24 January

 The past two weeks have included a pair of atmospheric rivers that included strong enough winds to make visits to forests dangerous, and alas, trouble with my truck.  This past weekend, I returned on an intermittently cloudy and rather chilly day.

At the entrance to the Forest and Wetlands, a strange and rather disturbing sight greeted me.  A tree has been sawed down--clearly NOT another of the recent blow-downs.

It remains lying across the open area at the entrance, for unaccountable reasons.

This is clearly a recent event--it wasn't there when we led an introductory walk for a group from Nanaimo last week.

Despite the worrisome start to the walk,  the beauty and diversity of the area showed forth.  A patch of sunlight gleamed through the shadowed forest.

The recent cold weather has left patches of hair ice,

a relatively uncommon phenomenon.  Although it looks organic, it's actually a by-product of a fungus, Exidiopsis effusa, that

"shapes the ice into fine hairs through an uncertain mechanism and likely stabilizes it by providing a recrystallization inhibitor similar to antifreeze proteins"  (Wikipedia)

It occurs in broadleaf forests (in our case, alders) when the temperature is around 0 Celsius.  There has been more visible during the past week than I can recall seeing before.

Fungi and lichen continue to appear despite the cold.  This strikingly yellow substance, growing near the hair ice shown above, is likely a crustose lichen. 

A small area along the path presented an assortment of four fern species:

Bracken fern is now dried and brown.

Deer fern still show green, 

as does sword fern.

Lady fern, uncommon but present throughout the forest, has died back in some areas, but is still green in some patches.

Although the weather was milder than it had been, a skim of ice remained on the Marsh.

The water level remains high.

As I made my way to the Marsh, I was greeted by the unwelcome sound of rifle shots.  The area was supposed to be posted last year, but someone opened fire on the waterfowl.  As well as unwelcome, rifles are definitely NOT the appropriate firearm for hunting waterfowl.  I heard five shots, and a mallard fell to the southeast end of the marsh.  

Unfortunately, it appeared to have been "winged."  I observed for about twenty minutes as it flapped its one wing to no avail.  Worse, a man paddled a canoe across the end of the Marsh, passing within no more than twenty metres of the bird.  He had to have heard it--I could hear it flapping and quacking faintly at what must be about a kilometres distance. It wasn't a spot that I could access on foot to put the bird out if its misery.  I'm including a photo, in hopes someone recognises him.  He should be shamed.

I have no real objection to competent hunting for the table (it was the next to last day of the duck season), but using an inappropriate firearm and leaving an injured bird is very wrong.  I've contacted Mosaic, who manage the area and am told they will put up "no hunting" notices.  

So, after two weeks absence, a rather mixed experience of the Marsh.  I hope that the closing of the hunting season will deter further destruction.