Sunday, June 12, 2016: Cape Breton NP, Nova Scotia, Canada
Friday, June 17th: We have been without internet coverage for the past few days. The National Parks in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island (PEI from now on) haven't converted to WiFi yet. "Maybe next year" we were told at the park headquarters. Therefore, we will publish a post from 6-12 and 6-13 now and the one from 6-14 has already been posted. That way, for those of you who are interested you can look them over if and when you'd like and we will work on the photos from 6-15 and 6-16 and 6-17 and publish them when they're ready as we will have coverage tonight and tomorrow night.
Sunday, June 12th:
Hiking in Canada has so far not been all that pleasant.
We hike to see wildlife. Hiking to hike is not our thing. Most all of the hikes in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have had so many rocks, so many tree roots, and so much mud that they require one to look down and carefully watch each and every step.
We had no internet coverage Sunday evening so it's now Tuesday evening and we finally do have coverage so will work on Sunday and Monday's posts and publish them when time allows.
Sunday's hikes in the rain were very interesting: carnivorous plants; a frog completely submerged for a long, long time in 38 degree water; not one but two snakes; a bull moose with a full rack; a beaver swimming across a lake with tree branches in its mouth. As the day wore on the weather continued to deteriorate with more rain and temperatures in the 40s.
The "trails"
Blue Bead Lily
The blossoms of this lily grow a small round, dark-blue fruit that is mildly toxic and tastes terrible.
BirdMobile among the trees at Glasgow Lake
Green Frog
Totally submerged for the entire time we watched him. Water temp was just under 40 degrees.
Moose "nuggets"
We had been seeing moose poop and tracks for days
Finally!
We got to watch a bull with a full rack in velvet feeding in the edge of a nearby lake.
Neils Cove Lighthouse
Black-backs and Herring Gulls on Neils Cove
Great Black-backed Gull
In winter, many of these large gulls eat fish driven to the surface by humpback whales.
They can also swallow an Atlantic Puffin or a small duck whole!
Savannah Sparrow
This hardy sparrow was on the point near Neils Cove Lighthouse where the 35 mph winds were howling.
BirdMobile at Neils Harbor
Eastern or Common Garter Snake
In this high latitude we weren't expecting to see many reptiles.
These snakes are amazingly cold tolerant surviving farther north than any other North American reptile.
They are active daytime predators, seeking out earthworms, fish, amphibians and even small mammals. In summer, large females may deliver 50 or more young.
Rufous adult Ruffed Grouse
The state bird of Pennsylvania is well-adapted for winter with lateral extensions of the scales on their toes that act like snowshoes.
She stayed very close to her nest, relying on camouflage as her defense. Once we realized that she had a nest nearby, we left the area immediately.
Signs for Seniors
Confucius did NOT say:
Man who runs in front of car gets tired, but man who runs behind car gets exhausted.
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