hiking – Geek of Nature

A visit to the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park is one of my favourite local day outings. Now, I’m not normally a big fan of zoos, but this one is different. It’s not your typical tourist trap but is instead run by the province and largely features animals native to the area. There are no animal shows and the habitats are large and contain varied enrichment items to enhance the residents’ lives. Many of the animals were born in captivity, or were injured or orphaned in the wild and unable to be rehabilitated.

Adjoining the main park, the Wetland Centre is a partnership between Ducks Unlimited Canada and the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources. There is a short accessible trail around small ponds, with many native bushes and trees providing excellent bird habitat. If you feel like a longer walk, the St. Andrew’s Marsh Trail is a more rugged journey into 200 acres of wild marsh.

I was experimenting with an SLR camera this week and here are some of my better shots of the day.

The early morning light and fog highlighted the spiderwebs.

forest webs — In fact the forest was VERY full of spiderwebs. I began to fear I might be entering Mirkwood and not the marsh after all.

The viewing gazebo looking over the marsh. Not many birds to be seen. I’m sure they were hiding (from the spiders?) in the reeds.

It was already hot and the lynx were sleeping.

The fox was awake and out! His habitat had just been renewed so he went off to explore shortly after this shot.

pheasant — Not sure if she was watching me more than I was watching her.

The elusive “wild” peacock in its natural habitat by the parking lot.

Turn off Highway 2 at the Home Hardware, down Old Enfield Road, cross the big highway, and eventually you’ll find the little gravel parking lot that marks the start of the Nine Mile River Trails. This forested park is the closest wilderness style park to Enfield, Nova Scotia. Since moving to the province earlier this year, I’ve visited the trails several times. I find some things new and some things the same each time, as the park changes with the seasons.

boardwalks — Boardwalks protect the boggier parts of the forest from you and you from the bog. Watch for loose planks!

The intriguing Monotropa uniflora, “Indian pipe”, has no chlorophyll. It gets energy via a parasitic relationship with mycorrizal fungi, such as those pictured below, which are in turn themselves symbiotic with trees.

Strangely to this westcoaster, summer is mushroom fruiting season in Atlantic Canada. Nine Mile River Trails host an abundance of mushrooms as there are several forest types, from boggy to hardwood dominated to hemlock and pine.

pink bolete — A beautiful creamy-apricot-pink Bolete.

Craterellus ignicolor – edible and choice, and a relative of the more famous chanterelle. Look for them growing on dead wood, often in association with hemlock. Watch out for not-so-nice lookalikes!

earthtonuges — Strange little earthtongues, not a typical “mushroom” but a fungus nonetheless.

Russula sp. — Pretty red Russulas marking their own tiny forest trail.

Innocent white, but deadly poisonous. This is the Eastern North American destroying angel, Amanita bisporigera.

Late afternoon sunlight made these little mushrooms glow. They really were this firey orange colour.

Bolete #2 — Another nice bolete – perhaps Boletus edulis? I wish I knew my Bolete ID better.

A few wild blueberries were fruiting. We had very, very late frosts in June that decimated the flowers, resulting in widespread crop failures for the blueberry farmers.

Until next time, happy trails!

Tag: hiking

Shubenacadie Wildlife Park: not just a zoo

Seasons of Nine Mile River Trails Part 1: Summer