Posts Tagged ‘New Brunswick’
moose in a wetland
On one of our many drives, we found ourselves in the community of Juniper, New Brunswick. In a small bog, in the midst of the community, was this fellow, a bull moose (known in scientific and other circles as Alces alces). He paid no attention to people or cars and went about his business, chewing at the vegetation in the wetland.
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The moose is a fairly common sight in New Brunswick. They are so common and dangerous along roadways, fences have been constructed along sections of the various major highways to separate moose and car.
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The first time I ever saw a moose was on my very first field excursion with my new position with the New Brunswick Department of Environment (back in 1978). I said to the federal biologist who was with me, “Look, a forest ranger is riding a horse through that bog!” The biologist replied, “That’s no horse, that’s a moose!” To this day, it is the ugliest animal I have ever seen, but there is something beautiful in its efficient ungainliness!
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Moose are big animals, up to two metres in height and up to 700 kg; my husband (my authority) says New Brunswick moose do not grow quite this big. Moose are solitary (not herding) members of the deer family. They inhabit boreal or mixed forest and love wetlands and open waters. They are herbivores and eat aquatic vegetation, grasses, and twigs, branches and leaves of shrubs and trees.
If you see a moose, back up slowly. They can become aggressive if startled or annoyed. My husband saws, “No four inch stick is going to stop a moose!”
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This is the second moose we have seen this summer.
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All my best,
Jane
Partridge and Grouse – which are you???
In New Brunswick, we have three birds which I confuse and name ‘Partridge‘. Remember I am a botanist and come by my bird knowledge through secondary sources.
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a ruffed grouse or a grey partridge? the first clue is habitat (the mainly hardwood woodlands)
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The Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) is a bird of the woodlands (mostly hardwood) and is the bird heard ‘drumming’ in our woods in spring. Its plumage varies from pale brown to bright mahogany. It has a fanning tail and head feathers which stand up like a crown. The feathers around the neck ruff up too. Since these birds are locally referred to as ‘partridge’, there can be confusion between the Ruffed Grouse, the Spruce Grouse and the Grey Partridge.
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Ruffed Grouse crossing the Old Shepody Road in eastern New Brunswick
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Ruffed Grouse in our grey woods
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The Spruce Grouse (Falcipennis canadensis) is a bird of mainly coniferous woodlands. It eats spruce and pine needles. It is a chicken-like bird with variable plumage, mostly grey and black in the male and grey-brown in the female. The bird has a fanning tail, but does not raise its head feathers the way the Ruffed Grouse does. For a good photo of the Spruce Grouse see https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Spruce_Grouse/id
The Grey Partridge (Perdix perdix) is a bird of open areas and grass lands. It is a roundish bird with a brown back and grey sides and neck. The chest-area has a darker brown mark. When startled, the bird flies upwards on rounded wings. For a good photo of a Grey Partridge see https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Gray_Partridge/id
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All my best,
Jane
ice-falls in New Brunswick
An ice-fall along highway #102 in New Brunswick
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One of the sad things about the end of winter is the demise of our ice-falls in New Brunswick. Along the roads, where there are streams intersected by road-cuts, we often have a build-up of ice as it drips from the top of the cut. Some of the ice-falls are spectacular and all are dazzlers in the sun. For more about ice-falls in my blog see here.
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From my reading, I know that ice-falls begin as ‘frazil ice’, a suspension of small ice crystals adhering to soil, rock or vegetation. As meltwater flows over the surface of the frozen ice-fall, new layers are built and a cross-section of the ice will show bands of ice.
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In New Brunswick, some ice-falls are climbable, and some create caves under the curtain of ice. A famous New Brunswick ice-fall is the Midland Ice Caves near Norton. https://www.explorenb.ca/blog/icecaves
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one warm hand
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icicles seep between
layers of rock frozen
curtains separate
inner room from winter storm
glass barrier between blue
light and sheltered eyes
memory of water flows
along the face of the rock
one warm hand melts ice
consolation, condensation
on the inward glass
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(published as ‘one warm hand’, http://www.janetims.com, March 10, 2012)
Copyright Jane Tims 2018
my new book of poetry available now!
Late at night in February 2015, as my husband and I crossed the Patrick Owens Covered Bridge on the Rusagonis Stream, we startled a rabbit in the middle of the span. The rabbit raced through the bridge in front of the truck. I can still see the shadow of his long ears and the scurry of his feet. Since the incident occurred during the February 21, 2015 conjunction of Venus and Mars with the sickle moon, I thought of all the legends about the hare and the moon. This led to the poem “conjunction” and a question about what other plants and animals find shelter in or around our covered bridges in New Brunswick.
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I am please to announce that my resulting book of poems ‘in the shelter of the covered bridge’ is now available. The book includes 21 of my drawings and more than 70 poems. The Foreword is written by my friend Brian Atkinson who wrote New Brunswick’s Covered Bridges (Nimbus, 2010).
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‘in the shelter of the covered bridge’ is now available through my publisher Chapel Street Editions http://www.chapelstreeteditions.com and at upcoming readings. You will soon be able to find it at Westminster Books in Fredericton and Tidewater Books in Sackville.
I hope you enjoy the book and take every opportunity to drive through one of our covered bridges in New Brunswick!
