for larger versions

The mystery pest appears to be the work of a fungus in the genus Exobasidium, a group of parasitic fungi.  While berry production in the area examined will certainly be reduced this year, it probably  won’t have serious longer term impacts. The outbreak may be related to the unusually wet weather over last few weeks. With a little citizen science/use of iNaturalist, we can track its occurrence in the Backlands.

UPDATE July 4, 2023. Already a report has come in that the mystery pest is abundant on black huckleberry to the south and southwest of Osprey Trail  area. See comment.

By David Patriquin

In a nutshell: most of the Black Huckleberry (Gaylusaccia bacatta) plants I looked at yesterday (July 2), between downpours, within 300 m or so of the trailhead for the Osprey Trail were heavily infected by a mystery pest that causes pinkish galls to form on leaves and distorts fruit (berry) development of black huckleberry (Gaylussacia baccata).  I found very few plants with normal berries.

Visually, these structures and deformations look very much like the work of a fungus in the genus Exobasidium, a group of parasitic fungi* so that’s a tentative ID; confirmation by experts is still required to confirm it as such and identify it to the species level.

Many species of Exobasidium are pathogens on plants of the heath family (Ericaceae). Heath family species are prominent on the whaleback outcrops and associated low areas of the McIntosh Run barrens.  Besides the huckleberries, blueberries, leatherleaf, sheep laurel (lambkill), crowberries, bearberry, foxberry and  teaberry are  members of the Heath family; so are our garden rhododendrons and azaleas.
* This possible ID  was suggested to me by Sean Basquill, Ecosystem Scientist with Nova Scotia NRR. Continue reading →

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Golden Heather in flower in the Backlands 30Jun2023

Posted on June 30, 2023 by admin

And some thoughts about what’s involved in keeping it around.

Golden Heather on Jack Pine-crowberry barrens in the Backlands
Click on images for larger versions

By David Patriquin

I have been observing Golden Heather (Hudsonia ericoides ) in flower in the Backlands over the last last 10 days or so. Golden Heather is hard to miss when it’s flowering, but otherwise  it is not particularly noticeable and the vegetative plant is superficially similar to Broom Crowberry (see links below to botanical descriptions).

Aside from providing attractive flashes of gold on the more exposed areas of the barrens, Golden Heather  has an “S-Rank”of 2 (Imperiled) on the ACCDC Conservation Ranks List for NS vascular plants (Link) and thus  is a “Priority Species” in NS Environmental Assessments. )*
* A subset of species with S3, S2 and S3 ranks are protected under Nova Scotia’s Endangered Species Act and are formally protected. Species with S-Ranks 1, 2 or 3 but not not listed under the Endangered Species Act could eventually be put on that list (or not) – most of these many  ‘candidate species’ have simply not been formally assessed. Such species are generally afforded some consideration/protection in EAs and related processes. Continue reading →

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“Sharing the Care of Williams Lake” 12Jun2023

Posted on June 12, 2023 by admin

Sunset on Williams Lake

“At their Annual General Meeting, on Tuesday May 23 at the Captain William Spry Centre, WLCC directors showcased the impacts of the environmental projects they completed in the past year. Projects ranged from guides on invasive plant species, a series of bird walks plus surveys, efforts to fix the Williams Lake dam, results of lake water-quality testing, and records of lake-levels as well as numerous collaborative projects with the local community and government.” Read more in this article by Cathy Vaughan in the June 2023 issue of the Chebucto News

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Jack Pines are in flower in the Backlands (Halifax, NS) 30May2023

Posted on May 30, 2023 by admin

JackPine. male at right is about 10X lager relative to the female, left (the female above was 6 mm in height, the male 6 cm). Tap the males when they look like that above and they will release a cloud of pollen.

We generally don’t think of conifers or Gymnosperms as flowering and if you follow the strict definition of flowers as ‘the reproductive structures of Angiosperms – the flowering plants’, they do not.

However conifers do produce the reproductive structures equivalent to those in wind-pollinated Angiosperms. The formal name for conifer flowers are “strobili”.  They can be fun to recognize and sometimes suffer from (pine pollen!).

The bright red female strobili (later to become cones) of many conifers are especially attractive. Those of Jack Pine are miniscule and you may have to look for them amongst the much more obvious male structures. Continue reading →

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Full year of citizen science water quality monitoring reveals episodic salt events in Governors Brook (Halifax, NS) 29May2023

Posted on May 29, 2023 by admin

Charles Bull records water EC and temperature at Governors Brook on  Nov 30, 2022.
Click on image for larger version

Governors Brook, originating near Herring Cove Road, feeds into Colpitt Lake (unsettled), which in turn drains into the partially settled Williams Lake.* A study conducted in December of 2015 suggested that Governors Brook/Colpitt Lake is the major source of salt entering Williams Lake, also that some “salt stratification” was occurring in Williams Lake. Salt stratification is  a concern because it can lead to impaired turnover of the lake in spring and the associated re-oxygenation of the deeper waters.
*Both lakes occur in the Williams Lake Watershed, a large part of which lies within the ‘Backlands’ (see Watersheds) Continue reading →

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Fire-scarred white pines are a reminder that it’s Fire Season – especially in the Backlands (Halifax, NS) 19May2023

Posted on May 19, 2023 by admin

Contributed by David Patriquin

Update May 28, 2023: Out-of-control fire in Upper Tantallon Area, All of HRM under Fire Ban. View The Coast
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Fire scarred white pines. Left by eastern corner of Williams Lake. Middle and right: on the barrens by the Osprey Trail.
Click on images for larger versions.

On the last weekend in April, I participated in two walks in the Backlands in which we encountered fire-scarred white pines.

The first was on a birding walk with Fulton Lavender in the Shaw Wilderness Park. As we moved on the single track trail by the eastern corner of Williams Lake, we passed by a large white pine with a prominent fire-scar at its base; at least I had always assumed that’s what it was. There was some discussion about whether it might have been caused by a lightening strike on that tree rather than associated with a forest fire. Continue reading →

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Trout stocking of Williams Lake on May 30, 2023

Posted on May 5, 2023 by admin

Received today:
“Trout Stocking of Williams Lake
Cunard Pond Beach and Wyndrock Dr. May 30 at 10:00 a.m
Williams Lake is a popular recreational sport fishing area.  The trout-truck from McGowan Lake Fish Hatchery will arrive at HRM’s Cunard Pond Beach for the Learn2Fish program organized for students at Cunard Junior High.  More trout will also be put into Williams Lake from Wyndrock Drive.  Joins us for the excitement!”

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Sat Apr 29, 2023: NS Wild Flora Society hosting iNaturalist/City Nature Challenge hike on Osprey Trail (Halifax, NS)

Posted on April 25, 2023 by admin

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