Recent Outing Reports

 

      

                    Ferns in the Atrium

 

To submit a report for a recent outing, follow these steps.

 

1. Click on "Edit page."

2. In the space above any previous report, write a title for your report, date it, and give the name of the leader.

     Example:

        Ferns in the Atrium, July 21, 2007

        Leader: Chuck Bosley

3. Write the body of the report and include your name, unless you wish to remain anonymous. Leave a space between your report and a previous report.

4. Click on "Save."

 

If you want to include photos with your outing report, go to the Photo Gallery and follow the directions for uploading them to Flickr, or email them to jlehman@lssu.edu as an attachment, giving the title of the article you want them linked to.

 

 

 

April 15-22, 2008, Birding Vancouver Island

Click on 2008AprVancouverIslandwithTonyandJackreport.pdf to download the report and photos from a birding outing with Tony Walker.

 

April 26, 2008, Annual Whitefish Point Spring Migration

 Leader: Tony Walker

The day for the Sault Naturalist outing was marred by really inclement weather conditions, cold South Westerly winds and occasional drizzle were the order of the day. The Tahquamenon River mouth was filled with a variety of water fowl, and 4 Bald Eagle 3 immature, Caspian Tern, Bonaparte's Gull, and 4 very cold Killdeer added spice to the group of birders there.

  At the point, from the viewing platform an immature Golden Eagle soared high and then came very close, Red Tailed Hawk, Sharp Shinned Hawk and a Pair of Merlin's flashing in and out of groups of small birds, looking for food on the wing.  At the back of the book shop Chipping Sparrow, American Tree Sparrow, Cowbirds, Purple Finch, Dark Eyed Junco, and Black Capped Chickadee were to be seen. We were informed of Spruce grouse close to the pond, a lady birder from the Audubon Society pointed out the area the hen Grouse had been seen in very carefully we eventually located the bird its camouflage blended with its surroundings. The Birders were all wrapped up against the

cold. Supper at the Wilcox Fish place warmed us up.

 

Birds seen:  American Crow.  Common Raven.  Herring and Ring Billed Gull.  Bonaparte's Gull.  Caspian Tern.  Common Loon.  Common Merganser.  Mallard.  Lesser Scaup.  Ring neck Duck.  Bufflehead.  Golden eye.  Blue winged Teal.  Wood duck.  Double Crested Cormorant. Bald Eagle.  Golden Eagle.  Red Tailed Hawk.  Sharp Shinned Hawk.  Merlin. Killdeer.  Starling.  Spruce Grouse.  Rock Pigeon.  Turkey Vulture. Sandhill Cranes.  Northern Flicker.  American Tree Sparrow.  Chipping Sparrow.  Dark Eyed Junco.  Cowbird.  Purple Finch.   

 

Submitted by Tony Walker.

 

Snowshoeing Fort Creek with Big Eric (Jan. 12, 2008)

 

By Wednesday the recent January rains had washed most of our December snow into Lake Superior, so Eric Haapala's snowshoe outing, promised for the following Saturday, looked unlikely to say the least. However, what now passes for winter winds returned and we awoke on Saturday morning to see our recently denuded lawns covered by many centimetres (but only half as many inches) of the beautiful, fluffy, white, celestial mineral.

 

I found a pair of our old spruce and rawhide bear-paws among the semi-organized debris of our storage shed and headed off to Fort Creek, a short drive away while feeling a little guilty for not “mushing” the distance instead.

 

Within a few minutes of my arrival the remaining participants showed up. The troop included our leader “Big Eric” Haapala, Dave Euler, Ron Prickett, Carol Gartshore, and “Little Eric” Haapala with his charming partner Corinne Wilkerson. I am guessing that Little Eric now has about inch or so on Big Eric – such is the fate of fathers these days. The Town of Bruce mines is fortunate to have (Little) Eric Haapala, MD as its newest GP.

