Coastal Fir
by Kathy Bassett
Title
Coastal Fir
Artist
Kathy Bassett
Medium
Photograph - Photography - Digital Fine Art
Description
Placed! in Fine Art Nature Photography and Paper Textures contest. Appreciation to those who voted and those that did not! ...Taken on a sunshiny day and bringing a bit of textured fun to the scene, Ruckle Provincial Park on Salt Spring Island provides views that are majestically simple. Ruckle Provincial Park is one of the most beautiful parks in the southern Gulf Islands. Pitch your tent in the grassy meadow overlooking Swanson Channel then lie back and relax, watching pleasure boats and ferries sail by in a stately and colourful parade. With its 7 kilometres of shoreline, rocky headlands and tiny coves and bays, Ruckle Park provides hours or even days of enjoyable exploration. A mixture of forest, field and shore habitats makes it one of the most productive wildlife viewing areas on Salt Spring Island. Watch for sea lions and killer whales out in the sea, and mink and river otter cavorting along the shoreline. Tidal pools are filled with a brightly-coloured world of crab, mussel, limpet, oyster, sculpin, starfish and more.Scuba divers frequent the waters off Ruckle Park, drifting among the castle-like caves or floating above the bountiful ocean floor, where they will find a profusion of Plumose anemones, sponges, nudibranches, octopi, seastars and giant barnacles. On shore, birdwatchers can often catch sight of cormorants, grebes, guillemots, eagles, grouse or quail.In addition to its natural beauty, Ruckle Park is an area rich in cultural history. Irish emigrant Henry Ruckle first homesteaded here in 1872, marrying Ella Anna Christensen in 1877. Their descendants have farmed the Salt Spring property for more than a century. The Ruckle family donated their land to BC Parks in 1972 for the creation of Ruckle Provincial Park. The family still operates the Active Farm area of Ruckle Park and maintains several residences through a Life Tenancy Agreement established with BC Parks at the time of the donation.The wood of most firs is considered unsuitable for general timber use, and is often used as pulp or for the manufacture of plywood and rough timber. Because this genus has no insect or decay resistance qualities after logging, it is generally recommended for construction purposes as indoor use only (e.g. indoor drywall framing). This wood left outside cannot be expected to last more than 12 to 18 months, depending on the type of climate it is exposed to. It is commonly referred to by several different names, including North American timber, SPF (spruce, pine, fir) and whitewood.Nordmann Fir, Noble Fir, Fraser Fir and Balsam Fir are popular Christmas trees, generally considered to be the best for this purpose, with aromatic foliage that does not shed many needles on drying out. Many are also decorative garden trees, notably Korean Fir and Fraser Fir, which produce brightly coloured cones even when very young, still only 1�2 m (3�6 ft) tall. Other firs can grow anywhere between 30 and 236 feet tall. Fir Tree Appreciation Day is June 18.
Firs are used as food plants by the caterpillars of some Lepidoptera species, including Chionodes abella (recorded on White Fir), Autumnal Moth, Conifer Swift (a pest of Balsam Fir), The Engrailed, Grey Pug, Mottled Umber, Pine Beauty and the tortrix moths Cydia illutana (whose caterpillars are recorded to feed on European Silver Fir cone scales) and C. duplicana (on European Silver Fir bark around injuries or canker.
Uploaded
October 14th, 2013
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