During my butternut survey I found a couple of trilliums as pictured here with a red fruit. At first by the leaves one would guess possibly a Jack-in-the-Pulpit but its fruit is a cluster of red berries. After considerable research-- there is lots about the flower but not much about the fruit -- I have determined that it is definitely the fruit of a trillium. According to the internet literature the fruit body actually contains many seeds. In nature the fruit over time would drop to the ground and ants would then excavate into the fruit and take the seeds back to their nests; hence carry out one of the trilliums means of propagation in nature.
This Warning affects our area and is a result of the exceptional amout of snow we received this winter.
Local rivers and streams in the Rideau Valley peaked overnight; however, today’s precipitation will extend the peak flows over the next 24 to 36 hours. If most of the precipitation falls as expected by midnight Friday, water level could increase again, rising as much as another 15 to 25 centimetres (6 to 10 inches) above current water levels in flood vulnerable areas.
Thursday night’s peak was close to “1 in 5 year” spring flood levels — which means there is a 20% chance, each and every spring, of these conditions being reached or exceeded as a result of snowmelt and rainfall runoff.
This is a record year for snow. According to the weather channel, we are around 35 cm. (~14 in.) short of reaching the record of the winter of 1970-1971 which was 444 cm. (~14.5 ft.) Trudging through the bush has been quite a work out even on snowshoes. About a week later we had some heavy thawing followed by a freeze so the snow has become rock solid, though still not solid enough to walk on. The boots still go down a good 50 cm into the snow. But on snowshoes it is like walking on solid ground.
Being so high – I would say about a metre ( 3 feet) above the ground, the paths are virtually not recognizable. What one was able to walk under at ground level when there is no snow is now a mere crawl space. But on the plus side I can walk right over much of the brush.
One would suspect that the deep snow would be hard on wildlife as it tries to forage for food. Indeed there were no deer tracks to be found so the deer that have survived have likely moved to their “deer yards” – protected areas where the deer keep paths open and where there may be some food. When desperate enough, deer are known to eat cedar and there is lots of cedar in this area.
The snowshoe hare seems to be doing ok, as there were a number of their tracks to be found. Also there are very many fisher tracks. There were no coyote tracks. I was advised that a neighbour has been shooting them.
In this morning’s walk I found a new butternut tree in the woodlot which I will add to my database. I have walked by it before but never identified it. It must look different when one is standing a metre off the ground.
Being the early bird or morning lark, just after I get up, I often will take a quick look through the windows outside in the dark before I turn the lights on and consequently scare off any wildlife that may have ventured near the house. For the last couple of mornings I have witnessed a small bunny eating the cracked corn that I have spread out on top of the snow near the bird feeder. This is likely an eastern cottontail [Sylvilagus floridanus] the only wild rabbit common to this area. The only other similar species here is the ever common snowshoe hare [Lepus americanus] which is technically a hare, not a rabbit. The snowshoe however in winter changes to a white coat thus clearly distinguishing it from the cottontail at this time of year.
