A couple of endangered orchids

 Orchids are fascinating to find. There have been 19 species known from Rondeau, with all but one being native. Of course probably the best known of these is the Nodding Pogonia, which for the past several decades, has only been known in Canada from Rondeau. And of course due to its small size and extreme rarity, is probably the least often seen, as its whereabouts are kept fairly confidential. It only flowers in August, so I will feature that species a little later in the season.

One of the orchids that I like to keep close tabs on at Rondeau is the Puttyroot (Aplectrum hyemale).

 

  

I have mentioned this species in previous posts, as during the late fall and through until spring, its leaves are quite distinctive and visible. But as it puts up a flowering stem, the leaves have all but disappeared, or at least look very shriveled. I have seen this species in 6 different areas of Rondeau, although two of the spots have either not been checked in recent years, or in the case of one, seems to have disappeared altogether. I managed to find a new population earlier this year. 

In several of the places where it has been found the number of leaves have been quite few, usually less than about 6. The number of leaves in a population is the best idea to get some sense of how many plants there are, as very few will put up flowering stems, which is why I try and check on the various populations in early spring. The largest population that I have been following for several decades, have had as many as about 75 leaves on occasion, but I have seldom seen more than about 15 flowering stems appearing in that one. This year in that population, I only saw two flowering stems.

Another endangered orchid is the Large Twayblade (Liparis liliifolia). It is not, at least at this time, known to occur at Rondeau, but it might be tucked away somewhere and yet to be found! It is known from Clear Creek Forest Provincial Park in a rather out of the way location. When I first went out this late spring to see how it was progressing, this is what it looked like.

 

And this is what it looked like in peak flowering condition shown next. Another individual in leaf form only is visible right next to it. Maybe it will flower next year?? 

 Close-up views of the individual, delicate flowers are always fun to photograph!

And while I was looking for this one, another species was developing close by. It is the Fen Orchid (Liparis loesellii), not an endangered species, but not common either. It occurs in one out-of-the-way location at Rondeau, although I haven't looked for it lately. A careful look at this individual will show a very small flowering stem starting to appear, as well as the remains of last year's flowering/seed stem.

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Lots of colours and diversity!

 First of all, I need to apologize for not responding to the many comments readers have shared with me over the past few months. I used to get immediate notifications when a comment was made, but something changed, and so comments that were made since the beginning of 2025 seemed to be tucked away in a different manner, and I only came across them today. I have tried to respond to all of those that were made since then!

June is the prime month for Tulip Trees to show off their impressive flowers. 

 The Tulip Tree Trail is one of my favourite trails at Rondeau for various reasons that I might explain in my other post. At any rate, there are lots of Tulip Trees, but unfortunately for the normal hiker, the flowers are hard to see as the flowers like lots of sunlight so are most abundant near the uppermost parts of the tree. A telephoto lens was necessary to get this next photo.

At ground level, fortunately, there are lots to see at this stage of the season. It is always nice to lock eyes on a butterfly!

Northern Crescent

Wildflowers are more apt to stay put for the camera. This next flower is a Narrow-leaved Blue-eyed Grass.

Another critter came into view: it is a Morbid Owlet, a moth, which was not very active and preferred the shadier parts along the trail. Not sure who comes up with these names, as I don't see anything morbid about it.

Butterflies are fairly active especially on sunnier days. If it doesn't get too hot, I expect they will really like the next few days as it becomes the warmest of the year so far!

Little Wood-satyr

A colourful wildflower that likes open grassy areas, such as at the edge of a prairie/savannah with lots of sun is this next one: Hairy Beardtongue, a native species.

 

 Purple-flowered Raspberry is starting to be more noticeable at the woodlot edges, as the deep red flower appear. Although it is a member of the raspberry family, the fruits are not edible.

And in a few places, one might encounter the Endangered, Red Mulberry. There are a few places scattered around Rondeau where this species can be found, and it is in flower right now.

 In some of the wetter areas, one will come across this next wildflower, Tufted Loosestrife.

Also along trail edges, but not a native species, is Common Mouse-ear Chickweed, named because the 5 petals are partially split, looking like a pair of ears.

And then another moth comes into view. It is known as a Black-bit Moth.

 An even smaller creature resting on a leaf was this Basal Click Beetle, barely a centimetre in total length.

Not a flower in the normal sense of what one might expect, is this next one: American Cancer-root, formerly known as Squawroot. It is parasitic on the roots of various trees, mainly oaks and beech trees, although this particular one was part of a clump at the base of a White Pine. But since the roots of trees intermingle underground, it could easily have been connected to an oak, which was nearby. It doesn't have leaves and flowers like most flowering plants, and what is seen above ground is really just the flowering/fruiting body.

One can come across Ontario's only lizard at Rondeau, the Common Five-line Skink. I know I have featured them in recent posts, but I thought this one was worth showing. I refer to these particular ones  as 'Love Skinks'. The male has the orange facial area. I have never seen a pair of them this close, and with the male having his right front arm over the back of the female!

