Saturday 17 May 2014

Tadpoles

Tadpoles
Last week I was walking Raven later in the evening and we heard some peeping from a frog in the pond at the end of the road. The next morning when the light was better I was able to see three spawns of frog eggs and a few tadpoles scattered in the shallows along the rocks. 

Everyday since, I have been checking in on the little tadpoles and seeing how many have hatched. Yesterday there were not any eggs left and the pond was filled with so many tadpoles they made the rocks look dark because of their dense numbers.  


Here is a neat little diagram of the life cycle of tadpoles, too bad it will take approximately 84 days before any little legs will form on the swimmers, resembling any frog-like features!





Thursday 8 May 2014

Rushton's Beach Provincial Park


Rushton's Beach Provincial Park
Raven and I took a little road trip yesterday to take advantage of the sunshine and "spring-like" temperatures (6 degrees!) and headed approximately 11 km down the Sunrise trail towards Tatamagouche. It is a little difficult to find, as there are no signs indicating the entrance and the road to access the beach parking lot is about the size of someone's driveway. With a little help from Siri (If you do use Siri, she will tell you it is on the land side of the road, which it is not, it's on the water side), we managed to find it and confirmed we were in the right spot as there were some workers from Nova Scotia Parks and Recreation there cleaning up for the coming beach season. 

You enter Rushton's beach through a large gravel parking lot, it is complete with picnic tables, on-site change rooms and restrooms, as well as a long boardwalk leading you right to the beach! Perfect for anyone that has mobility difficulties, uses mobile aids or a wheel chair (there is even an access ramp to the beach!). 


Following up from my last post, I found a few more shells on Rushton's beach. Above is another soft-shell clam that was about the size of my hand, a lot bigger than the ones we see here in Melville! To the left of it is a Razor clam shell, which can cause quite the injuries if you have ever tried to dig them up! These razor clams are the same type that are found along the coasts in Europe and I found this funny video of some people catching them in the UK!


All of the oyster shells I found on Rushton's beach were all bunched together, like the ones pictured here. Sadly, no pearls.


The beach itself is mostly sand and stretches along for my guess of 2 km each way from the boardwalk entrance. Looking out at the water, you could see more sand and shallow levels of water, likely making an ideal environment for warm water temperatures in the summer months and some great beach days to come!


There are some really cute cottages down the beach on Rushton's, this is the break wall that has been constructed to protect the property that they are on from shoreline erosion.


Finally, on our way out of the park, we saw this little guy. Now you know that I am not great with naming birds, so I appreciate any help! S/He looked to be about the size of a plover and made a noise that sounded very similar to a car alarm going off when s/he took flight. S/He had a very unique beak as well, it was long and pointed, almost ideal for pulling up worms or insects from holes in the ground! Comment below if you know what kind of bird this is!

Sunday 4 May 2014

Shellfish Game



Shellfish Game
I was walking along the beach last night and realized just how many shellfish also call Melville home. For those that are not from Nova Scotia or have not had much exposure to shore life, identifying the many shells along the beaches in Melville may be tricky. Here are a few that I found, let's see how well your guesses are!


The picture above is a mussel shell, one of the most common shellfish found in Nova Scotia. The warm waters that surround Nova Scotia from the Gulf stream is responsible for the great numbers of mussels we see in this area of Canada, as the warm temperatures from the equator create an ideal environment for mussels to grow and thrive (Nova Scotia Fisheries and Aquaculture).


Now take a look at this picture, if you guessed scallop, unfortunately that is not correct. This is a soft-shell clam shell, but it is often confused with a scallop shell (Wikipedia). I did not find any scallop shells last night. We do see them occasionally on the shores in Melville, but they are contaminated and therefore cannot be eaten. Best to stick to The World Famous Digby Scallops, if you have a craving! 


Finally, an oyster shell. Great guess! This is my favourite type of shell to find in Melville and no, not just because if I am really lucky, I might one day find a pearl inside (How Oysters make Pearls). Although that would be really cool! I like finding oyster shells in Melville, because we had not previously seen them as a regular part of our beach until a few years ago. So each year that they return, it is a sign that the Melville ecology is flourishing! 

Well done guessing and enjoy this beautiful sunny Sunday!




Friday 2 May 2014

May First's and Mystery Animal Revealed

May First's and Mystery Animal Revealed
Yesterday marked May 1st, which for many here in Melville marks the end of the busy tax season, so congratulations! Time for a well-deserved break!

May 1st also marked the beginning of tick season as I found one on Raven, her first of 2014. I won't be posting any pictures, because I find them really gross, but here is a link on How to Remove a Tick from your Dog. Unfortunately, I have had to refer to this website 3 times in the past year, as the ticks really seem to love Raven. As a result, I've gotten pretty familiar with the routine for removing a tick and the steps you should take in Nova Scotia. Because ticks transmit Lyme Disease, a potential fatal and reportable communicable disease, the government advises containing the tick for 72 hours after removal (Raven's little pest is sitting in a jar by the door...), watching for symptoms and inspecting the bite site for any changes (Lyme Disease in Nova Scotia). If after 3 days no symptoms show up, the tick can be destroyed, my preferred method is burning, so it will be into the fire pit. The PDF link also has some really great tips for protecting yourself from tick bites, like wearing enclosed shoes, tucking your pants into your socks and shirt into your pants. Avoiding tall grasses or heavily wooded areas and inspecting yourself with a mirror after being outside for any little unwelcome visitors that may have hitched a ride.

Although it was not on May 1st, on Tuesday of this week I was driving back to Melville and saw for the first time some wild turkeys! To be fair, I have seen wild turkeys before, while on a road trip through Montana, but these were the first in Canada! My pictures are really poor as I caught a couple on my cell phone, so sorry, none to post.

Speaking of first sights of animals in Melville, the mystery animal from last week's post made an appearance in the newspaper! Local authorities in the Miramichi had some trouble with a confused beaver causing traffic delays in the town and it was aggressive towards motorists and officers. So the mystery animal has been revealed! I have never seen a beaver before last week, not even at the wildlife park! Again, I'm sorry, but no pictures as the large member of the rodent family seems shy now and has made no more appearances in Melville since.

Since I did not post any pictures this post, let's declare Friday as throw back sunset day and you can enjoy this sunset taken in April of 2012.