Observations: July 31, 2000 Time: 11:10 am Weather: Warm & Sunny

Ancient forests underfoot! While these curious plants, club mosses (Lycopodium sp.) at first glance look to be related to cedar or pine, they are actually ferns. At the Nature Park they rarely exceed 30 cm (12 inches) in height, but 350 million years ago club mosses once grew as tall as very large trees in huge forests. The fossil remains of these ancient giant ferns make up a large part of New Brunswick's present day coal fields. Today's club mosses are typically evergreen, perennial and propagate by running their stems along the ground. (Stems may run above or just below ground depending on the species.) The wind may carry bulbets (spores) to distant sites where they grow into plants. Scientists think it takes close to 20 years for a club moss to develop into a full plant above the ground! There are quite a number of species in this family of ancient fern. Club moss is the name used for those species that are rather bristly in appearance like pipe cleaners. The name "Ground Pine" is used to describe those species that resemble small pine, hemlock or cedar trees. Club moss' spores were once used as an ingredient in soothing powders for scrapes and wounds, and for coating pills. Because they give off a flash when ignited, club moss spores were part of early photographic flash equipment.

Balds by the Bay To find bald eagles (Haliaetus leucocephalus) in the park, check out their two favorite perch tree areas, one in the upper salt marsh and the other near the Frog Trail. Most people recognize the Bald Eagle by its distinctive white head and tail feathers (it only looks bald) , and its dark brown body feathers. Its hooked beak and piercing yellow eyes give it a fierce, proud appearance. Did you know that young eagles can take up to five years to change from all dark brown feathers to the familiar white head and tail? During this period, their eyes change colour as well, from brown to the yellow of an adult. Eagles are able to see up to 3-4 times better than humans. Adult female eagles are distinguished from the males by their larger size and deeper beak (reversed sexual dimorphism). An adult eagle in flight is awesome as its wing span is approximately 2 m wide (4 ft.). It can weigh up to 7 kg (15 lbs). Along the coast and close to major New Brunswick river systems, the eagle eats mostly fish, but also may eat small mammals and birds. During the winter, deer killed by other animals forms approximately half of their diet. Although there are no nesting eagles in Irving Nature Park, most of the eagle pairs in New Brunswick have established nests along river systems in the southwestern portion of the province. Nest sites are often found in large live white pine trees overlooking a river or lakeshore. The nests are added to and reused for decades and can exceed widths of 2 m. Although some eagles migrate southward to as near as New Jersey in the winter, some inland birds in New Brunswick will travel only as far as the Bay of Fundy, where they can feed on the open water fish stocks during the winter.

The Naturalist's Notebook is a regular publication. If you have any questions or topics that you would like to see addressed, please call John Gilbert, Manager, Fish and Wildlife, J.D. Irving, Limited, (506) 632-7777 or email honeyman.kelly@jdirving.com