to know the land

This passed weekend I was able to go out tracking with folks at Wiijindamaan where I once again notice the Poplar Vagabond Aphid Gall. And last week, I was having another conversation with folks about the Spruce Pineapple Adelgid Gall. Galls persist through the Winter and into Spring when many of the insects which have created them will begin to emerge.

Since now is the time to be keeping an eye out for the insect emergences, I figured I would share my excitement for these two galls. Not only are they beautiful and unusual, but they also highlight my growing feelings on what I call “biology 202”, a deep appreciation for the complexity of life beyond our cultural assumptions. It’ll make more sense when you hear it.

To Learn More :
Petiolegall Aphids : Swollen or disfigured leaves of poplars (pdf)
First record of antipredator behavior in the gall-forming aphid Mordwilkoja vagabundaPoplar Vagabond Gall Aphid (Aphididae: Mordwilkoja) video on youtube.com by Carl Barrentine
InfluentialPoints.com entry on Mordwilkoja vagabunda
Life History and Gall Development of Mordwilkoja vagabunda (Homoptera: Aphidae) on Populus deltoides
Life History and Gall Development of Mordwilkoja vagabunda (Homoptera: Aphidae) on Populus deltoides. Part II—Gall Development
The Insects and Arachnids of Canada part 22 : The Genera of the Aphids of Canada - Homoptera : Aphidoidea and Phylloxeroidea : pg 472 (pdf)Influential Points entry on Adelges abietisINTRA- AND INTER-CROWN DISTRIBUTION OF THE EASTERN SPRUCE GALL ADELGID, ADELGES ABIETIS (L.), ON YOUNG WHITE SPRUCE

Did you know that birds are more closely related to turtles, than turtles are to snakes? I just learned that. Did you know that the scutes on a turtle’s back are made from keratin, the same stuff as our fingernails and Rhinoceros horns? Just learned that one too. Even better, do you know what cloacal breathing is? I bet you do… but how does it work? That’s some of the interesting stuff I got to ask naturalist, author and educator Kyle Horner recently when we spoke about his new book Turtles of North America out now on Firefly Books.

It’s a pretty good book, with range maps and conservation status’ which are more relevant and up to date than many of the older field guides to turtles, and covers more species. It is a book full of photographs which help detail the information written in the species accounts and natural history sections.

And this week’s show isn’t just about turtles! It is a bit of reptilian and amphibian mashup, because for the second part I give a short report back from a recent field trip down to Sudden Tract to check on Spring salamander migration. Tis the season!

To Learn More :
Turtles of North America at Firefly BooksSeagull Is Not a Dirty Word - Kyle Horner’s Blog
Kyle Horner’s Instagram

I just got home from Algonquin Park. I got the privilege to spend the past week tracking Wolves, Moose, Martens, Grouse, Flying Squirrels, and so many other creatures throughout the length of the park. We woke up at 6am every morning and were out by 7, scouting for new trails. When were were through with our day we came back to hit the books and share stories of all that we’d seen. It was magical, inspiring and motivating. Restful as much as exhausting.

One animal I spent some time learning about over the week was the Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus), a small brown finch like bird edged in yellow who flew down on to the new snow, skipped, hopped and flew off again. The Pine Siskin was my focal species for the week. Sadly on our last day, two dead Pine Siskins were found on highway 60, hit by vehicles as they were on the road, consuming the de-icing salts.

I got to hold the birds and take a closer look at their small amazing bodies in the sunlight pouring through the window at the wildlife research station. I measured their feet, admired their plumage, and wondered at how they could survive so long out there in the cold and snow. What were they eating to warm their fragile little bodies through the Winter nights? If they hadn’t died on the road, where would they go to in the Spring? I decided on the way home I would do a little research and make the next show all about them.

Here’s to the Siskins and all they’ve taught and inspired in me.

Sources used in this episode:
Birds of Ontario by Andy Bezener. Lone Pine Publishing, 2000.
Peterson Field Guide to North American Bird Nests by Casey McFarland, Matthew Monjello, and David Moskowitz. Houghton Mifflin Harcout, 2021.
The Birder’s Handbook by Paul Ehrlich, David S. Dobkin and Darryl Wheye. Simon & Shuster, 1988.

It’s that time of year again, when the animals are getting out and getting down. While driving home the other day I drove past a forest where I had once trailed a part of courting Coyotes (Canis latrans) and realized that now is the time we will be seeing these courting behaviours. I had written about them before, but it was worth revisiting as it will likely be coming up on the land, and in my classes.

As I had written before:

“Getting the chance to follow along and watch the intimate lives of other animals can feel a little awkward in the retelling. I don’t want to come across as voyeuristic but instead as being witness to the possibility of a litter of new life. Coyotes are often a maligned species, where the conversation surrounding them is often of management and control, loaded with tones of fear and frustration. But following these two highlights an individuation and animism we don’t afford Coyotes very often. I hope only to remind of the struggle to survive, adapt and thrive amidst the persecution they endure. Reflecting on the day, I feel like it’s a study in the mess of courtship which many of us can relate to, and it feels like the news I wish we saw more of: first kisses, late night dinner parties with old friends, meeting a newborn family member. It is the joy of being and relating to others in deep meaningful ways in a world which often separates and isolates, harms and hinders. It’s romantic as hell, and I love it…”

To Learn More :
Examining Coyote Courting Behaviours : Tracking at Bell’s Lake
Tracking Journal : December 25, 2020
Behaviour of North American Mammals by Mark Elbroch and Kurt Rinehart. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011.
The Natural History of Canadian Mammals by Donna Naughton. University of Toronto Press, 2012.

