Skunks' Misery

Skunk's Misery is, in spite of its name, a fascinating place to explore. The majority of its several hundred hectares sits in southwestern Middlesex County, but some of the natural areas in immediately adjacent Chatham-Kent, Elgin and Lambton have been included by most people who are assessing natural areas.

There are various explanations as to how this natural area got its name, but they are rather vague and I'm not certain which story is the most correct, so suffice to say I will leave it to your imagination.

Skunk's Misery is a provincially significant Area of Natural and Scientific Interest as well as a provincially significant wetland. The huge area and relatively intact forest that includes large areas of interior forest, not to mention harbouring a large number of species at risk, are cause to celebrate the continued existence of this site. A little over half of it is owned by the county of Middlesex, the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority or Thames Talbot Land Trust (TTLT). The rest is privately owned. There are a few unofficial trails through some of the publicly owned sections.

I was recently contacted by representatives of the TTLT to see if I could help them locate an endangered orchid on a property that they are in the process of acquiring. It seems I was the last person to see this orchid back in the mid 1990s. The property has had some changes to it since then, mainly some timber harvest. So earlier this week I met two representatives of the TTLT and off we went to see if my recall would get us to the right place to find this endangered orchid.

Anyone with any experience at Skunk's Misery is well aware of the hordes of mosquitoes that inhabit this upland/lowland forest complex. It is usually fine until early May, but after that all bets are off. If you are prepared for the onslaught both mentally and physically, they can be endured, but if not......

Getting organized at the roadside was a hint of the potentially challenging conditions we may be facing in surveying the interior, as those pesky winged creatures sought us out. But prepared and undaunted, we entered. And surprisingly, the mosquitoes were not as bad inside the woodland as they were at the roadside! It was a normal day temperature-wise, but I attribute the lack of mosquitoes inside the woodland to the extremely dry conditions of the spring in recent weeks. Standing water was almost nowhere to be found; areas where normally one would need rubber boots to get through, one could walk through in running shoes with no fear of wet or even damp feet.

As a side note, a recent media article suggested that the Black Fly should be the national insect. I disagree. While Black Flies can be be amazingly annoying, their season is relatively short, typically only a month or two, and even then primarily in areas where there is fast flowing water. The highly oxygenated water is critical for their reproduction. Mosquitoes, on the other hand are much more widespread across the country, and are active for a much longer period of time. So if there ever was an attempt to establish a national insect like there is currently to establish a national bird, I would think that the mosquito should win in a land-slide....but not necessarily because of popularity.

Back to Skunk's Misery. There are some sizable trees here, since portions of it have not been harvested for quite a few decades. The large Tuliptree in the image below measures about 158 cm in diameter.

We did manage to get to the spot where I recall seeing the orchid. But much to our chagrin, there was no evidence of it. Maybe the changes to the forest in the last couple of decades were the reason; or maybe we were a tad too early.....perhaps if we return in a couple of weeks, it may have appeared. But given the amount of rainfall in the last few days, I would expect the mosquito population to have exploded to gargantuan numbers.

This was one of the more pleasant visits to this natural area, due to the lack of mosquitoes. In several hours I only had a few dozen mosquitoes harassing me. Even after we had completed our search for the orchid, I decided to explore other areas without fear of losing too much blood. I didn't even bother with repellent.

There were other things to take note of on this site visit, although with the profusion of leaves out, birds were more likely to be heard than seen. Things like Hooded Warbler, which Skunk's Misery is known for, as well as Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Yellow-throated Vireo, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Scarlet Tanager were all heard.

Butterflies were present in small numbers, including several Giant Swallowtails.

Giant Swallowtail resting on Mayapple

Spicebush Swallowtails and Eastern Tiger Swallowtails were also observed, but they were on a mission and were definitely not sticking around to satisfy my photographic tendencies. The usual mix of Red Admirals and Question Marks were seen briefly. A few Juvenal's Duskywings, on the other hand, were more cooperative, although they are quite small and challenging to photograph.

Several female Common Whitetails were zipping by, and one hung around for a few moments as shown in the next image.

We missed the majority of the spring wildflower display, but there were things like this Large-flowered Bellwort still to be seen.

Skunk's Misery is always worth a visit!

Have you seen anything?

