I understand that UCCB is using the old convent buildings in Mabou as a satellite campus. The other night a friend who grew up in that area mentioned to me those buildings used to be a great place to see Chimney Swifts. Does anyone know if this location is still an active roosting and/or nesting site for these at risk insectivores? If so, I hope the institution is aware of and protects the parts of the structure being used by the Chimney Swifts for the future. Comments?
Nancy D
Sent from my iPad
CBC had a disheartening story yesterday about the presence of the
Emerald Ash Borer in Bedford. It seems that it's now just a matter of
time before ash trees in the province are history.
The forest behind our home opened up tremendously with the deaths of all
the Beech trees; Ash trees are one of the more common remaining
deciduous species.
You can read the story here
<https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/emerald-ash-borer-halifax-bedfor…>.
--- Peter Payzant
Waverley
APRIL 28/21 - Ficaria verna, commonly known as lesser celandine or pilewort — alias Ranunculus ficaria — is abundantly in bloom along the creek that runs just west of our apartment building in east-end Wolfville. The flower looks like a buttercup with too many petals.
Also lots of coltsfoot plants still in bloom in open areas around our apartment building.
Also Manitoba maple, alias box elder, has been blooming for a few days, and Norway maple now also in bloom as of yesterday.
APRIL 29/21 - At Palmeter’s or Evergreen Home west ol Kentville, Draba verna, alias vernal or spring draba, is in bloom at the parking lot.
Cheers from Jim in Wolfville.
On April 28 yellow-rumped warblers showed up in numbers in this neck of the woods. Lots started to call on territory. Up until now they had been absent when I was out birding. I even had one at the suet yesterday.
James R. Hirtle
LaHave
Dear All,
   I noticed a vigorous colony of Funaria hygromatrica on a small area
of bare earth today. New for the yard. It needs bare soil to get
established; often after a fire. Mosses usually come and go before I
have time to mike them but this one I remembered.
   Bumble Bees are active whenever calm air and warmth coincide.
Noticed a small spider spinning a sky ladder in an updraft recently.
Honey Bees now infrequent even in calm warm conditions; hive presumably
moved for crop pollination. And there is a smattering of wild bees and
other insects.
Dave
Hi all:
I completed the second of three owl monitoring routes that I do last night. I have the impression that there are fewer owls this year. I initially did my Lapland/Laconia route on April 11. The winds were supposed to drop out but they did not. There was a steady blow of between 40-45 km. Other conditions were optimal in that you could hear for miles and it was clear with good temperatures. I only heard two very distant barred owls on that night. I did a re-run of the route on April 18. The moon was bright enough to be almost daylight and one could walk around without a flashlight to see. The first five stops there were no owls at all, but I could see by the brightness of the night that habitat had been totally removed for miles beyond the road barrier left. The winds were strong during the first stop, but they died out until the last two stops where they picked up forcibly. I ended up with six barred owls of which three were seen.
Last night I did my Rhodes Corner to Whynott's Settlement to Sweetland route. The winds again were supposed to drop off, but intermittently throughout the route they would gust. Most of the stops were low winds, but they seemed rather high on four of the stops. Anyhow on stop number 1, I heard a great horned owl call as soon as I got out of the vehicle. At the end I could hear begging calls of young great horned owls. On one other stop I had a barred owl and a great horned owl calling. On the last stop there were two barred owls vocal and a very vocal northern saw-whet. These numbers are down for this route and I should have heard a lot more owls. There were three stops in a row where I heard American woodcocks making a chittering call. Not the normal pent call or winnowing.
James R. Hirtle
LaHave
I checked the vernal pond tonight, and it looks like Yellow-spotted
Salamander action is over. But there are more egg masses than I've seen
before.
Doug Linzey
Mon Apr 26, 2021 4:40 pm
I have just come home from town and as I neared the top of Highland Ave I
noticed several crows checking out a larger bird that was just 'floating in
the wind' type of flight low to the ground, across backyards facing west.
Imagine my surprise when I realised it was a Black Vulture. I couldn't stop
for more looks but the whitish wing patches were quite noticeable.
Judy Tufts
>>>>>>>>
Judy Tufts
Wolfville
<<<<<<<<
Talking about ponds, we have a small one with goldfish, etc.
This Spring there were more fish than we ever had as they multiplied well last Fall
and only one mature one did not survive the winter.
A few days ago I looked out the window, just before sitting down for breakfast, and
there goes a big otter crossing the lawn, he came from the direction of the pond!
For a few days I didn’t see any fish but slowly a few are showing, so far one mature and 3 little ones,
also a half mature dead, may be too much stress?
Henk Kwindt, Cow Bay, NS.
Dear All,
   I am trying to remember the name of a small fungus which bends away
from a light source. I looks like a tiny globe at the top of a
transparent thin 'stem' about 7 to 12 cm long. Perhaps someone on
Naturens will remember the name of this fungus.
   When the transparent 'stem' is exposed to a thin horizontal band of
light it slowly bends away at the illuminated point because light is
refracted in the stem and is most intense at the far side.
    This fungus, which I never expected to see, was quite common on an
unusual substrate in the yard for 5-10 years. There were several
Mountain Ash (Sorbus americana) on the other side of the street and some
animal, perhaps Raccoon, left droppings of semi digested Mountain Ash
fruit on the woodpile and these deposits grew stands of this fungus.
Recently, with only one Mountain Ash surviving I have seen animal
droppings infrequently but none of this fungus.
Dave, Kentville