We had just crossed over from the thick White Cedar forest into a little more spacious deciduous forest, when, in a very unassuming tone, a friend called us over to check out some tracks. I don’t know if he realized at first how cool the trail he had just found was, but as we stepped off of the path and looked down at the tracks everyone leaned in a little closer, and our voices started to ring with a little more excitement. Our colleague had found a Fisher trail.

Once again I have been inspired by the Fisher to dig a little deeper into their ecologies, behaviours and the signs they leave behind. There is always so much to know that another show about them, relating another story of following the Fisher trail seemed worthwhile.

To Learn More :
Natural History of Canadian Mammals by Donna Naughton. University of Toronto Press, 2012.Mesopredator release facilitates range expansion in fisher by Dr. Scott LaPoint.Ep. 180 : Winter of the Fisher
Ep. 211 : Fisher Researcher Dr. Scott LaPoint
Tracking Journal 2021.11.27 (mostly about trailing a Fisher at the same location as the entry above)

s we get ready for the longest night of the year, it’s also a time to celebrate traditions and set our sights for the new year with the rebirth of the Sun.

Making radio for me also holds traditions embedded within the episodes. Every Solstice I dig into the archives and pull out a rebroadcast which was originally aired December 21st, 1985 at 10:30pm on the BBC. And now, for the 6th year in a row, I get to broadcast one of my favorite pieces of radio. Step aside War of the Worlds or Gunsmoke (both of which should be listened to at least once in your life), Alison McLeay’s “Solstice”, is the best radio I have ever heard. A guided journey beyond our contemporary world of christian Christmas consumerism and looking deeper to reveal the ancient earth based practices and traditions where so many of our modern traditions arise from. Along the way we meet a rattle wielding Shaman, a witch, a hunter, a Raven, and a Wolf who help guide us back to the origins of Yule.

Here’s hoping for a solstice of peace, rest, and joy… some hard things to find these days.

You know when there is someone kicking around the party whom you recognize, maybe even say hello to, but you just don’t know that well? Or perhaps you two have been acquainted for a while but something comes up and that gets you talking a little more intimately? I feel like that with Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor). I wanted to try my hand at foraging and creating some medicine, but really I needed to read up on what others have sorted out before I prepare anything for ingestion. To learn more, listen to the show.

Here are the sources I read from:
National Audubon Society Mushrooms of North America. Knopf, 2023.
Polypores and Similar Fungi of Eastern and Central North America by Alan E. Bessette, Dianna G. Smith, and Arleen R Bessette. University of Texas Press, 2021.
Medicinal Mushrooms : The Essential Guide by Christopher Hobbs. Storey Publishing, 2020.

If you didn’t know already, I work at an outdoor school doing place-based, or nature-based education. Through this work I have come to know many people who have challenged and supported me to grow and to learn more about the complex relationships that exist within this field of work. How do we aim to teach about a land which has been occupied through theft, displacement, war, and genocide? How can we say we work towards loving relationships with ourselves, with each other and the land when this is the past and present reality of the place we inhabit and the position of the states we are governed by?

I got to talk with a mentor, friend, and elder in my community, Lisa Donahue, about how we can struggle to do the work of bringing folks outside and teaching them alongside the land when the context is rife with harm. As always, Lisa shared from the heart with precision, passion and a poignant reckoning of the ongoing need to work towards justice, peace and good relations. I am so grateful for her wisdom, her humility and her care.

I wanted to have this write up yesterday, but my heart is so weighted with sorrow over the ongoing genocide in Palestine, here in Canada, and the other ongoing wars and injustices throughout the world right now. I had to take an extra day to collect my heart and thoughts.

My room, my house, my bags are all full of books, twigs, fruits, feathers, seeds, nuts, and bits of mushrooms this time of year. So too my stomach, my dreams, and my heart. My bedroom is littered with naturalist books and books of fairy tales and myths which I pull out and read before I turn out the light. I love the folk tales because if you read them in the right light, they share stories of relationships with the land from before christian colonization. For me, of european descent, this gives insight to how my ancestors may have gotten to know the places they lived and who they depended on to live good lives in relation with the lands they lived with.

I have shared stories of snakes, or the Winter solstice, or wildflowers throughout the years of doing this show, but never have I told a story about mushrooms. Until recently I only knew one or two, but recently I read a new one, a magical one, which I have really come to love. So on this week’s show I share the story of the “Berry-sisters and the Mushroom-brother” from the book Echo of the Green Mountains : Ukrainian Folk Tales as well as read a little about the internationally praised edible mushroom Boletus edulis.

This episode might be well suited for a cup of tea. But I’ll leave that up to you.

Image : Boletus edulis LC0371.jpg by Jörg Hempel⁠. 2014. Image. Wikimedia.org. (CC BY-ND 3.0)

To learn more :
Echo of the Green Mountains : Ukrainian Folk Tales by Serhiy Vladov and Mary Skrypnyk. Dnipro Publishers 1988.
National Audubon Society Mushrooms of North America. Knopf, 2023.

Every big mast year for Black Walnuts (Juglans nigra) I like to harvest a ton of them and then process them for both the husks and the nutmeat inside. While the nutmeats are very troublesome to access it is getting easier as I learn which tools are better than others, and the food value is totally worth it. As for the husks, it’s pretty easy to rip or cut them off of the nut. This year, as in previous years as well, there has been a small ethical dilemma which has come up when using the husks for dye. Nestled in the husks are small larvae of what I believe to be the Walnut Husk Maggot Fly (Rhagoletis suavis) which is a fruit fly I don’t know much about. But because I love Walnuts, I figured I should learn.

And that’s what this week’s show is all about. A fruit fly who loves Walnuts… Can’t live without ‘em. Sometimes I feel that way, too.

To learn more :
Walnut Husk Fly How to Monitor and Manage Walnut Husk Flies
Decomposition: fly life cycle and development times
University of California IPM page on Walnut Husk Fly