The mushroom season is upon us!

I stepped into the bog today, since I haven't been there in a while and since I'm unable to come to any work parties this month. I'd like to share some mushrooms I saw. Both of these mushrooms are have beneficial symbiotic relationships with the roots of coniferous trees:

Lactarius rufus

These were under the lodgepole pines in the western part of the bog near the 21st ave entrance. The genus Lactarius is characterized by a trait of exuding 'milk' when they get cut. That's right, they lactate! The milk is white in this species, but it can be red or clear in other species. The specific epithet 'rufus' refers to the red colour of the mushroom.

Russula fragilis

This one was on the far side of the bog, but I saw some old one's in amongst the Lactarius too. Russulas are known to have white gills (almost all have white stems) and they are known to be fragile and shatter easily.

Two solitary bees, labrador tea, and jumping on a bog

We thinned the labrador tea bushes this Thanksgiving weekend, as they were getting very thick.  Planted sphagnum in flattened areas.  As we worked we heard tree frogs singing.  Crisp fall air.

we found two solitary bees  buzzing under the sphagnum and digging in the peat.  Here's the first one.  We need an ID

Second bee, looks to be the same species, dorsal side

Second bee, ventral side

Peat had to be flattened by jumping on plywood prior to planting sphagnum moss (below)

Stanley Park Bog Field Trip

There is a secret bog hidden in Stanley Park, with no public access.   The bog is very fragile and it's being restored by the Stanley Park Young Naturalist Club.    CBRG was invited to a work party there. Our host was Brian, a conservation technician from the Stanley Park Ecology Society.   The bog was composed of labrador tea, sphagnum moss and, after a little clearing, a gorgeous patch of sundew.  The Hemlock forest around this bog was growing on peat because the ground was very springy!  Laurence gave advice on water levels and we removed salal and skunk cabbage amongst labrador tea.  Issaku brought cookies and blueberry tea because the crazy boggers have to have their tea break!

Sundews hidden under the salal

Sept 17, CBRG will send a small team to Stanley Park bog

"Several of us have been invited to to assist in the restoration of the  bog in Stanley Park on Saturday. They are just starting restoration and are wanting to take advantage of our expertise. There will be no work party in Camosun Bog this Saturday (September 17) and we will restart work there on the 24^th."

--Laurence

Lily pad rhizomes

Lily pads were removed from Devil's Hole (the pond) and added to the new pond created at the  19th  avenue entrance.  Note the huge rhizome!

Sphagnum: "just add water"

The dried out sphagnum comes back to life when it is hydrated.  Can you see the colour difference?

before wetting

after pouring water on the area:  note the colour change.

Summer bog, dormant sphagnum

Sphagnum turns yellow during the summer drought but after a rain, the bog becomes green quickly

The Camosun Bog Nature Walk is complete!

Rebuilding of the boardwalk was completed last week and as you can see from the photos, it looks great and the workmanship is first rate

Boardwalk with Dog Fence