Late season black lighting fun, part 1

The last couple of times I've been out hiking at Rondeau, I've noticed significantly fewer birds and species. I suspect that cold front of a few days ago, along with the very high winds associated with it which reached ~90km/hr on occasion, probably caused some of them to move on. Hopefully they have arrived at a place more suitable to spend this time of the year.

There is still a good variety of birds around, and as the deer herd reduction process winds up in the next few days, access to the park will be back to normal, giving birders a chance to scour the various habitats to see what birds might be available for the upcoming bird count. Who knows what that cold front and wind blew in from somewhere else, awaiting a birder's eyes?

In the meantime, I want to show a few more moth and other night-time invertebrate photos. I'm way behind. For example I haven't even touched the September black lighting results from several trips to Rondeau. A quick estimate indicates I had documented at least 80-90 species. I had set up at various places to sample various habitats, depending on prevailing wind. These included the Group Campground, the area near the corner of Rondeau Road/Gardiner Ave, as well as the forested and grassy area by the tennis courts. They were all quite profitable.

Here are some of the ones I captured on my digital film. Some you may recognize.

Ailanthus Webworm

Ambiguous Moth

American Idia

Bicolored Pyrausta

Bidens Borer

Black Duckweed Moth

Black-banded Brocade

Canadian Melanolophila

Celery Leaftier

Chestnut-marked Pondweed

Clothes Moth

Pink-mottled Cochylid

A Grass-veneer species

Bent-lined Carpet

Bronzy Macrochilo

And as usual, there are various non-moth critters that show up for the fun.

A Sword-tailed Cricket species

Assassin Bug

A Backswimmer species

Brown-and-green Stinkbug

 I think this is the first time I have ever had a Common Green Darner come for a visit. It sat quite still and gave some excellent opportunity for close-ups!

Late autumn birds, butterflies and a snake!

The weather has been fairly typical autumn-like, with a hint of winter some days and a reminder of some of the warmth of early autumn on others. And that translates into some birds of winter, as well as some hold-overs of late summer and early autumn.

The snow of a couple of weeks ago was a contrast to what we had been experiencing, and with it came some late autumn and early winter migrants such as American Pipits, which were widely scattered and as abundant as I had seen them in several years.....

 ....as well as good numbers of Fox Sparrows, here seen scratching around in the less snow covered area under some Red Cedar trees.

Ruby-crowned Kinglets were fairly abundant. They are in constant motion, making the attempts at photography challenging indeed. There are usually far more photos slightly blurry or out of focus than there are keepers, and the delete button gets used quite regularly.

 As Ruby-crowns diminish in numbers, their equally active Golden-crowned relatives increase.

 A few hardy thrushes occur, such as Hermit Thrush. On one occasion it seemed like it was a 'thrush' day, as I had about a dozen Hermit Thrushes, about 15 American Robins and an equal number of Eastern Bluebirds, all members of the Thrush family.

Eastern Phoebes, a member of the flycatcher family which seems to be quite adaptable to feeding on non-fly items, such as berries, have been noted regularly in small numbers. On occasion one will still be around for the Christmas Bird Count coming up in mid December.

Shy Phoebe

All through that were a few lingering shorebirds. Dunlin and Killdeer were widely scattered along shorelines, and even in still flooded fields.

 And then a warm-up happened, perhaps the only time we will experience anything like 'Indian Summer' this year. For one day only it was unseasonably pleasant, with bright sun, very little wind, and temperatures reaching 9-10C. And the wildlife responded, however briefly. There were butterflies flitting around at Rondeau, including this Eastern Comma......

 ...and an Eastern Garter Snake was seen stretched out across a sunny spot on a paved road at the park. It seemed hesitant to move, but I encouraged it to move to the side so it wouldn't become a victim of an unobservant (or uncaring) driver.

 I heard, and then saw, this cricket busily 'singing' its song at the base of the Visitor Centre siding.

A few other bird species were a pleasant surprise. Red-headed Woodpeckers used to be quite common during the spring and summer period, but in recent decades are quite unusual. Having one linger this late is even more unusual for this migrant.

 Baltimore Orioles are usually many hundreds of kilometres south of here by now. For some reason this brightly coloured male is content (?) to stick around a well stocked feeder just north of the Visitor Centre. It isn't always easy to find, as it appears out of nowhere and may spend a bit of time in a willow tree, which typically has some leaves remaining. It makes it difficult for the camera to focus.

 But eventually it may come to the feeder, which the owners have stocked with jelly with a few meal worms mixed in. Not the kind of spread I would like on my toast, but the oriole seems to enjoy this source of protein. Last year there was a female Baltimore Oriole that was seen erratically in the Rondeau campground even into January. Maybe this is the year that we will be able to add the species to the Christmas Bird Count.

A couple of weeks ago there was an immature Red Phalarope which showed up at the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons. I got a few photos on that cold, snowy day and included them on a blog post shortly afterwards. Red Phalaropes are quite irregular for this area. We sometimes go for several years without any reports at all. But just this past weekend, an adult in its winter/basic plumage was seen at Erieau. Fortunately it stuck around for both weekend days, giving numerous birders a chance to see it.

It was quite cooperative, and a life bird for some of those that came to view it. Cameras were clicking steadily, and photos have shown up on numerous eBird lists and blogs. Fellow bloggers Dwayne Murphy and Ric McArthur were there at the same time I was, and blogger Blake Mann had been there earlier.

