‘Two-tailed’ fish thwarts gull’s ambition
Island Wild for Fri. Nov. 13, 2009


With high hopes, this over-ambitious gull snared a ‘two-tailed’ fish. Photo Jim Dubois.

This photo of a Pacific Staghorn Sculpin shows the branched (cheek) horn, the black spot at the back of the first dorsal fin and the fin banding pattern. Photo Jim Dubois.

The eyes can sometimes be bigger than the stomach. Think of a hungry mob at a smorgasbord or Uncle Albert at Christmas dinner.

In the same way, birds and fish can both be prone to over-ambition when it comes to filling their plates (or in the case of animals – gullets) beyond the point of what they can reasonably handle.

Last weekend, Campbell River photographer Jim Dubois witnessed a splashy scene starring an overly-ambitious gull doing battle with its unwilling prey.

While standing on shore, watching a gull swimming along in shallow water, he noticed as the bird began leaping into the air and diving underwater. This it did a half-dozen times, the last time a bit higher than previous attempts. Successful at last, the gull resurfaced with what resembled a sculpin…gourmet food for hungry gulls.

As the gull reached shore, treasure in beak, Dubois took a closer look through his camera’s viewfinder and noticed the fish didn't look quite right, and seemed to possess two tails. After a few fruitless attempts to get ‘the thing’ down its gullet, the bird left in search of easier prey.

In this case, the seagull’s ambition was thwarted when it could neither swallow nor disgorge the ‘two-tailed’ sculpin. Left onshore, the wild sushi likely ended up as dinner for a larger marine species that would be undeterred by the sculpin’s prickly ‘horns.’

Suspecting a monster of the deep or genetic mutant, Dubois went in for a closer look, and found an eight-inch sculpin that had tried to swallow a four-inch sculpin – now firmly lodged inside the larger fish’s mouth.

Both fish were Pacific Staghorn Sculpin (scientific name: Leptocottus armatus). Folks who grew up on the west coast commonly referred to this large-headed species as a bullhead – for obvious reasons.

This native Pacific Northwest fish possesses a large, branched spine or thorn on each operculum (cheek), which resembles a stag’s horn or antler, thus the name.

As part of Mother Earth’s marine food cycle, gulls feed on small fish, which in turn feed on smaller fish. Oftentimes, the prey become the preyed upon. Mark Steinhilber (Head of Life Sciences, Royal Alberta Museum) confirms that cannibalism is common in most fishes.

Steinhilber has often seen this “bite off more than you can chew” behaviour, with varied outcomes. “Sometimes, amazingly, the prey fish is slowly digested (the tail slowly disappears over a few days) and sometimes the “predator” dies. The opercular spines or horns are considered anti-predator adaptations and I imagine they make swallowing prey a bit more difficult.”

The Pacific staghorn sculpin is a marine dwelling fish measuring 12-15 cm at maturity. Highly recognizable because of its large, flat head, and small eyes, it’s antler-like projections with 3-4 spines are unmistakable. Markings include smooth skin (grayish olive on back, yellow on sides, white on underside), a dark splotch on the tail end of the first dorsal fin, and light barring on the other fins.

Red maples mingle with the golden Bigleaf
Island Wild for Fri. Nov. 6, 2009

Vine maple leaves glow bright red alongside the Campbell River estuary.
Photo: Christine Scott.

The venerable maple leaf is rightly front and centre in the lead-up to Vancouver’s 2010 Olympic winter games. Canada’s national emblem also dominates the landscape when the country’s ten indigenous maple varieties splash on their autumn colours from coast to coast.

Gold is unquestionably maple’s dominant hue along the Pacific Northwest coast where indigenous (wild) Bigleaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum) reigns supreme with dinner-plate sized leaves in brilliant yellow-gold.

Given the abundance of leafy outdoor gold in autumn, a sure head-turner is any tree or shrub with red foliage, and many gardeners satisfy their colour cravings with flaming domestic species such as Japanese maple and Virginia Creeper.

Things are no different in local forests, where indigenous trees and shrubs form a mosaic of gold AND red leaves. The foliage of three wild maple trees turn various shades when days shorten and nights grow cold.

The Pacific Northwest has its own red maple leaf – vine maple (Acer circinatum) – a shrubby species with rosy autumn leaves growing alongside the Campbell River estuary (Myrt Thompson trail). These ruby gems hold their own amidst showers of the much larger golden Bigleaf maple leaves.