While we were watching this pair, we had what we determined was likely a Short-tailed Weasel pop up on the boardwalk less than two metres of my feet, grab something and disappear. I suspect that as we had slowly walked along the boardwalk approaching this spot, the weasel dropped what it had in its mouth, and scampered away, but was reluctant to give up its meal and so returned. It all happened so fast I was unable to get a photo of the weasel. I didn't get a solid look at what it came back for, but the person I was with said it looked like a small skink, perhaps part of the extended family of the pair we were watching. I had seen young skinks in this immediate vicinity on previous visits, so it was entirely likely. Certainly an interesting time watching nature in action, much to the chagrin of the little skink.
 

Visitors to Rondeau earlier this season likely would have noticed where the park's prescribed burn efforts were this year. Several areas looked like this:

In only a short period of time, the grasses responded well, and even now, several weeks later, the growth has been quite lush, as expected. The burn keeps the numerous shrubs, some of which are not native and aggressive, in check, so that the native grasses and wildflowers continue to represent an important part of the park's vegetation mix.

I was going to feature some more early season orchids, but that may be in the next blog. And check out my new-themed blog, Life Is A Journey, at this link. I plan to post my next one on this blog very soon.

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Some Birds of late May and Early June

 A few multi-purpose outings have resulted in quite a few photo ops. This post will focus mainly on birds that I have encountered.

If anyone was out along the Marsh Trail of Rondeau earlier this spring, the feature that used to be this for several years, much to the delight of those hiking the trail...

 

 ...which due to high water and ice damage, was destroyed and in its place was a structure designed to be a haven for Barn Swallows to use for nesting. It lasted for several years, but alas, the continued high water levels and ice damage resulted in it looking like this earlier this year.

I haven't been back out to this spot really recently, but the last time I got a glimpse, it looked like it had tumbled down the rest of the way. I expect the swallows gave up on it before nesting got into full gear.

I came across this Barn Swallow nesting underneath a boardwalk along the Tuliptree Trail.

This one, along with its mate, had successfully nested under the top level of the observation tower along the trail at St. Clair NWA. While this species seems to be fairly abundant at least in SW Ontario, it is considered a Species At Risk, with the ranking of Vulnerable.

Exploring the open, wetland areas along Lake St. Clair are always a highlight for me and my camera. Canada Geese are quite plentiful, with their overall numbers increasing considerably by dozens and dozens of recent additions to the flocks.

Eastern Kingbirds are scattered throughout, but in small numbers.

Great Blue Herons don't nest in the immediate vicinity, but at least a few are found feeding in the shallow water.

Great Egrets can be found, sometimes fairly abundantly. It isn't all that uncommon to see half a dozen to a dozen feeding, or flying by, as they nest at some of the nearby, offshore islands.

A much smaller member of the heron family is the Green Heron, usually quite elusive. This one was a long way off, and the photo is highly cropped.

The cattails harbour many, many individuals of the Marsh Wren. They are quite frequently heard, but seldom does one sit up so cooperatively.

Sandhill Cranes are more abundant these days, and a few days ago I saw this family of three wandering around in a field adjacent to SCNWA. It seemed rather early for this youngster, which had probably hatched at least two weeks earlier, but there it was.

Flyby cranes are always fun to try and get with the camera. 

In the wooded areas of Rondeau, there is quite a different array of birds such as this Wood Thrush, which had a nest just off the Warbler's Way trail. 

While walking along one forested trail, I was a bit startled to hear lots of thrashing going on in the thicker shrubbery right close by. It was this Turkey Vulture, which must have been feeding on something, and sat up in this tree, waiting until I left the area before it returned to continue its meal.

Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are not common, but regular.

These next two species are quite abundant, and in spite of that I always enjoy seeing them. I like the iridescence that is so well shown on the head of this Common Grackle.

Brown-headed Cowbirds are seldom the favourite of anyone, but hey....they are birds too, and I won't hesitate to aim the camera in their direction when the opportunity avails itself, (and when things are fairly quiet with not a lot of others to aim at).

Baltimore Orioles, next, are frequently heard as they are often higher up in the forest canopy, but don't often come down except to feeders.

And American Robins are abundant in many different habitats. This one was nesting on the shelf behind the sign, and was quite upset with me walking by.

Of course what is a bird themed blog in late May or early June about unless it features the iconic Prothonotary Warbler! I have had a few good encounters so far this season. On one occasion I was watching a female gathering nesting material to take to a natural cavity, and it flew in so close to me I couldn't get the entire bird in my field of view! I only got this one photo. It isn't cropped at all.

On another occasion while I was watching a male Prothonotary singing away, it actually landed on a branch right over my head, and had I a slightly longer arm, I could have reached up and touched it. However it was quite active in some of the small saplings nearby, and I got several photos, including this next one.

It doesn't get much better than that!

I will conclude this bird featured post with a highlight of a few days ago, when I encountered a flock of about 40 Whimbrel along the southeast shoreline of Rondeau.

They weren't around for long, presumably anxious to get to the breeding grounds well to the north.

 

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