Saturday was a cool, sunny winter day, perfect for a two-hour trek on groomed trails through the magnificent Carp Ridge, one of the most beautful areas in West Carleton. David Spence shared his vast knowledge of the area with 26 of our club members.  We learned about many aspects of the Ridge. For example, we examined trees and shrubs, investigated the numerous tracks (including deer, squirrel, coyote, fox, fisher, grouse, the site of a recent Northern shrike kill of a robin), checked out woodpecker holes and raccoon cavities, found a ravens' nest in an old barn, tasted high bush cranberries and were greeted by a live robin. Along with this we had time to chat and get to know one another better, especially as the day ended and we gathered around a blazing bonfire.  We thank David and Helen Spence for sharing their property and their enthusiasm for the Carp Ridge with us.

Olga sends some pics of the hike, and a note, "The day was pretty good weather wise-I think about 40 people were there. It was a good day."

Despite the cold and windy day, 26 members from both the Macnamara Field Naturalists' Club and the Ottawa Field Naturalists Club met at the Pakenham 5-Span Bridge; then off we went to Old Lonesome (the Spicer Property) on Mount Pakenham.  The primary object of our search were Myxomycetes, commonly called slime moulds. These fungal-like motile organisms are very small so we armed ourselves with our hand lenses and found all kinds of micro fungi - like Wolf's Milk Slime Mold, Black Jelly Roll, Orange Jelly, Dead Man's Fingers, Yellow Fairy Cups, Scrambled Egg Slime and something that looked like Carnival Candy Slime.  It was in its protoplasm stage and could not be definitively identified.  George White explained which "Myxos" that we had found and he handed out a paper which explained the life cycle of a cellular slime mold.  One of the highlights of the trips was the discovery of a partial fruiting body of the puffball Calvatia cyathiformis. This has been called "rare" in some of the scientific literature but it's more likely that its collectors that are rare while the fungus is more common than is perceived.  The specimen is now headed to the National Mycological Herbarium in Ottawa thanks to the keen eye of one of the participants.

Did you know that there are several hundred slime molds in North America and over 600 in the world?  They prefer wet decayed logs, leaves, lawn grass, living plant stems, old discarded mattresses and cotton clothing.  They are common in the Spring and Fall when there is high precipitation with moderate temperatures.  The slime mold moves by expansion and contraction until it fruits.  Cool eh?  Although they are small they are both diverse and intricate and can supply endless fascination to anyone who wants to pursue them.

By the end of the outing, many of the participants were amazed at how much biodiversity our forest holds.  This year the fall mushrooms have been delayed by warm weather and lack of precipitation but the best may be yet to come.

Fungally yours,

Suzanne Monnon (with the aid of George White)

On Saturday morning, 13 boats and 19 paddlers headed out on calm waters to explore the lovely little islands and waterways of the Morris Island Conservation Area, a local gem which many members had not seen before.  Steve Duffield made sure we all got launched and led us through the area.  Dave Forsyth introduced us to the local geology and explained the origin and properties of the beautiful marble rocks that form the basis of most of this area.  Mary Marsh answered our plant questions. She helped us find the uncommon and beautiful, yellow “sneezeweed” which lives along the water’s edge. Another favourite plant was the wild celery that shot up its flower-capped spiral stalks from the shallow river bottom.  We saw arrowheads, water lilies and pickerelweed, all in glorious bloom.  Painted and map turtles watched us from their lazy resting places.  We passed by one beaver lodge but no residents were in evidence.  The birds were not plentiful, on or off the water, but we didn’t expect to see many at this time.

We enjoyed the privacy of our own little island as a stopover for lunch.  Those of us who thought to bring a bathing suit had a wonderful swim; the rest watched enviously. 

It was an excellent field trip on the river and we left with promises to do this more often.

Mary Marsh writes:

"Here are a couple of photos from the trip if they might be useful for the write up. Here too are the names of a few of the plants I pointed out: 

The yellow flowers are Sneezeweed - Helenium autumnale

Woolgrass - Scirpus cyperinus - the tall grass with the beige big heads

Water Smartweed - Polygonum amphibium - that was the pink flower in the water

Potamogeton amphifolius - with the large underwater leaves

Wild celery - Valisinera Americana - the curly small stem in the water with the tiny white end flower

Viburnum rafinesquianum - Downy arrow-wood, the bush on the island with the blue berries"

...and Suzanne Monnon reports:

Here are the things that we saw:

• Banded Marble and Banded Gneiss
• Tourmaline
• Quartz
• Feldspar
• Map Turtles
• Painted Turtle
• Beaver Lodge
• Duck Egg (Empty)
• Water Striders
• Cormorants
• Sneezeweed (Uncommon with yellow flower)
• White Water Lily
• Water Smartweed (Small pink flower)
• Soft Stem Bullrush
• Woolgrass
• Wild Celery (Like floating threads in the water with one small white flower on the end)
• Myriophyllum
• Sensitive Fern
• Potamogeton amplifolius (Large leaf weed in water)
• Centipede

We lunched on a small island which had:

• Basswood Trees
• Balsam Fir
• White Pine
• Alders
• Ninebark Bush (Woody stalks, small serrated leaves)
• Poison Ivy
• Pot Hole Rocks

What a fabulous outing!  Thank you to all of the people who helped make the event a huge success.

(Thanks to Renée Stewart, Mary Marsh, and Olga Janoska for photos)