The Backlands
on the
First Warm Day of 2014
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April 7th was sunny and the temperature went up to a balmy 12 degrees. There was still some snow on the ground and ice on the lakes. Robins were singing and geese could be heard in the skies but the warblers and others were yet to come. What better way to celebrate than a quick jaunt into the Backlands? 
Left: Jack Pine/Broom Crowberry Barrens
Above: Broom Crowberry and Reindeer lichens |
 | At left: Broom crowberry close-up. The terminal male flowers are getting ready to pop. After skunk cabbage (found only in SW Nova Scotia), Broom Crowberry is our earliest flowering native species . |
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"The Gully", where the watercourse which follows the contact zone between
rocks of the South Mountain Batholith and the Halifax Formation drops downwards as it approaches Williams Lake. This is a serene place any time of year. Evergreen Polypody ferns cover the rock above. View and hear the water flow in this Video.
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Wetlands above
The Gully
Maple Swamp & environs will be great for birding in a few weeks.
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The Big Fen holds a lot of water back, evening out the seasonal flow into Williams Lake. |
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