Perfectly-shaped 7-9 lobed leaves are an eye-catching sight where they grow in wet places – their preferred environment. While the vine maple occurs naturally in many coastal areas, city crews planted this species alongside the estuary as streamside re-vegetation about a dozen years ago.

The third maple species native to coastal British Columbia is Douglas maple (Acer glabrum), a shrub or small tree growing to 10 metres in height. Douglas maple leaves turn bright yellow-orange or crimson in fall. Often overlooked, it’s a proud Canadian maple and well worth knowing.

Maples aren’t the only leaves providing wild seasonal colour. Oregon-grape (Mahonia) is a shrubby evergreen species holly-like leaves. In autumn, many of its leathery ‘evergreen’ leaves turn reddish-purple. A veritable forest of Oregon-grape spreads as far as the eye can see at the western entrance to the Canyon View Trail alongside the Campbell River.

Red and yellow autumn leaves differ in the way they change colour. When days shorten, green pigments in the leaves (known as chlorophyll) diminish, then yellow pigments already inside become dominant and the leaves turn yellow. Green pigments only masked he leaves’ true yellow colour.

A different process causes leaves to turn red. As the chlorophyll diminishes in autumn, the leaves of some species produce anthocyanin, a red pigment not previously present.

Mother Earth supplied a variety of colour for Canada’s west coast, and indigenous species with red autumn leaves provide a vibrant jolt on nature walks. Native trees and shrubs with reddish autumn foliage include: evergreen blackberry, highbush-cranberry, ocean spray, Pacific crabapple, Pacific dogwood, red-osier dogwood, salal, Sitka mountain-ash and saskatoon.

Smurfs and gnomes and scary ‘shrooms
Island Wild for Fri. Oct. 30, 2009

The eye-popping Fly Agaric mushroom creates a great Halloween vignette as a gnome umbrella or spider floor. Photo Jim Dubois.

This most notorious Amanita (muscaria) gained fame as the classic toadstool of Alice in Wonderland. Photo Jim Dubois.

On October 31st, scores of little spooks and goblins will be out ringing doorbells during the annual Halloween candy blitz. It’s a fun season, and imaginations run wild with decorations of spiders, webs, ghosts, witches, and other scary props.

It’s also a good time to remember that some of planet Earth’s most frightening organisms are not made of plastic; they’re living out in the lawn, alongside a favourite nature trail or even in a local schoolyard.

Picture a blood-red flying saucer with white windows; or a red umbrella coated with pale patches. Of all the mushroom photos and enquiries that arrive in my inbox, none are more plentiful than the bright red and gravely toxic Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria).

Once upon a time, this mushroom found favour as an insecticide, crushed in a saucer of milk to attract flies, which became stupefied and drowned, thus the common names: Fly Agaric or Fly Amanita.

This most notorious Amanita first gained fame as the classic toadstool of Alice in Wonderland, and then a whole new generation became fans when it was chosen as the shape of the puffy-roofed Smurf house.

Every October, as if on cue, this eye-popping and unmistakable late-fruiting fungus springs up out of the ground to delight and fascinate mushroom enthusiasts and curious passers-by alike. Whether in green grass or on the woodland floor, it’s virtually impossible to miss the shocking stop-sign colouration.


Amanita muscaria is a gilled mushroom coloured deep red (sometimes orange-red) with a convex to flat cap often sprinkled with flaky white patches (of veil remnant). In its early stages, this species emerges as a rounded button-top, soon growing to a very large, flattened saucer-shape up to 25 cm (10 in) across.

Although this species is distinct and easy to identify, one way to verify is to make a spore print. Place a mushroom cap (stem removed) gill-side down on a piece of black art paper and cover with a glass bowl for several hours or overnight.

The microscopic white dust-like particles that fall from the gills are known as spores – the fungus’s reproductive parts. And while Amanita muscaria produces white spores, other species produce spores of different colours.

This brightly coloured beauty is arguably the most famous of all toxic mushrooms, and the Amanita family includes the most deadly wild mushrooms in the world. Amanita virosa is the main cause of fatalities, but many other members of the genus are poisonous to some degree.

Incredibly, poisonings from ingesting Amanita muscaria or other Amanitas are very common, despite the fact that mycologists stress no species of genus Amanita should ever be consumed.

Fungophobes can rest assured that toxic fungi species can actually be fun…especially at Halloween. Just don’t eat them…don’t even nibble.

E-mail Christine at: wildernesswest@shaw.ca