Quite often when I go along a trail, people I encounter ask that question. While I know that this is posed mostly by birders who want to know what interesting birds I have seen that they should be hopeful in finding themselves, I often pause before answering because in reality, there has been a lot to see. But what I am seeing may not just be birds. Birds of course are fascinating, but they are just one part of the forest ecosystem that we are hiking through, and really are only a small part of it. The trees, the wildflowers, the ferns, the reptiles and amphibians, the multitude of insects......the diversity is enormous! Sometimes you may not see the animal itself, but you may see evidence of its being there earlier.....leaves that have been munched on by the caterpillar of a butterfly that is now flitting along the trail; a pile of poop which attracts butterflies and other insects; a nipped off branch that is evidence of a deer, or rabbit. And if there aren't specific things in those groups of things to see, there is always the shadows and shapes of the many things that are everywhere. The light is always changing, moment by moment as the sun travels across the sky causing the shadows to change at the forest floor level. At one point a wildflower may be in complete shadow and a few minutes later it is in brilliant sunshine.

The peak of the spring bird migration has now passed and resident species are settling down to nest. The forests of Rondeau can be full of bird song at various times of day. At other times it is relatively quiet, but there are other things to take note of. While I was on the boardwalk near where the Prothonotary Warblers are nesting, this Five-lined Skink approached me. It came to within about half a metre of my foot before it scampered off in the other direction.

Just over the edge of the boardwalk, this Green Frog was resting, appropriately, amongst Frog-bit....it is the circular plant on the frog's back. Frog-bit is not native, but showed up at Rondeau in the marsh back in the mid-1970s and has been expanding to quiet waterways ever since. The tiny floating plants are one of the three species of duckweed that occur at Rondeau, and the tiniest floating plants in this image are Watermeal.

At ground level in the forest are plants such as this Canada Violet, one of two species of white violets occurring at Rondeau. The other species is almost finished flowering now.

Another flowering plant which is quite abundant in the richer part of the forest is Sweet Cicely. The individual flowers are quite small. In a few weeks you will hardly notice the plant at all, but a bit later you will notice them for an uncomfortable reason: if you are walking off the trail, you will end up with sharp pointed black seeds stuck into your socks or pants, poking into your skin. As you pull the seeds out, you are dispersing them to perhaps a new area.

Sweet Cicely

In a different location, I was checking for another pair of Prothonotary Warblers that nested in a box last year. I didn't see any activity this time, but I did encounter a large Leopard Frog.....

.....and a Snapping Turtle. One doesn't often see snappers in the sloughs, but they are there.

There are a lot of Tuliptrees at Rondeau....it is the unofficial flagship tree species for the park, as it is the largest provincial park in the Carolinian Life Zone which Tuliptrees are more or less limited to in Canada. Appropriately there is even a trail with that name. One of the highlights at this time of year is to see the numerous flowers on these trees. Unfortunately the flowers are typically very high up in the tree, since they require a lot of light. There are a few open grown Tuliptrees, and where you find them, there are lower branches which often have flowers. Two of the best spots to see them at about eye level are in the campground (not far from site 71) and at the north end of the parking lot for the Marsh Trail.

 Some of the flowers will have pollinators visiting, such as this honey bee in the image below.

There are still birds to be heard and seen. Acadian Flycatchers have one of their Canadian strongholds at Rondeau, and there are currently at least 4-5 known singing males or pairs right along the trails or roads. Who knows how many are back in the less accessible part of the forest.

In more open areas of the forest, one may come encounter an Orchard Oriole, another southern species. The black and chestnut brown pattern of the adult male are unmistakable.

Butterflies are becoming more abundant. There were several Spicebush Swallowtails, appropriately, at the Spicebush Trail parking lot.

 Question Mark butterflies are also fairly widespread.

At the Visitor Centre, a Blue Jay was taking a bath, apparently unconcerned who was watching and photographing the event.

Near Shrewsbury, there is a small colony of Great Blue Herons nesting in a half-dead willow tree. These shots were taken from the marsh edge, but I hope to get the kayak out one of these days and get different shots.

Adult heron approaching the nest tree

Arriving at the nest, the adults greet each other

On the sandy shores of the lake, including at Erieau, there are some rare plants. This next image is a close-up of the flowers of Sand Cherry, ranked as S3 (rare) in Ontario. There is an abundance of these flowering shrubs at the Laverne Kelly Memorial Park at Erieau, but it is very uncommon at Rondeau.

