We have two field trips coming up for October.

Photo by Julia and Arthur of Hiker’s Movement

The first hike, on Saturday Oct. 17 (with Sunday Oct 18 as a rain day), is the 3.7km trail to Skull Rock. It is part of the Admiral Lake Loop just off the Musquodoboit Trailway. This should be a good opportunity to see fall colours, assorted fungi and a great view. Because it is uphill, the difficulty is considered moderate. You can find more information about it here

We will meet at 10:00AM at the parking lot at the end of Bayers Mill Rd. (just off highway 357, which runs north from highway 7 at Musquodobit Harbour.)  Even if you don’t want to go to the top, it is still a scenic hike.

Photo by Tom Field, iNaturalist

The second hike on Saturday Oct 24 (with Sunday Oct 25 as a rain day) is on the Le Havre River north of New Germany. Peter Steiner has recently rediscovered part of the only known population of Threadfoot Podostemum ceratophyllum in Nova Scotia– a riverweed growing in the fast currents of the Le Havre River north of New Germany. It was originally found in the 1980s, but subsequent attempts to find it had failed. We will meet at the site and Peter will wade in to pull out some examples. We will also look for the vulnerable Silky Willow Salix sericea and endangered False Nettle Boehmeria cylindrica, known in the area. We will then head down to the Le Havre Estuary to look for balls of plant material which form from the riverweed. This is how it was originally discovered to be inhabiting the Le Havre River. Access is considered to be moderately easy. More details will follow.

Please register for one or both hikes with novascotiawildflora@gmail.com. Carpooling is encouraged, so please let us know if you need a ride or can offer one.

The poor weather forecast for Upper Stewiacke has improved this morning to a 30% chance of percipitation, so the hike to Otter Brook is on for Saturday Sep 26. If you plan to attend but have not registered, please contact us and we can forward you the details. novascotiawildflora@gmail.com

Due to lack of sufficient interest, the proposed 3 day trip to Cape Breton Oct. 16-18 is cancelled. We are working on an alternative one day trip.

CabotTrail-North Mountain

We are planning two field trips in the next few weeks. We do not have them fully worked out yet, but we wanted everyone to be aware of what we are planning. More details will follow soon.

If you would like to join us on one or both of these, please let us know at novascotiawildflora@gmail.com. We will confirm registrations once we have the trips fully in place.

On Saturday September 26, Peter Steiner will lead us an on exploratory trip to the karst outcrop on Otter Brook. We have not seen this site before but think it is a likely location to find unusual mosses, liverworts and plants that like gypsum – but nothing is guaranteed (other than a good time in nature). There will be some climbing around rocks and small caves and some wading through the stream. The location is 45°15’01.2″N, 63°01’24.9″W (45.250331, -63.023582), near where Otter Brook crosses Otterbrook Bank Road. It is about 25km west of Brookfield and 7 km from Upper Stewiacke. Details are yet to be finalized and will be communicated soon.

On Oct. 16, 17 and 18 we are planning an overnight trip to Cape Breton to view fall foliage in the area around Cheticamp, pending updates on damage from the severe flooding last weekend. So far, it looks like the most needed repairs will be done in time. We would arrive Friday, stay overnight and travel south of Cheticamp one day and north the other (the exact itinerary hasn’t been fully worked out yet). Accommodation in Cheticamp may be an issue. Right now, Laurie’s Inn (833) 314-7146 appears to only have 3 rooms available, so if you want to join us, it is probably a good idea to put a reservation on hold sooner rather than later. We will be looking into room sharing and alternative suggestions for accommodation too. More details to follow.

Plymouth Gentian – Sabatia kennedyana

For those registered for the field trip to SW Nova Scotia, there is considerable support for the option to go to Wilson’s Lake, so that is what we will do.

The meeting place will be the Tim Hortons opposite the car dealership just south of Highway 103 in Tusket at 11:00AM Saturday Aug. 15. From there we will continue to Ellenwood Lake Provincial Park (or alternatively the NS Nature site off Cavanaugh Rd), the main Nature NS site on Wilson’s Lake and the other site on Wilson’s Lake (with the Coastal Plain Joe-Pye Weed).

If you plan to come but have not yet registered, please register with us at novascotiawildflora@gmail.com. Let us know if you need a ride or can give a ride.

Coreopsis rosea

Viola primulifolia

Eutrochium-dubium

For the past two years, we have tried to do a field trip to the home of many of the Atlantic Coastal Plains species, but have been frustrated by flooding or travel bans. This year we plan to try again. Unfortunately, we cannot plan a multi-day event, so we want feedback from those who wish to attend regarding what they would like to see during a single day. Peter Steiner, who lives nearby, has made several suggestions:

The first suggestion is to meet at Carleton Country Outfitters, then head over to Sloan Lake to take in the healthy stand of Rose Coreopsis, some Silver-flowered Sedge and other things. Then we would head up to Digby and on to Point Prim on the Bay of Fundy to see Zig-Zag Aster and Purple Rattlesnake Root. That would be a full day because of the distances.

Another option is to head to the centre of Coastal Plains Flora – Wilson’s Lake – which has Plymouth Gentian, a smaller colony of Rose Coreopsis, Marsh Pennywort, Pale Green Orchid and other things. Peter may also be able to arrange a visit on the other side of the lake to see Coastal Plain Joe-Pye Weed. He also suggested a side trip to Ellenwood Lake to see the Primrose Leaved Violet which blooms in August.

If you would like to go, please register at novascotiawildflora@gmail.com and let us know which of the options (or somewhere else) that you would like to see. Also. please indicate if you need a ride or can offer a ride. We will finalize the agenda on Wednesday of next week. It will likely be a long day.