In addition to several evenings of black lighting, I've been out to two of the most interesting (to me) natural areas, as there are always things to enjoy and photograph.
Closest to home is St. Clair NWA. I usually go in the early evenings, when some birds are on the move, or feeding towards the end of the day. This Great Blue Heron was busily feeding....
...and this one was perched, probably for over night.
There are usually 4-5 Great Egrets somewhere scattered across the NWA....
..and the occasional Green Heron.
A highlight is to see and photograph Northern Harriers. On some occasions I have seen three or four, and with most of them being young-of-the-year, indicate a fairly successful breeding period.
Sandhill Cranes are sometimes quite close to the trail, at least until they detect me getting too close....
...so generally they are more often seen in flight.
On one occasion during the smoky weather conditions, I photographed the sun about an hour before sundown, where it was just glowing through the smoky haze.
White-tailed Deer are regularly seen either in the NWA or in the fields immediately adjacent.
On the plant side, the Swamp Rose Mallow is quite widespread, but not often close to the trail. This first photo shows a dense stand of it but well away from the trail.
On occasion one may find a few close by.
And Buttonbush is evident in a few spots.
At Rondeau, I have been more focused on plants, both the rare and not so rare. Here are just a few examples, but more on plants in a future post.
One of the rarest I keep an eye on, is American Ginseng. This first photo shows it just past flowering, with this one featuring a single fruit....
...while this next one shows some buds finished flowering, and three fruits developing. As they mature, the fruits will turn red.
Certainly not a rare species is next: Nightshade.
Back to a rarity is this Broad Beech Fern, which I only know from one location, that being along Spicebush Trail where it grows in several quite dense clusters.
Not far from the Broad Beech Fern is this Richweed, not really rare, but not all that common either. It is indicative of a rich hardwood forest of southern Ontario.
And again not far way is this fruit showing up on Goldenseal, a provincial rarity.
This next one is Cylindrical Blazing-star, growing in the open grassy dunes of the southeast. It is just starting to flower and in a few days there will be a light purplish glow across these grassy areas.
There is a single location for this next species: Oswego Tea. I missed the peak flowering by a few days, but caught at least one or two in relatively good condition.
Just something else in the general vicinity are the following: while doing my area of the annual butterfly count, I didn't see many butterflies, but I noted the Osprey nest atop the tower just outside of Erieau.
And shorebirds are increasing in diversity and numbers as they have completed their breeding cycle and are returning southwards. One of the highlights of recent days has been a Stilt Sandpiper. The shorebirds at the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons are always popular for shorebirds, but it seems this year not so much in the sprinkler cells. In one of the largest lagoons they are quite abundant, but more distant and therefore more challenging to photograph. This one was taken a couple of years ago, showing it still in the remains of its breeding plumage, and at the sprinkler cells.
Lots more to feature in a future post!
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