MVFN Winter Wildland Walk — February 5, 2012

 Next month, we will explore nature in winter at the northern-most corner of Drummond/North Elmsley Township, Lanark County. On this journey we will pass through forests and provincially significant wetlands, admire Osprey and Great Blue Heron nests, listen for salamanders and other creatures, cross the shoreline of the Champlain Sea, and see the Ted Tree. According to tradition we will make a fire on which you can cook lunch and around which we will have a wild time.

 Date: Sunday February 5, 2012

 Time & Location: 10:00 am at the end of Lanark Twp. Con. 12A (300m south off Hwy. 7, across the highway from Ferguson’s Falls Rd. & St. John’s Anglican Church)

 Bring: dress well, in layers, for the weather; lunch to cook over fire (hint for cooking: something sealed in aluminum foil); binoculars, notebook, camera, extra socks & mitts, sunglasses; snowshoes if you have them

 Carpooling: for those from the east – meet at Union Hall (corner of Wolfgrove Rd. & Tatlock Rd.) for departure at 9:45 am

 Effort: We will walk about 3 km in total, the first and last kilometer will be on a firm, established trail and the remainder on a trail we make, but with gentle grades.

 Please register beforehand for this event by calling Cathy Keddy (613) 257-3089. This walk will be cancelled if weather is inhospitable. If in doubt, call Cathy before 9:30 am the day of the walk.

 Note: Last year you were challenged by MAD Cap Horse—remember? This year your knowledge of Ospreys will be probed, so bone up and come prepared!

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Filed under: Current Programme, Home, Outings, Upcoming Events by Pauline Donaldson January 24th, 2012
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Michael Robert McPhail   1954-2012

It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Michael ‘Mike’ Robert McPhail. Mike passed away peacefully at home on the morning of January 11, 2012 after a courageous battle with cancer.

As many of you know, Mike was an ardent supporter of the Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists and a deeply committed lover of the natural world. At the time of his passing Mike was a member of MVFN’s Board of Directors and had previously served as MVFN’s President. Mike was a true champion for nature. He will be missed by all of us who worked with him, travelled with him and enjoyed his enthusiasm for nature.

A funeral service was held for Mike on Saturday, January 14th at St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Almonte. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mike’s wife Peggy, daughters Amber and Christine, sister Susan, and all his family and friends.

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Filed under: Home, News, Organisation, Other News by Pauline Donaldson January 18th, 2012
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Spotted Salamander (upper photo courtesy Cathy Keddy) and terrestrial stage of the Red Eft (lower photo courtesy Karen Thomson)

Salamanders: Unseen, Unheard, but NOT Unimportant

by Cathy Keddy, MVFN Program Chair

The Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists’ (MVFN) public lecture series, Trends in Fauna and Flora, continues January 19 with the fourth presentation, “Salamanders: Unseen, Unheard, but NOT Unimportant.” You do not need to be an expert to enjoy the presentations—just possess a curiosity or appreciation for wild nature. Cottagers, hunters, fishermen, canoeists, hikers, campers, artists and seasoned field naturalists alike will find something to interest them as we explore what lives in Lanark County and how best to protect it for future generations. Refreshments are offered at each lecture.

 This lecture will be presented by Michael Oldham, herpetologist and botanist at the Natural Heritage Information Centre (NHIC, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources) in Peterborough. He was a principal force behind Ontario’s first atlas of reptiles and amphibians, initiated in 1984. Distribution maps were prepared for every species in the province based on 16 years of data collected from the field and the literature. (This atlas is currently being updated by a collaborative effort lead by Ontario Nature.) At the MVFN meeting Michael will share his unseen, but very interesting soft spot for salamanders.

Salamanders are elusive amphibians—they are rarely encountered after spring breeding—yet they outnumber all other vertebrates that inhabit our forested areas. A study in the forest of northeastern North America found that salamanders outnumbered birds and mammals combined, and they had a biomass (living weight) 2.6 times greater than the birds and roughly equal to that of the resident small mammals. Salamander density reached almost 3,000 per hectare (over 1000/acre). All these salamanders eat invertebrates such as insects, spiders and earthworms and, if found, they may provide food for large and small mammals, snakes, and birds.

