Field Botanists visit Bickford Oak Woods

Last Saturday I had the privilege of meeting a group of about 20 enthusiastic members of the Field Botanists of Ontario at the Bickford Oak Woods Conservation Reserve in west central Lambton County. The outing was planned several months in advance, and the main target species from a botanical standpoint was to see the one and only place in Canada where Swamp Cottonwood (Populus heterophylla) occurs. It was first discovered by the trio of Gerry Waldron, John Ambrose and Lindsay Rodger back in 2002 while they were doing a vegetative inventory in the early stages of this site becoming a Conservation Reserve. It isn't an easy species to find, even when you know where it occurs at this site. One has to access the spot through a planted prairie, then along the woods for several hundred metres, and eventually following an overgrown logging trail for several hundred more metres. It is then necessary to strike off through the woods, cross a muddy creek and then venture another couple of hundred metres to find the buttonbush swamp which has a number of stems of this rare tree. The FBO members were eager, so off we went.

On the way to the spot where the cottonwood grows, we came across a number of interesting species. This first one, Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata) was a new one for some of the members.

 The wet spots along the trail, of which there were many, had a few stems of this Square-stemmed Monkey Flower (Mimulus ringens).

We came across a Giant Swallowtail butterfly. In this area, one of the main plants that the larvae of the Giant Swallowtail survives on is Prickly Ash (Xanthoxylum americanum). As one might guess by its name, it is a thorny species, and not one that is fun to hike through. Seeing this beautiful large butterfly was a bit of compensation for the time spent shortly after trying to get through the Prickly Ash thickets without getting too scratched up.

 At one point along the creek and floodplain area there were some of these Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) in fine shape. It isn't a rare species by any means, and in fact is quite widespread across southern Ontario and beyond, but the brilliant scarlet colour of the flowers is always a treat to come upon.

 Most oaks at this conservation reserve have been logged at one time or another. There are very few large examples remaining. However this White Oak (Quercus alba) is relatively large. Probably because it is growing right along the edge, and has lots of large lower branches, it was less valuable from a timber standpoint at the time the site was logged half a century or more ago.

As mentioned, the intended target species for this hike was the Swamp Cottonwood. This next image shows what the site looks like in the spring, with lots of variable sized trunks of this rare species growing in standing water.

 And this is the characteristic leaf: it is large for a cottonwood, has a heart-shaped base, and the leaf stem is round, not flattened as most Populus species are.

This is the happy group of FBO members, in front of a cluster of Swamp Cottonwood tree trunks.

After achieving our target of seeing the Swamp Cottonwood, we returned to the parking lot and had some refreshments. With about 4 hectares of planted prairie adjacent to the parking lot, we took a bit of time to explore the species present. Big Bluestem, a.k.a. Turkeyfoot (Andropogon gerardii) is the most common grass in most tallgrass prairies.

Gray-headed Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) is often quite abundant.

 False Sunflower(Heliopsis helianthoides) is one of the many sunflower types found in a prairie.

 Dense, or Spiked, Blazing-star (Liatris spicata) is probably one of the best known, iconic prairie wildflowers. It is a Threatened species in Ontario.

 Compass Plant (Silphium laciniatum) is not common at all, but really stands out on a prairie.

 Another Silphium species is Cup-plant (Silphium perfoliatum). The close-up of the paired leaves show the cup-like aspect which gives it its name.

 Prairie Dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum) is another iconic tallgrass prairie species. The shovel-shaped leaves are clustered at the bottom of a tall, quite rigid stem that sometimes grows more than 3 metres high.

 Tall Coreopsis (Coreopsis tripteris) is another rare prairie plant restricted to the tallgrass prairies of extreme southwestern Ontario.

 Yet another member of the sunflower family that is common on the prairie is Tall Sunflower (Helianthus giganteus). It too often grows 3-4 metres high or even higher.

It was an excellent day, and with great weather right up until the end of the outing. Just as the last of us were packing up the vehicles, it started to sprinkle and there was the occasional rumble of thunder in the background. Before we got too far down the road, the rain came down in torrents.

Early spring action and a visit to see a very rare species

Earlier this week I went to Rondeau to see what was happening, since I hadn't been for a few days. As I approached the park, it was quite foggy....not what I was hoping for, but eventually it turned out to be a relatively nice day with lots of sun, unlike the kind of weather that awaits Blake on most weekends :-). From the forecast, this coming weekend might actually be fairly nice.

The park was quiet. It was just after 8 a.m. and the deer hadn't ventured back into the more wooded areas yet; more than a dozen were still out in the wide open spaces.

Sparrows are back in good numbers. I noticed lots of Song Sparrows and an occasional Field Sparrow, but any Chipping Sparrows that were seen by others on previous days eluded me.

While photographing this Field Sparrow from the van window, I heard a Pileated Woodpecker call not far away. In a few minutes it appeared, and in fact flew right towards me, just about 5 metres over my head. I wasn't quick enough with the camera out the window, but the sky was very bland and a mostly black bird against a bright gray sky would not have been a great shot anyway. The female flew out just a few minutes later and at least had the decency to land in a tree so I could see a bit of her, and I managed to get this next photo. It has been heavily cropped to eliminate the undesirable background.

As I drove slowly along Lakeshore Road looking for more sparrows and such, I noticed this American Woodcock right at the edge. It bounced and danced on the spot before slowly working its way back into the shrubbery. This next photo is not cropped at all.

