Late May/early June roaming at Rondeau (mostly)

 It is always inspiring to get out and roam around to see how nature is developing. Sometimes rather than focusing on any one thing in particular, it is great just to see what awaits for me. Even an overcast, somewhat rainy day, can be enjoyable. The forests look particularly green and lush in those conditions, so it is nice to have an umbrella handy and the right camera equipment for the conditions! This first one is along the South Point Trail...

...and the next one is from near the Gardiner Deer exclosure.

A couple of weeks earlier I had been out specifically looking for one of the main populations of Showy Orchis. More recently I was a little surprised to see this one still in fairly fine condition.

 

 There are lots of other attractive and colourful plants to aim the camera at:

Dame's Rocket, colourful but not native

While out one time exploring a part of Clear Creek Forest Prov Nature Reserve, I came across several individuals of Flowering Dogwood, an Endangered Species.

Along the grassy beach dunes of Rondeau is another Species At Risk, although not endangered, known as Hairy Puccoon.

Fairly abundant in rich woodlands is this next one, Mayapple.....

...and in more Pine-oak forest types where sandier soil is dominant, is Wild or Red Columbine, always a favourite to see in late spring.

In similar types of soils, and in this case along the Black Oak Trail, is Seneca Snakeroot.

White Baneberry

 Another species that I found for the first time a couple of years ago, and was added to the park's plant checklist for the first time, is this next one. It is Hairy Rockcress, and is considered Critically Imperiled in Canada. According to iNaturalist, it has only been recorded elsewhere in Canada on Pelee Island, at Point Pelee NP and near the north end of the Bruce Peninsula. It just goes to show that even after having explored Rondeau's trails for more than 50 years, there can be new things to discover! Which is part of the reason I keep exploring Rondeau, my 'home away from home' :-).

Something else on the Endangered species list is this next one, American Ginseng. I have been keeping an eye on this cluster for quite a few years, and is always fun to check up on.

This individual plant shows a very tiny flower cluster developing at the point where the three leaf stems separate.

 

 A different plant from the previous one, showing a closeup of the flower cluster. In another 2-3 weeks, the buds will open to show a few small white flowers, from which tiny red berries will eventually (hopefully) be present.

 

There are always a few other things to encounter along the way, such as the following in no particular order:

Black-shouldered Drone Fly

Common Five-lined, or Blue-tailed Skink

Hammer-jawed Jumping Spider

Hobomok Skipper

Hooded Dryomyza

Next is a member of the Large Crane Fly family, first a male........

...and next shows the female with it, and it looks like there is another generation of them to come!

Sometimes when trying to photograph a wildflower, there may be a tiny creature on it, such as this type of Flower Fly known as a Margined Calligrapher.

Certainly much larger is this Mourning Cloak....

...while a bit smaller is this Narrow-headed Marsh Fly.

On those days when it is slightly warmer, there are a few snakes out and about. Unfortunately some are just getting used to a bit of warmth, and are not able to escape the impact of the wheels of a bicycle or something that comes upon it quickly, such as this Northern Brown Snake, also called Dekay's Brown Snake.

They are relatively tolerant of human presence along the trail, if movements of humans are slow and calculated, allowing for close-up photos as these next two individuals demonstrate.

And finally for this post, a Silver-spotted Skipper.

 As mentioned and explained a bit in my previous post, I have started up another blog with a slightly different theme. I have called it Life Is A Journey, and if you are interested, you can check it out at this link. I plan to continue with Nature Nuggets as I have done over the past 11 years. It is now over 700 posts and almost 12000 photos, and is certainly fun to do.

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