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conjunction – February 21, 2015
Patrick Owens Bridge
Rusagonis River #2
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Venus and Mars
sickle of mid-winter moon
planet and moon light scamper
into crevasses
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headlights of the half-ton enter
overwhelm planet shadow
startle a winter hare
erect on haunches, paw lifted
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frosted by sky-gaze, worshiping
the sliver of moon, dismayed
at desecration, round glare
of the truck’s predatory eyes
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fright to stop a heart
or flight to mobilize
hind-legs straighten
before fore-legs turn
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long ear shadows
quit the length of the bridge
ahead of whiskers, chin velvet
and rabbit wisdom
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From ‘in the shelter of the covered bridge’, Chapel Street Editions, 2017
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
new book about covered bridges in New Brunswick – coming soon!
In New Brunswick, we love our covered bridges. They are part of our history … a walk inside a covered bridge gives you access to one of the best ‘written’ pages you will ever read, the carved and scribbled notations of a century of passers-by.
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My new book ‘in the shelter of the covered bridge’ (published by Chapel Street Editions) is a tribute to the value of our covered bridges as part of our landscape and ecology. In the book are 73 of my poems about plants and animals living in the vicinity of the covered bridge. Many of the poems are about the ways humans use the spaces inside the covered bridge.
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‘in the shelter of the covered bridge’ includes poems about 35 different covered bridges, most crossing the St. John River or its many tributaries. There are also poems about a few bridges in Charlotte and Westmorland Counties.
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My book is also illustrated with 21 of my drawings of covered bridges and the animals and plants that live there. The cover illustration is from my painting ‘apple tree, Malone Bridge.’
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I hope you will buy a copy of my book! I will keep you posted on the publication date and availability!
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If you would like to win a paperback, postage-paid copy of ‘in the shelter of the covered bridge’ enter the draw by leaving a comment here on any post of my blog from now until I get my 500th follower, sometime within the next few weeks or days. You can also enter by leaving a comment on any posting of my blog on my Facebook page. One entry per commenter per post.
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
New Brunswick’s covered bridges … kissing bridges
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A covered bridge is also known as a ‘kissing bridge’ – a place where a couple can steal a caress in privacy. A covered bridge has always been a good place to leave a message about affection for one another.
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During our covered bridge visits, we’ve seen lots of examples of these messages …
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At least two notations of love in the MacFarlane Covered Bridge (Ward’s Creek #2) …
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Ron and Trish, 2014 and WR and EE, years ago … MacFarlane Bridge
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And another way of linking two sets of initials in the Marven Bridge (Belleisle Creek #2) …
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A heart links J G and CW on the Marven Bridge
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‘Just Married’ in chalk in the Moores Mills Bridge (Trout Creek #5) …
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a chalk message in the Moores Mills Covered Bridge
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And, back in the MacFarlane Bridge, an incomplete notation. Who did LANA love?
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LANA + in the MacFarlane Covered Bridge 2015
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Copyright 2017 Jane Tims
in the shelter of the covered bridge – Plumweseep Bridge, New Brunswick
Plumweseep Bridge (Kennebecasis River #9) built 1911, not far from Sussex …
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The covered bridge in its setting … surrounded by trees, river running beneath, a field of ripened grain in the foreground, the rolling hills of the Kennebecasis Valley in the background.
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Copyright 2016 Jane Tims
along New Brunswick’s roads
New Brunswick is a beautiful province. We also have a great road system, both for those who want to linger and those who want to get through as fast as possible.
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This time of year I am amazed at the beauty of our four-lane Trans-Canada highway. I think the roadside has been seeded with a wild-flower mix but many are weedy species common in New Brunswick. Whatever their origins, the results are lovely.
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I have found these flowers in a quick sampling of the roadside:
Buttercup (Ranunculus sp.)
Lupin (Lupinus sp.)
Bird’s-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)
Red Clover (Trifolium pretense)
Daisy (Leucanthemum sp.)
Viper’s Bugloss (Echium vulgare)
Yellow Hawkweed (Hieracium caespitosum)
Bedstraw (Galium sp.)
Coltsfoot (Tussilago farafara)
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
(plus many grasses, sedges and non-flowering plants contributing to the background of green)
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Long stretches of highway can be boring-beyond-belief, but, because of these expanses of bloom, I am enjoying our drives along the highway this summer.
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Copyright 2017 Jane Tims
goslings
On our drive last weekend to the Spednic Lake area, we saw this sight along the road by North Lake …. three Canada geese and their goslings …. two rather unevenly sized families.
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
Fredericton’s Literary Festival — Word Feast
This Thursday evening is the launch of Fredericton’s Word Feast, a literary festival to be held in Fredericton during the Week of September 18 – 24, 2017. Word Feast is expected to be an annual festival, featuring a lecture, workshops, seminars, readings, and other events.
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To launch this event, there will be an announcement party this Thursday June 1, 2017 at 7 PM in the Chickadee Hall of the Fredericton Public Library. Each of the main categories of literary events will be announced and there will be readings by some well-known Fredericton writers. Our readers will include Sue Sinclair, Kathy Goggin, Mark Jarman, and Paul McAllister. I will be reading from my poetry about wild edible plants. Everyone is welcome and the launch party is free!
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This will be an enjoyable evening and a chance to hear about the great line-up planned for Word Feast.
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
nichepoetryandprose 