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Hi Jim & All, Aug 15, 2013
With regard to few insects this year I wish to recap several recent =
comments. As Fred, Steve & perhaps others have noted, this year has been =
different in many respects. In our neck of the woods, the Sweet Cherry =
seedling (now about 35' tall) usually is loaded with cherries but this =
year was almost entirely bare in spite of snow-ball bloom. Our seven =
Black Currant bushes had about 1/10 the normal crop. Most berries did =
not ripen before becoming shriveled husks. Those that did ripen had many =
maggots (some busy flies apparently). Chokecherries are a washout; <1/5 =
normal set. Blackberries are small, sour and seedy. And so it goes. It =
has been a tough year to live outdoors and most insects have to make a =
living outdoors.
So in addition to a long-term downward trend, this year has the =
added wrinkle of an exceptional downward drop. Deer Flies are way too =
abundant for my comfort but I encountered few Black Flies this year.=20
Most and perhaps all insects will rebound at least to the downward trend =
line. I saw two small reddish Dragonflies in the NA woods today so they =
must have been geting something; Deer Flies I hope.
Biological inventory of most invertebrates in NS is about where =
birds were 200 (500 ?) years ago. As Dave M observed recently, we don't =
even have a species list of Spider Wasps for NS and many of these =
are.large, conspicuous and common. Most tiny, cryptic and rare creatures =
will have to wait even longer before they are recognized.
So there is a great opportunity now, given the expanding resources =
on the internet, for anyone who is interested in the natural world to =
contribute to this task, provided they have spare time, are not allergic =
to effort and are prepared to keep accurate records.
DIGRESSION
To make a few comments of a personal nature, I noticed in the 50's =
that humans and the rest of the natural world were on a collision course =
here and feared the consequences. At the first opportunity, after some =
preparation, I started collecting beetles (Apr 3, 1960). Over the next =
35 years collecting opportunity was variously interrupted by things like =
going to graduate school and earning a living. With meager printed =
resources I frequently could key only to Genus, sometimes only to =
Family, and usually had no way to verify that I was on the right track.=20
This all changed for the better when Christopher Majka, Inspired I =
expect by Andrew's enthusiasm, undertook an examination of all available =
Atlantic Provinces beetle material, including private collections such =
as mine. The numbers and diversity of beetles that he processed for this =
project is staggering, led to a quantum advance in our knowledge of =
beetles of the region and a large number of publications. Dave =
McCorquodale co-authored several of these as did many specialists from =
around the world. And so far as I know there are still more to be =
written.
In spite of this huge acomplishment, the slate in much of the =
Atlantic Provinces is still relatively clean. As a very rough guess, =
with respect to beetles, we are about where Sweden was in the late =
1800s.
My starter book was Coleoptera or Beetles east of the Great Plains, =
J.G.Edwards, 1949; a key to Famlies with comments about common Genera. =
Available free to anyone who can arrange pickup.
I very seldom collect vascular plants these days, the penultimate =
being 9 years ago but I recently noticed a different looking Carex in =
the North Alton woodlot so keyed it out and then collected it. The Carex =
key, after 6 decades of forgetting, is very unfamiliar territiory and I =
may have taken a wrong turn but it appears to be C. swanii, a 4th =
collection in NS. Ruth Newell has it now and if I turn out to be =
incorrect then I will learn what it is.
END OF DIGRESSION
Authoritative identification of difficult groups will always be in =
the hands of specialists but the non-specialist can contribute by =
sweeping with a wide net near home base.
Yours truly, Dave Webster
=20
=20
=20
----- Original Message -----=20
From: James W. Wolford=20
To: NatureNS=20
Sent: Monday, August 12, 2013 5:06 PM
Subject: [NatureNS] comment re Empty Forests
Here is a relevant note I wrote myself on Aug. 7:
AUG. 7, 2013 - I walked along the Wolfville Rail Trail this afternoon, =
as I often do, and noted just a few butterflies (mostly whites) flitting =
among the huge array of plants in flower, especially Queen Anne's lace, =
common tansy, knapweed, etc., from Wolfville Harbour but especially =
from Elm Street out to the Acadia Arena. BUT what really struck me was =
how very few other insects I am noticing on the flowers as I walk. =
Thinking back a couple of decades (or more?), I used to see a wide =
variety of insects and spiders on the flowers, and now I am seeing few =
to none, plus the few butterflies. Has anyone noticed the same thing? =
And does anyone know of a database somewhere out there in our world of =
information that has decades of data like we have for breeding birds?
Begin forwarded message:
From: Blake Maybank <bmaybank@gmail.com>
Date: August 12, 2013 2:52:49 PM ADT
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Subject: [NatureNS] Empty Forests
Reply-To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
11 August 2013
I was part of a group that hiked a trail near Moses Mountain in the =
beautiful Avon Valley in Western Hants County yesterday. Despite =
walking more than 12 km through beautiful deciduous and mixed wood =
forests, we encountered very few birds. While I suspect that most of the =
migrant breeding birds had departed, why were we unable to detect a =
single chickadee, nuthatch, or Blue Jay? We heard a couple of vireos and =
a pewee, and one flicker. The one highlight was a soaring Turkey =
Vulture, a new species for my Hants County list.
Plenty of Goldenrod, knapweed, and other often flowers lined the =
trail along most of our hike, but we did not encounter a single =
butterfly. And there were very few bees in evidence as well, which was =
also discouraging.
On such a beautiful day it is hard to account for the paucity of =
birds and butterflies and other wildlife.
--=20
Blake Maybank
144 Bayview Drive,
White's Lake, Nova Scotia
B3T 1Z1 CANADA=20
(902) 852-2077
My Blog: CSI: Life
Organiser, Maritimes Nature Travel Club
Author, "Birding Sites of Nova Scotia
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