The Blenheim Sewage Lagoons are always good for a different diversity of wildlife. The sprinkler cells vary in their condition from one visit to the next. On occasion hundreds of shorebirds, especially Dunlin, are present. But mixed in may be some much rarer shorebirds, such as this White-rumped Sandpiper.

For some reason, a lone Tundra Swan is still present at the lagoon. Presumably it cannot fly.

Not that long ago, I had a Cattle Egret in breeding plumage arrive at the lagoon, circle around a bit and then land in the grassy area.

In an unmowed part of the lagoon, I flushed out a small sparrow.

Given the way it allowed me to get very close before flushing, I assumed it had a nest nearby and so upon closer examination I discovered this nest of three hatchlings and two eggs.

Solitude returns....but there is lots to see!

The last couple of weeks or so have been pretty chaotic at many birding hotspots in southern Ontario. It is totally understandable, given the concentration of many of the more colourful feathered critters, which are especially easy to see before the opening leaves obscure them. However the concentrations of birds as most birders would like, were not all that plentiful. A case in point was on this past weekend, one of the busiest in the early season for most southern Ontario provincial parks. Birders, as well as other park users enjoying this holiday weekend were visible in large numbers. But the birds were not.

I chose the less travelled trails, such as one of the middle sections of Harrison Trail. In about an hour and a half, I saw two other birders and two cyclists.

There were a few warblers, including Canada, American Redstart and this male Hooded Warbler which was singing up a storm. It looked like it was in good habitat....will this be the year that this species at risk is confirmed breeding at Rondeau?

Along the deer exclosure off of Bennett Ave, I had two Pileated Woodpeckers right close by. They were both males, vying for territory, it seemed, and were on opposite sides of this tree trunk at times, but those photos didn't turn out.

Other resident species are easier to find, such as Great Crested Flycatcher and Eastern Kingbird.

Great Crested Flycatcher

Eastern Kingbird

Even combing the forest edges for several hours on the weekend would only bring the average warbler list to between 15 and 20 species. But later in the day, warblers were seen concentrated in unexpected places. In a cluster of spruces and Red Cedars situated on a vacant cottage lot along Lakeshore Road, I had 15 species of warblers in about 35 minutes, certainly a greater diversity than I had seen that day to that point. Unfortunately they were hard to photograph as they very actively foraged among the coniferous branches in the fog. The only shot that turned out reasonably well was this one of a female Black-throated Blue Warbler.

Since the holiday weekend, the park has been considerably quieter. Even the busiest trails are virtually empty.

Spicebush Trail

One can sprawl out on the trail to photograph wildflowers and not be worried about impeding the progress of a birder with his face to the skies.

Foamflower

Foamflower close-up

 There are hundreds of violets around the trail. This Long-spurred Violet, easily told by its long hind spur and pale bluish petals, is one of the most abundant right now.

One of the tiniest flowers, and one that even wildflower enthusiasts do not see often, is Mitrewort. One has to get on hands and knees with a hand lens to really appreciate the intricate detail of its tiny flower, which measures only 3-4 mm in diameter in real life.

Mitrewort....overview

The sloughs are awash with colour, more now than at any other time of year, as the Yellow Water Buttercup is abundant and easily seen from the trails.

Orchids are starting to appear....but only if you know where to look. There are two species in bloom right now: Large Yellow Ladies'-slipper and Showy Orchis. The former is one I have seen at three isolated locations in the park. One has disappeared due to vegetation succession; the easiest one to find did not flower this year; the largest population is well off the trail in a remote area and has not been checked.

Large Yellow Ladies'-slipper from a previous year

 Showy Orchis is more widely spread, but not abundant. It is much smaller and more easily missed.

Yesterday was a great day to be out. I saw my first American Lady and Eastern Tailed Blue butterflies.

American Lady

A Common Nighthawk was noted on the horizontal branch of a large oak tree.

Wild Columbine is abundant along forest edges and openings. Hummingbirds can be seen hovering under the delicate flowers, seeking the nectar. That is one photo I am still hoping for......

The Tuliptree Trail continues to be a favourite spot for birders, and for good reason. The resident pair of Prothonotary Warblers provide lots of entertainment. At one point, I had this male Prothonotary foraging almost right overhead, and sometimes almost at eye level and too close to focus! These shots were hardly cropped at all.

And a Louisiana Waterthrush, normally a warbler species that appears in late April and very early May, just showed up in the last few days. It is a species that has nested in the past.....I photographed a nesting pair less than 250 metres from where I took this shot yesterday......maybe it will nest again this year?