There are about 380 species of salamanders in the world. Among provinces, Ontario has the greatest number of salamanders (11 species) probably because it is closest to the area from which salamanders first emerged (the southern Appalachians) after glaciation. They range from almost half a meter to 3.5 cm long and show remarkable variation in life histories and habits. Some spend their entire lives in the water, others live on the land but breed in ponds, and some have an entirely terrestrial existence. There is even one species that has two completely different forms—an aquatic form and a terrestrial form. These forms are so different that you might think they were different species! Salamanders may breathe via gills, lungs, or can be lungless and breathe only through their skin. Moisture is thus a very important factor regulating their distribution.

So are salamanders just long thin frogs with tails? While both are amphibians and share a common ancestor dating back 360 million years (to the Devonian), salamanders have some peculiar habits. For example, the male in most salamander species deposits cone-shaped globs of jelly topped with sperm. The female then crawls over these spermatophores, takes up the sperm through her vent, and stores it (from a few hours to a year) until she lays eggs. And there are more peculiarities as Michael will tell us.

Have you ever seen a salamander? Where would you begin to look? First, you need to think like an ectotherm—an animal whose body temperature is determined by the temperature of their external environment (By contrast, we are endotherms because we regulate our temperature internally). Secondly, you need to know about their habitat. They burrow into loose soil, hide beneath leaf litter, logs and rocks and emerge only on rainy nights. The spring, during migration to ponds to reproduce, is generally the best time to observe salamanders.

Grab this chance to see the salamanders of Lanark County, cultivate your salamander soft spot, and learn how to become a salamander steward by attending Michael Oldham’s MVFN presentation, “Salamanders: Unseen, Unheard, but NOT Unimportant,” at 7:30p.m on Thurs. Jan. 19, 2012, Almonte United Church, 106 Elgin St., Almonte. All are welcome ($5 fee for non-members). For further information please contact MVFN’s Program Chair Cathy Keddy at 613-257-3089.

Filed under: Home, Lectures, Upcoming Events by Pauline Donaldson January 9th, 2012
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MVFN sponsors Annual Carleton Place Christmas Bird Count (CBC) on Tuesday, December 27th, 2011

We need both field observers and feeder counters for the annual Carleton Place Christmas Bird Count (includes the area of Almonte)! The Lanark Highlands CBC takes place a few days later on Dec 30th (see upcoming events).

This is an opportunity to contribute to the growing database of information on bird species and populations throughout North America which is used by organizations like Bird Studies Canada and Audubon to protect their environment. Become a citizen scientist for a day and help to record our bird population in the Carleton Place area. If you have counted before, please consider coming out again this year. If you are a novice, come out anyway as the extra pairs of eyes are invaluable. In both cases, we will place you with a team leader, one who knows the local birds.

Dress warmly, bring a hot thermos, and a lunch (unless joining a group lunch in a local pub). Don’t forget your binoculars. There is a cost of $5 per person, unless you are a member of Bird Studies Canada, to help defray the cost of compiling results.

If you can’t come out and observe in the field for the day, you can count all of the birds that come to your feeders from the warmth of your home.

The Carleton Place CBC count area is a 24 km diameter circle centered on the town of Carleton Place and it includes Almonte. The Count is on Tuesday, Dec. 27, and the organizer is Iain Wilkes at 613-257-1126 or Iain.wilkes@sympatico.ca.

For Carleton Place CBC feeder counting (includes Almonte), contact Georgina Doe at 613-257-2103 or loonlady@sympatico.ca.

At the end of the day, the count teams return to the Community Room upstairs at Steve’s Independent in Carleton Place for the count-in and sharing the results, as well as refreshments, from 4 to 6 pm.