Sandhill Cranes and Tundra Swans are harbingers of mid to late autumn, and they have not disappointed this year. While the cranes used to be a rarity in this area, it is not unusual to see or hear several dozen to several hundred if you are at the right place at the right time. This first photo is part of a group of about 135 I saw today out near St. Clair NWA. I saw about 235 there a few days ago.

Incoming!

Tundra Swans are around by the thousands, mostly in the fields near Lake St. Clair and the NWA. On occasion 3-4000 may be widely scattered in one very large field, but more typically smaller flocks are scattered over various field throughout the western portion of the former Dover Township.

 And almost right on time, the first of the season Snowy Owls have appeared. I had been out several times over the previous couple of weeks checking out their usual haunts, without seeing any. However most of the crops of corn, beans and carrots, etc., are now off, making it more conducive for the owls which like wide open spaces, as well as for those of us looking for them. I photographed this one today in a recently harvested corn field. In recent years it is not all that uncommon to find several in a day during the peak of winter. Who knows how many will appear this year? Regardless, it is always satisfying to see the first one of the season.

 

Deer Herd Reduction Continues....

Rondeau Provincial Park is home to lots of deer, as many readers will know. The number increases in the late fall, as crops outside the park are harvested.

But in the absence of the usual predators, the number of deer in the park continues to climb. While some people relish the idea of seeing many deer with ease during a visit to the park, the health of the forest and many other species that rely on a healthy forest suffers to greater or lesser degrees.
I wrote a fairly extensive blog several years ago providing lots of background on this event and the biological rationale for it. If you want to read it, check it out here.

Therefore a regular cull of the deer is undertaken, and as some readers will be aware, this has been happening for a few days now. In talking with some park staff recently, the cull is going well, but will continue for a short period. In fact on November 21, 29 and 30, the cull will take place during the first part of the day, with the park being closed during that time. It will re-open by around 12:30 p.m. On December 7, which is the final day of the cull, the park will be closed the entire day. On days not listed here, the park is open as usual.

The hunters will be shooting from a blind, well camouflaged, as the following photo shows.

Hopefully an adequate number of deer will be removed so the remaining deer will have a healthy winter, and with healthy young born next year!

Autumn reflections

I had planned on posting this a few days ago, but during some recent outings, the birds took priority, especially due to the presence of lingering shorebirds. So I will take the opportunity in this post, to highlight some of the reasons autumn is one of my favourite times of year.

Some folks have told me recently that autumn is not very interesting to them. The forests have lost their greenery and flowers are long gone. Reptiles and amphibians are quickly disappearing, going into their cold weather senescence underground. Birds are fewer and certainly quieter. Even people are not out and about as much, making the trails quiet.

In one sense, these are the exact reasons I look forward to autumn (aside from the fact that October is the month Marie and I were married 43 years ago :-).

Instead of the constant change of wildflowers, various shades of the green growth, and the natural areas being full of action that is sometimes hard to keep up with in spring and summer, autumn can be a time of reflection. We all need quieter times, not the continued busyness that dominates our lives. Certainly the colours change quickly from green to shades of gold, yellow or red before turning brown and then disappearing altogether. And then the colours are even more muted, with varying shades of gray dominating until the white stuff appears.

I had been up to the Sydenham River Nature Reserve not that long ago. It is a relatively recent acquisition by Ontario Nature and is located on the border of Lambton and Middlesex counties. It is a deciduous forest in a largely agricultural landscape, with both the Sydenham River and an unnamed creek going through it. I didn't get to a lot of it, as the boundaries are not well marked, and it is surrounded by private property with numerous No Trespassing/No Hunting signs, so I didn't venture too far this time.  The stream in the following photos is just of the unnamed creek, not the Sydenham.

There are some nice specimens of Common Hackberry here, certainly a Carolinian species that is not all that common even in the Carolinian Forest Zone of Ontario.

Closer to home, I have gone hiking at Rondeau on several occasions. The lake has been riled up from time to time, providing some good photographic moments along the lakeshore. There have also been some serious erosion problems, but at least at the park's south point, there aren't any human habitations under threat.

On occasion, the lake can be quite placid.

The grasses dominating the sand dunes have turned a golden brown. Little Bluestem is one of the most common grasses, and their backlit stems show the fluffy seeds.

On one of my hikes, I was on the lookout for evidence of a somewhat rare orchid. Orchids at this time of year, you ask? Well yes, at least in the case of Puttyroot (Aplectrum hyemale). Its leaves are most visible from November to April, if there isn't any snow on the ground. When it puts up its flowering stem in late May and early June, the single basal leaf has dried up and disappeared. This first image shows a very fresh leaf.

 Here, about a dozen leaves have emerged through some recently fallen maple leaves.

 Only a small percentage of plants will flower in a given year, typically around 10%. Here is a dried up stem with a few capsules.

 One one of my hikes, I came across an unusual sight. The green plant is Maidenhair Fern, a fairly delicate fern species. Most of them by the time of year I took this (Nov 7)  are quite brown and dried up. I guess due to the southern location in the park, and the lake effect which minimized any killing frost, this cluster was still green. It looked quite out of the ordinary to be so green, but with a bit of fresh snow on it.

Due to the temperature of the lake being warmer than the more quickly declining inland temperatures, this 'lake effect', results in the leaves being slower to change from green to gold to brown to gone. Even the south end of the park is delayed compared to the north end. Regardless, the changes throughout the park are fairly rapid in just a few weeks time. This next series of photos were taken along Bennett Avenue.

October 23

October 27

November 7

November 14!

For what it is worth, winter isn't officially here for another 5 weeks!