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Geology and Ecology of Capilano Canyon
Sat, 2009/08/08 - 6:52pm | 
Kelly_Sekhon
David Cook led another Geology / Ecology trip in the Capilano Park today and we found more interesting things to look at which interrupted David's attempts to say what he wanted to say.
David explained the Geology of the Capilano Valley and the engineering of the Capilano Dam. In the park we came across a bird that was feeding in the shallow ditch along the gravel road and was not at all shy. I could walk right up to him / her and it would fly a short distance and continue feeding. My first guess was that it was a juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird and David agreed with me and mentioned that he had seen similar behavior before. But the skeptics in the group thought it was too small to be a juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird. As soon as I got home, I e-mailed some photos to Jo Ann MacKenzie who replied almost instantaneously to confirm that my identification was correct.
Another great find and first one for me was Epipactis helleborine. I knew it was not the Rein Orchid as someone suggested, but something I had seen only in the field guides. So the second thing I did when I got home was to consult Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest by Lewis J. Clark (pages 61 and 90) and confirmed it to be Epipactis helleborine. To quote Lewis Clark “The plant is in bloom June to September, and may be found in waste places along road edges in cool woods, as a volunteer in one’s garden, and even in open fields from British Columbia to California. It is surprising to find among aristocrats of the Orchid family an invasive, almost weedy plant.” Well, aristocrat yes but not weedy – it took me about 25 years of wandering in the woods to find one. I guess you have to be at the right place at the right time.
Other distractions were an American Dipper, Reishi mushroom or Varnished Conk or Hemlock Varnish Shelf fungus (Ganoderma tsugae) and the fruiting bodies of a white slime mould.
In spite of all the above David managed to explain the Geology and Ecology of the Capilano Valley and mentioned many other interesting features which have already disappeared from my memory. I will have to go on another trip with David very soon.
Thank you David.
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Comment by Noriko Nakaya