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Filed under: Birding, Home, Outings, Uncategorized by Pauline Donaldson November 9th, 2011
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Flying Squirrels—Nocturnal Aviators

Upcoming MVFN Lecture: Thursday, November 17, 2011

 The Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists’ (MVFN) public lecture series, Trends in Fauna and Flora, continues November 17 with the third presentation, “Flying Squirrels—Nocturnal Aviators.” You do not need to be an expert to enjoy the presentations—just possess a curiosity or appreciation for wild nature. Cottagers, hunters, fishermen, canoeists, hikers, campers, artists and seasoned field naturalists alike will find something to interest them as we explore what lives in Lanark County and how best to protect it for future generations. Refreshments are offered at each lecture.

 This month’s lecture will be presented by Dr. Jeff Bowman from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and also an adjunct professor at Trent University. He has studied flying squirrel ecology in Ontario for years, looking at genetics, habitats, boundary dynamics, population density, and landscape patchworks. Dr. Bowman’s presentation will give us an opportunity to become familiar with these rarely seen relatives of the familiar chipmunk, red squirrel, and grey squirrel.

 There are over 40 species of flying squirrels in the world, including the Asian giant flying squirrels, woolly flying squirrels (Pakistan), Winston Churchill’s flying squirrel (Sumatra), dwarf and hairy-footed flying squirrels (southeast Asia), complex-toothed flying squirrel (China), and pygmy flying squirrels (Malaysia). Just two species are found in North America—the northern and southern flying squirrel. Both species are thought to have migrated to our continent across the Bering land bridge, but at different times. The evidence lies in the nature of the baculum (a small bone that supports the penis and facilitates mating). The baculum of the northern flying squirrel is structurally much closer to that of an Asian genus of flying squirrels than to that of the southern flying squirrel.

 Northern flying squirrels typically are found in coniferous or mixed forests, while the southern flying squirrel occurs in deciduous and mixed forests. Both species rely on cavities in large trees and are sensitive to forest fragmentation. Thus they are used as indicator species of forest habitat quality in many regions of North America.

 Lanark County is home to both kinds of flying squirrels, which are active only at night. Have you ever seen a flying squirrel? In the winter months, I often see them at my bird feeder. A violently-rocking feeder on a still winter night is the tip-off. Closer inspection reveals a pair of flying squirrels which appear to be in constant motion, darting from tree to feeder and back again, their large eyes glowing in the house lights.

 So how can you tell these two squirrels apart? Southern individuals have a smaller body size than a chipmunk, while the northern ones are larger than this striped relative. Southern flying squirrels (20 to 25 cm long) have grey brown fur on top with darker flanks and are a cream color underneath. Northern flying squirrels (25 to 37 cm long) have light brown or cinnamon fur above with greyish flanks and are whitish underneath. Still not sure? Come to the lecture and see them up close.

Flying squirrels are fascinating. Depending on the wind and takeoff height, they can glide for 50 metres or more. A skin membrane, called the patagium, is stretched between their relatively long front and rear legs, allowing them to sail from tree to tree. While airborne, they can change direction with the use of their long, flat tail. These arboreal squirrels have sharp, curved claws and hind feet that can rotate 180 degrees while descending a tree. Their large eyes and long whiskers are typical of nocturnal mammals. Flying squirrels often share nests. While a nest typically houses 2-5 individuals, over 50 have been found co-habiting! Nest-sharing is important for conserving energy and maintaining body temperature in the winter, as flying squirrels do not hibernate.

Many species have responded to modern climate change through shifts in their geographic range. A recent study showed that southern flying squirrels in Ontario rapidly expanded their northern range limit in response to warmer winters. This resulted in more overlap with the range of the northern flying squirrel. Not only that, but where they co-occurred, the species interbred and created fertile offspring! This was the first report of hybridization between North American flying squirrel species.

 Go squirrelly and learn more about the habits, habitats, and conservation of these dynamic, flightly small mammals. Ponder their response to climate change at Dr. Bowman’s presentation “Flying Squirrels—Nocturnal Aviators” at 7:30p.m. on Thurs. Nov. 17, 2011, Almonte United Church, 106 Elgin St., Almonte. All are welcome ($5 fee for non-members). For further information please contact MVFN’s Program Chair, Cathy Keddy at 631-257-3089.

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Filed under: Home, Lectures, Upcoming Events by Pauline Donaldson
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