 

The first step (literally) involves getting into (or onto) the snowshoes without falling over. Some time ago, on the advise of a friend, we replaced the weak, leather harness with a one-piece black rubber device that looks suspiciously like a piece of discarded inner tube from a 16 wheeler. I managed to get my right boot into the hole cut into the rubber contraption and eventually, accompanied by much grunting, groaning and a few low-level obscenities, managed to stretch the rubber strap up over the heel of my right boot. So far so good- now for the left boot. Luckily, Big Eric saw that I was loosing my struggle with the overgrown rubber-band and came to my rescue just as I was about to fall on my ear. Having been assisted to a more vertical position, I swallowed my little remaining pride and followed the other happy hoppers across the dam at the southern end of the Fort Creek Reservoir and up the trail beyond.

 

Big Eric had scouted out the Fort Creek trails a few days previously and recommended that we avoid the steepest sections where the hard, icy snow under the recent snowfall could prove treacherous so we headed northward on the hill along the west side of Fort Creek.

 

The Fort Creek woods was a magical place that Saturday. Christmas card spruce held the snow as delicately balanced, muffin-shaped piles that produced mini snow-flurries as we brushed by. At times sunbeams found paths through the light cloud cover to light up the evergreens around us reminding me of our recently discarded Christmas tree. This was why Betty and I love the northern outdoors regardless of the season!

 

 

The traverse took about two hours; just as Big Eric had predicted. Afterwards we retired to the family room of the Haapala home where we “shot the breeze” while feasting on Janine Haapala's delicious cinnamon buns washed down with warm apple cider. It was a great way to pass a Saturday morning. I would like a repeat of this outing (following my acquisition of new bindings).

 

Gerry Bennett

January 20, 2008

 

 

Myriads of Mushrooms, September 15, 2007 by Jeanne Mannesto

Leader: John Lehman

On a sunny but cool 50 degree F day with a North wind, eight Naturalists went on the mushroom outing led by John Lehman to Naomikong Trail.  We had a wonderful time searching the pathway, the forest floor,  fallen logs, and dead stumps for the different types of fungi.  There seemed to be myriads of mushrooms that day.  

 

Here are some tips for the amateur mycologist:  1. Observe where mushrooms grow as that gives clues to the type.  2.  Use a knife to dig deep enough down to remove the base of the stalk.  A bulbous base may mean the mushroom is poisonous.  3.   Peek underneath to check for colored gills that may help in identification.  4.  Identify Boletes which have a spongy substance rather than gills.  5.  Compare the shape, the color, the size with photographs in books, such as Mushrooms of Ontario and Eastern Canada  by George Barron and Mushrooms of North America by Roger Phillips.  6.  Learn the Latin name which often suggests what the mushroom is like, i.e. a salmon colored mushroom is (Entoloma salmoneum).

 

Here are the Non-gilled Fungi that were found.  In the Puffballs group: Gem Studded Puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum), also called the Devil’s Snuff Box because its snuff-colored spores puff out the top when it’s ripe, and Pear Shaped Puffball (Lycoperdon pyriforme).  In the Jelly fungi group, we found Orange jelly (Dacromyces palmatus).  It looks orange and  spreadable like butter, feels gooey, but the taste is questionable.

 

In the Bracket fungi, we found three types on one large stump of a fallen hardwood.  The Artist’s Conk (Ganoderma applanatum) is so cleanly white on the underside that artists can draw on it.  The red banded polypore (Fomitopsis pinicola) has a red belt.  Horse’s Hoof (Tinder Polypore, Fomes fomentarius) does resemble a horse’s hoof. 

 

Boletes are sponge mushrooms.  The Scaber Stalks (Leccinum species) and Suillus species are mostly edible.

 

These are some of the gilled mushrooms that were found.  Pink spored:  Salmon Unicorn Entoloma (Entoloma salmoneum) and Fawn-colored Pluteus (Pluteus cervinus).  Dark spored: Cortinarius alboviolaceus, which has a cobwebby ring or threadlike veil.  Light spored: Delicious Lactarius (Lactarius thyinos) which gives off a milky substance when the gills are slit.  A Russula has a stubby short stem and it is brittle.  Amanita flavoconia, Amanita citrina, and Amanita virosa were identified.  Also found were: various Waxy Caps, Laccaria Laccata, False Chanterelle (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca), Naematoloma species, and Clitocybe species.

 

Being armed with these tips and information about the many mushrooms helps a novice mycologist out in the field.

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