October was another record breaking month, breaking the all time record with a total of 193 species observed, surpassing the old record of 188 set in October, 2010. A big thanks to Kim Palonen, who ventured to Misery Bay on Manitoulin Island at the end of the month to help attain the land mark record.
Three observers added 4 new records for the database; a trip to Ottawa by Dave Jolly contributed a new hybrid goldenrod Canada x Tall goldenrod (Solidago canadensis x gigantea) and Macouni's everlasting (Gnalphalium macounii), Kim discovered Creeping wood sorrel (Oxalis corniculata) in Halton region, and Brian Popelier of the Bruce Trail Conservancy (BTC) found Naked miterwort (Mitella nuda) in Halton region.
A total of 22 counties were surveyed by all surveyors; Brant, Bruce, Elgin, Durham, Frontenac, Grey, Halton, Hamilton, Hastings, Leeds and Renfrew, Lennox and Addington, Manitoulin, Middlesex, Norfolk, Northumberland, Ottawa-Carlton, Oxford, Peel, Peterborough, Waterloo, Wellington, and York. The most new records were found in Ottawa-Carlton (47), largely due to a lack of survey effort, or people available to investigate that region. Additionally, Dave Jolly observed Azure aster (Aster oolentangiensis) which is likely a new record, but yet to be confirmed, for the Ottawa region according to the 2005 master plant list compiled by the prominent and respected Botanist Dan Brunton.
The flowering date for Witch hazel (Hammelis virginiana) was finally obtained in Durham region, where this shrub is locally rare. Witch hazel was first observed at a site in Durham region in the spring of 2011. A search for provincially rare Yellow bartonia (Bartonica virginica); S2 in Norfolk county revealed an exciting discovery on October 12, 2013. Kim and Dave uncovered a substantial natural population of provincially rare Bristly buttercup (Ranunculus hispidus var. hispidus); S3, with over 20 plants observed. A site visit in May, 2014 will make this a new flowering date record for Norfolk county.
Dave is currently at 401 total species for the 2013 field season - raising funds and awareness for conservation projects on behalf of the BTC, so I am almost half way to my goal of reaching a total of 850 species. A special thanks to Tanya Forde, who participated in an EARTHQUEST Bruce Trail expedition in 2000 to collect data for the Bruce Trail flora and fauna book published in 2004, for donating funds to our cause! There is still time for the rest of you to donate. We'll be accepting donations until December 15th, 2013 - so why not make it a generous gift for Christmas.
Thank you to all contributors for making October a fantastic month.
To download the monthly summary please go to;
http://earthquestcanada.ca/October2013summary.pdf
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