~The Natural Province~.......NEWFOUNDLAND

[olena]

Provincial Bird

Atlantic Puffin
Fratercula arctica


Description 12" (30 cm). A short stocky bird. Black above and white below, with white face and red legs; its remarkable triangular bill is brilliant red and yellow. In fall, horny outer covering of bill is shed, leaving it smaller and duller.
Voice Deep throaty purrs and croaks.
Habitat Chiefly rocky coasts.
Nesting 1 white egg in a burrow in soft soil or a rock crevice; nest cavity is lined with grass. Nests in colonies.
Range Breeds from Canadian Maritimes south to Maine. Winters offshore near nesting colonies, rarely south to Long Island. Also in northern Europe.
Discussion This clown of the sea is a comical-looking bird with a dumpy figure, red-rimmed, gleaming yellow eyes, a gaudy bill, and a habit of waddling around, jumping from rock to rock. It nests in much smaller colonies than do most other alcids. Puffins hunt their food -- small fish, shellfish, and shrimp -- in rocky coastal waters and also at sea. They are excellent swimmers and divers. The birds breeding in Maine have only recently been established there as a result of a captive breeding program in which nestlings from Newfoundland were hand-reared on islands, with the hope that they would return to the area as adults.

 

[olena]

Provincial Tree

Black Spruce
Picea mariana


Description Tree with open, irregular, conical crown of short, horizontal or slightly drooping branches; a prostrate shrub at timberline.
Height: 20-60' (6-18 m).
Diameter: 4-12" (0.1-0.3 m).
Needles: evergreen; 1/4-5/8" (6-15 cm) long. Stiff, 4-angled, sharp-pointed; spreading on all sides of twig from very short leafstalks; ashy blue-green with whitish lines.
Bark: gray or blackish, thin, scaly; brown beneath; cut surface of inner bark yellowish.
Twigs: brown; slender, hairy, rough, with peglike bases.
Cones: 5/8-1 1/4" (1.5-3 cm), long; egg-shaped or rounded; dull gray; curved downward on short stalk and remaining attached, often clustered near top of crown; cone-scales stiff and brittle, rounded and finely toothed; paired, brown, long-winged seeds.

Habitat Wet soils and bogs including peats, clays, and loams; in coniferous forests; often in pure stands.

Range Across N. North America near northern limit of trees from Alaska and British Columbia east to Labrador, south to N. New Jersey, and west to Minnesota; at 2000-5000' (610-1524 m).

Discussion Black Spruce is one of the most widely distributed conifers in North America. Uses are similar to those of White Spruce; however, the small size limits lumber production. The lowest branches take root by layering when deep snows bend them to the ground, forming a ring of small trees around a large one. Spruce gum and spruce beer were made from this species and Red Spruce.

 

[olena]

Provincial Flower

Northern Pitcher-plant
Sarracenia purpurea
Purple Pitcher-plant

Description A carnivorous plant with a large, solitary, purplish-red flower on a leafless stalk rising above a rosette of bronzy, reddish-green, hollow, inflated, curved leaves.
Flowers: 2" (5 cm) wide; petals 5; stamens numerous; style expanded into an umbrella-shaped structure.
Leaves: 4-12" (10-30 cm) long, with a broad flaring terminal lip covered with stiff, downward-pointing hairs.
Fruit: capsule.
Height: 8-24" (20-60 cm).
Flower May-August.
Habitat Sphagnum bogs.
Range Saskatchewan to Labrador and Nova Scotia; south through New England to Florida; west to Texas; north to Indiana, Illinois, and Minnesota.
Discussion A striking plant with lipped, pitcher-like leaves that collect water; organisms attracted to the colored lip have difficulty crawling upward because of the recurved hairs and eventually fall into the water and drown. Enzymes secreted by the plant aid in the digestion of the insect but much of the breakdown is passive, a result of bacterial activity. The plant absorbs the nutrients, especially nitrogenous compounds. A southern species, Parrot Pitcher-plant (S. psittacina) has many prostrate "pitchers" with hooked lips like a parrot's bill.

 

[olena]

Provincial Gamebird

Rock Ptarmigan
Lagopus mutus


Description 13-14" (33-36 cm). In winter, entirely white except for black tail and, in males and most females, black line through eye. In summer, male is flecked with dark gray-brown, wings and belly white. Female paler, with gray, yellowish, and brown on most feathers. Smaller than Willow Ptarmigan, with smaller bill. See White-tailed Ptarmigan.
Voice Courting male gives a snoring kurr-kurr. Female has clucking and purring notes.
Habitat Upland tundra with thickets of willows and heaths.
Nesting 6-9 buff eggs, spotted with dark brown, in a sheltered hollow lined with grass and moss.
Range Breeds in Alaska and northern Canada. Winters south to tree line.
Discussion Pairs of Rock Ptarmigans remain together until midway through incubation, when the male deserts his mate. The female raises the chicks, which move about on the tundra in search of insects, buds, and berries, becoming independent at about three months old. The white winter plumage of ptarmigans provides both good camouflage and protection against the cold, because white feathers have empty cells filled with air that help in insulation, whereas colored feathers contain pigment.

Previous Natural States
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Idaho
Iowa
Kansas
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Montana
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Rhode Island
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Washington
West Virginia


Previous Natural Provinces
Alberta
British Columbia
Manitoba
New Brunswick
Northwest Territories
Ontario
Prince Edward Island
Quebec
Saskatchewan
Yukon Territory

 

[olena]

No ~NS~ thread next week. I'm off to Alabama.

Any requests for ~NS~ when I get back?

 

[amid chaos]

Olena...just beautiful...I have always wanted to go to this area...someday! Just look at htat puffin? Isn't he just the cutes thing? and he even purrs!!!


Have a wonderful trip to Alabama.

 

[Snowwark]

I had no idea that Puffins purred! How cute is that......you little purrin' Puffin!

The pitcher plant is lovely, very elegant!

You're going away again, Olena? It seems you've been doing a fair bit of traveling this summer. Good for you!!

Another excellent thread, Heather, thank you!!

 

[olena]

Y'all are welcome. I thought the puffin was a neat little critter.

Yes, I'm running away from home....again....I'll be staying with my grandmother and visiting with all my kin in the area. DC was my only real vacation. I start singing again in September, so I thought I'd squeeze in one more trip.

 

[nativetxn]

Once again, Heather, you have given us some excellent information and wonderful photos. I love that "pitcher plant".

Katholyn