Fall Images from the Blandford Nature Reserve
On Sunday October 22, 2007 two of us who had helped with identification of lichens, mosses and other plants in this new reserve introduced a group of 12 from CPAWS and Friends of Nature to this beautiful property. Fall colours of reds and yellows accentuated the beauty. Red Maples, and vast expanses of Huckleberry lined the paths and bordered Feather Pond, Haymarsh Lake, and Hollahan Lake and soft, white Cladonia lichens covered large areas along paths and over granite outcrops.
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Jack Pine barrens.
Fen.
Hollahan Lake.
More of the Jack Pine barrens.
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About the Blandford Reserve
In the 1950s, a successful banker, businessman and philanthropist, Cyrus Eaton, was raising Mallard ducks and Canada geese in the vicinity of Hollahan Lake on the Aspotogan Peninsula. In 1959 the area became a wildlife sanctuary where these birds could feed undisturbed. Hunting of waterfowl and game birds was prohibited. This property of 320 hectares remained virtually untouched until 2005 when there was a threat, that it, along with 22 other game sanctuaries in Nova Scotia, would be delisted. This one sanctuary attracted more attention than all others combined, with the result that in May of 2007 it became a protected area under the Special Places Protection Act, giving the sanctuary the province's highest level of protection of plants and animals. Access is restricted to visitors on foot. The reserve contains a wide variety of habitats and is home to some rare lichens, mosses, and vascular plants, not the least of which is an extensive Jack Pine barrens. Blandford Nature Reserve is the province's 16th nature reserve and is the first of its kind in Lunenburg County.
Red Maples and outcrop
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