Observations: September 30, 1992 Time: 10:00 am Weather: sunny and cool

The mudflats, beach and marsh are teaming with migrating shorebirds stopping at the Irving Nature Park to feed and rest for their long flight south. One common visitor is the Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa Melanolenca). This slender, fairly large sandpiper-like bird has a long, slightly upturned bill, a dark back, checked with white and grey, and upper breast and belly with streak and bar markings. Its easiest distinguishing feature is its bright yellow long legs, hence the name. Birds that breed in Eastern Canada winter along the Atlantic coast from South Carolina to South America.
Short dark green unbranched plants with bright red berries growing beside the walking trails are easily identified as Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), the smallest member of the dogwood family. Leaves are arranged in a whorl around the stem with veins curved into an arc. Earlier in the summer the plant had small yellowish-green flowers surrounded by four white petal-like bracts. The berries present in the fall are eaten by grouse, chipmunks, mice and birds of the thrush family.
Why do green leaves turn color in the fall? Many plants contain a number of pigments including yellow, orange and red, but during the spring and summer, high concentrations of green chlorophyll drown them out. Chlorophyll production decreases with the shortening of the day length and the cooling evenings. Soon, the poplars and birches show through. Red pigment, known as anthocyanin is found in maples and develops in response to cold sunny weather producing spectacular red foliage. As day and night temperatures continue to decline, the lack of growth substances produced by the leaf cause specialized cells in the petiole (the structure that connects the leaf blade to the stem) to degrade and the leaves fall from the tree.

The Naturalist's Notebook is published quarterly. 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.