Voyageur Storytelling Bruce Peninsula

Good Food * Good Listening * Good Company

in Northern Bruce Peninsula

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In which we tell you about

The Bruce Peninsula


The Bruce Peninsula

 

We have our own particular take on the Bruce Peninsula, which we have not yet had time to write up properly for the purpose of this web site, because it is getting quite complicated. Mostly it appears in our Bruce Peninsula stories, of which we are planning a full concert for 2008, as we did in 2006.

 

Voyageur Alvarscape

 

Alvar is distinctive rugged limestone terrain common on the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island, rare elsewhere, and of increasing national and international scientific and interpretive interest.

 

A more technical description is: Alvars are rare natural communities that occur on flat limestone or dolomite bedrock with thin or absent soils. Alvar is usually rather open terrain, with sparse or patchy tree cover. Alvars are harsh environments, subject to seasonal flooding and drought. They nourish distinctive flora and fauna, some rare.

 

The Voyageur Alvarscape (it's not all alvar) covers 100 acres, 20 by 50 chains (400 by 1000 m or 440 by 1100 yards). It is arranged in terraces with either bare limestone (we prefer to call it "moluscoral" for its origins) or organic soil on the surface. The soil varies in depth from mere inches to a foot or two, and is often quite boggy. The moluscoral surfaces support primarily mosses, lichens, juniper, cedar, spruce and birch. Where there is soil we find hardwoods and softwoods in various mixes of species, depending on moisture conditions.

 

We moved here in the Fall of 2001, and are gradually becoming familiar with the indigenous flora and fauna. We see snow-tracks of hares and red squirrels, and of the foxes, coyotes, weasels and fishers who dine on them. We hear great horned owls. Chickadees, goldfinches, redpolls, cardinals, blue jays, and mourning doves visit the feeding tray regularly, other species occasionally. In summer the woods are full of sound at all times of the day and night. Our particular favourites are the whip-poor-wills who serenade us through the darkness from mid-May to mid-August, especially when the moon is full. We have a story about them.

 

Northern Bruce Peninsula is a "dark sky" area. We live beyond the bright lights of urban congestion. On clear nights the sky is full of stars. Our only street lamp is the moon, in whose absence the night can be very dark indeed. Occasionally we are treated to displays of northern lights, not overhead, but far away in sweeping arcs over the northern horizon.

 

We are working on a gallery of pictures of the Voyageur Alvarscape but only two are hung so far. More to come.