Hemlock Wooly Adelgid now in the Halifax area 11Aug2023

Posted on August 11, 2023 by admin

UPDATE Aug 16, 2023:
Forest ecologist, Donna Crossland, explains the significance of the discovery of Hemlock Wooly Adelgid – or HWA – in Bedford, NS (Audio)
CBC Maritime Noon
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Subject: HWA Working Group – HWA Detection in Nova Scotia
Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2023
From: Neville, Ron (CFIA/ACIA)
Hi there,

We wanted to pass along the following HWA update from Sherry Lynn Kelly, the CFIA Director of Operations for Nova Scotia.
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Good Afternoon,

In early August, the CFIA received a report of a suspected Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) infestation on a home owner’s property in Bedford, Nova Scotia. The resulting laboratory analysis of samples taken by CFIA during follow-up has confirmed the presences HWA. The is the first confirmed detection of HWA in the Halifax Regional Municipality. The affected property has been placed under regulatory control and additional surveys in the surrounding area will take place in the coming weeks to better characterize the population. Continue reading →

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Shaw Wilderness Park – Camp Fire Sighted! 31July2023

Posted on August 6, 2023 by admin

Signage at entrance to Shaw Wilderness Park

A camp fire was sighted in the Shaw Wilderness Park by residents of Williams Lake the evening of July 31.

Fire Fighters could not reach the camp site and could not verify if the fire had been extinguished properly.

Residents shouted across the still lake to the campers to put out the Fire.

The fire eventually burned out during the night and the campers’ green canoe was gone from the camp site area in the morning.

Protect fire-prone forests, natural wild lands’ habitats, unique Backlands, our homes, properties and lives. Respect the “No Fires” Bylaw for all parks. Continue reading →

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Art Meets Nature and Activism at Sandy Lake – art show opens Thursday July 13th, 2023 !

Posted on July 12, 2023 by admin

Sandy Lake at Peverill’s Brook, by Jeremy Vaughan. Click on image for larger version.

A wonderful collective of artists has been creating works based on their experiences at Sandy Lake Regional Park.

Their gorgeous paintings and drawings will form part of a 2-week long art show at Second Gallery (Upstairs at 6301 Quinpool Road, Halifax), called “Sanctuary – Save Sandy Lake.”

The show opening is on Thursday, July 13, from 6 pm to 8 pm and ALL are invited (so is everyone you know). It  runs for 2 weeks.

Read more about the artists’ inspiration and how it relates to the campaign to save critical lands – including important wildlife corridors connecting the mainland and lands of the Chebucto Peninsula – and protect Sandy Lake in the press release about the show.

Posted in Community, Conservation | Comments Off on Art Meets Nature and Activism at Sandy Lake – art show opens Thursday July 13th, 2023 !

Peak flowering (now) is a good time to spot invasive multiflora rose and help stop its spread into the Backlands 6Jul2023

Posted on July 6, 2023 by admin

By David Patriquin

Two stages in which R. multiflora is quite readily seen and identified in Halifax area – left when it is in flower, early July; right in winter when clusters red berries stand out (if not already consumed by birds)
Click on images for larger versions

It’s peak flowering time for Rosa multiflora, an invasive species that can be challenging to remove once it gets well established. The plants are readily spotted when they are flowering, so its a good time to be on the lookout for them, especially when they are just getting established and are most readily controlled.

To my knowledge, and from the records on an iNaturalist Project for multiflora rose (likely under-reported), it hasn’t yet gained a significant foothold in the undeveloped lands of the Backlands proper.  However, it has been noted in a few spots** and it is socked into many areas along trails and roadsides in nearby areas, e.g. along much of Purcell’s Cove Road and in the area of Connaught Battery. Continue reading →

Posted in Conservation, Invasive species | Comments Off on Peak flowering (now) is a good time to spot invasive multiflora rose and help stop its spread into the Backlands 6Jul2023

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

Continue reading →

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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

Continue reading →

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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 →

Posted in Conservation, Exobasidium | Comments Off on Fruit production by Black Huckleberry on the McIntosh Run barrens reduced by mystery pest 3Jul2023

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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