Foray Newfoundland & Labrador 2005
by Andrus Voitk
This year's Foray was a double event, with one session in spectacular Gros Morne National Park Sept 2-5 and a second session in the stunning Labrador Straits Sept 6-9. As in past years, the Foray was sponsored by The Humber Natural History Society, aided by its several kind partners: The Department of Environment & Conservation, The Hon Tom Osborne, Minister, Gros Morne National Park, Gros Morne Cooperating Assiciation, the Western Newfoundland Model Forest, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College of Memorial University, Seaview Restaurant & Cabins in Forteau and Altius Minerals Corporation.
Mushroom enthusiasts from the USA, Canada, Holland and Newfoundland and Labrador foraged the autumn woods for mushrooms. The weather couldn't have been better and the mushrooms were out in full force. The experts were kept busy: 208 species were identified in Gros Morne and 144 in Labrador, with an overlap of 48 for a total of 304, bringing our three-year cumulative species count to 451.
This year's big game encounter was a bull moose, who returned to camp each evening to pose for close range photos and videos. Evening activities consisted of a reception by the Department of Environment and Conservation and a mushroom cook-up. Other than that, the evenings were filled with an interesting program by our experts, local and visitors.
Reports of Foray Newfoundland & Labrador 2003 - 2005 can be viewed or downloaded from the Humber Natural History Society's web page. Meanwhile, plans for 2006 are already underway on the Avalon Peninsula September 15-17, 2006. A Preliminary Report of Avalon mycoflora and Advance Notice are also on the web site; updates will be added when the date nears. The combination of enthusiastic foragers, Newfoundland hospitality, a stellar group of experts and a new and exciting location with some unusual mycoflora should produce an exciting foray and several more new species!
The full foray report is available in a 488 KB PDF.
Photographs:
Churchmoose
The resident churchmoose, posing while trimming the chapel bushes, which he processes into Stropharia alcis substrate. Photo: Barry May.
Saddle Island
The whole group spent two hours foraging the entire Saddle Island. You'd think there's not much on these coastal barrens but almost every kind of Omphalina was collected there. Photo: Jamie Graham.
Foghorn
The crew by the lighthouse at Point l'Amour. The lab and sorting tables were in the adjoining building, and the experts' quarters next door, allowing the identifiers to enjoy the foghorn bellow every 45 seconds, night and day, three days running. Photo: Roger Smith.