There are lots of Killdeer scattered around. This one was hanging out on a parking barrier.

I saw several Turkey Vultures soaring overhead, which isn't surprising since they had arrived in southern Ontario in good numbers over the last week or so. This one was apparently having a picnic in the picnic area, helping park staff clean up some of the carcasses and debris. The carcass looked a little desiccated; I'm not sure how much nutrition the vulture got out of it.

Eastern Phoebes are widely scattered, along the trails, and along the roadsides. I noted about 10, but I expect there were several times that many throughout the park away from the trails and roads. Getting one to stay still for a photograph does not come easy.

As the day wore on, the sun came out and warmed things up nicely. I saw an Eastern Comma along Spicebush Trail, but it was constantly on the move. This photo was from another time.

The sloughs along the trails were quite active with frogs. I heard and saw lots of Wood Frogs and heard the occasional Spring Peeper.

Wood Frog

A dozen or more Wood Ducks were enjoying the quiet of the sloughs as well. Most were males.

This Leopard Frog was a little confused. It was sitting on the white paint at a stop sign. I'm sure the darker pavement would have been slightly warmer since it absorbs the heat from the sun, whereas the white paint reflects it.

Yesterday I went up to Bickford Oak Woods (BOW) in west central Lambton County. It is an intriguing property....a Conservation Reserve managed by MNR&F. There aren't any official trails, just a few very old logging trails, and only a couple of small parking lots. It is about 308 hectares (761 acres) of mixed lowland and upland forest. There is very little topographic relief but being on heavy clayey soils, it holds surface water very well, so any slightly lower area supports lowland vegetation. There are two small prairie plantings for extra diversity, which were planted on the section of former agricultural land between the parking area and the woodland. It makes a nice transition and is a great spot in season for butterflies and dragonflies. 

The goal of my trip this day was to check out the stand of Swamp Cottonwood (Populus heterophylla). BOW is the only location in Canada where this species is known to occur. It was discovered as recently as 2002 by none other than Gerry Waldron, John Ambrose and Lindsay Rodger. While I was with MNR, I contracted them to do a vegetation inventory of this site as it was being promoted as a Conservation Reserve.

The location of the Swamp Cottonwood is not all that hard to find if you know where it is. And that is the challenge. It involves about three kilometres (round-trip) of hiking through the prairie patch, following the edge of the woods, then accessing an old muddy logging trail to get through wet woods, traversing a creek that usually has lots of water in it. And once you get there, you are standing in water, which isn't surprising since after all it is 'Swamp' Cottonwood. The water was about 30 cm deep at the time of this visit, but with the heavy rains in the days since, undoubtedly is much deeper. These next two photos show the Swamp Cottonwood in its preferred habitat, with a dense Buttonbush thicket in the background.

All in all it was a wonderful time, not only because I was amongst a grove of one of the rarest trees in Canada, but due to the time of year and the bright sunshine, there was a very loud chorus of Chorus Frogs along with a few Wood Frogs in this swamp busily calling to attract a mate. In fact it was so loud it drowned out the sounds of truck traffic on Hwy 40, about a kilometre away.

There were a few other things I noted along the way, including at least three Eastern Commas and my first of year Mourning Cloak.

Other wildlife was relatively minimal, with only a few birds (Red-tailed Hawk, Eastern Phoebe, Song Sparrow, Am Tree Sparrow, etc) noted, and a couple of White-tailed Deer which acted like they hadn't seen anyone for a long time. Chances are given the relative lack of human visitation to this Conservation Reserve, they hadn't seen any humans since the hunting season of last year.

I did see a couple of Snowy Owls along Winter Line on the way home. Up to 7 or more have been in that area for much of the winter, but I expect these holdouts will be gone soon. As much as I liked this Snowy Owl photo currently on my blog header, I will be changing that pic very soon to something more appropriate for the season.

Bickford Oak Woods...some of the story behind the site

Now that a definite taste of winter has arrived, and there is less to find outside, it is a chance to remember the warmer, more colourful and diverse times in the field.

I have spent a fair bit of time over the year or so exploring a sizeable natural area, in west central Lambton Co, known as Bickford Oak Woods Conservation Reserve. It is about 308 ha in size as a single block of mostly forest. This property was purchased several decades ago on speculation that it would be eventually developed for commercial/industrial purposes. However that didn't happen, and while I was in my previous role with OMNR, I was approached by the owners to see if any agency would be interested in it. I had had my eye on the significance of this property for quite awhile, so I said yes, and immediately started some wheels in motion to see if a cooperative effort between conservation agencies and individuals could collaborate on its acquisition and protection.

Much of the natural drainage has not been affected, so on this predominantly clay plain, that means there is lots of water sitting on it.

As might be expected, wet woods are home to many amphibians, which are most vocal in the early spring. Here is a Western Chorus Frog, one of the more common species here, but generally declining on the overall southern Ontario landscape. It is a tiny frog, being only a couple of inches in total length. Their voices would make them seem much bigger, however.

At some points along the wetter woods, good stands of Marsh Marigold can be found in the spring.

Where there is long standing water and an open forest canopy, there are beaver. Their lodges are hard to access due to the dense vegetation, mostly the aggressive and non-native Phragmites, but there is evidence of their being in the area.

As its name implies, there are a lot of oaks here, and most grow on the drier parts of the landscape. It is interesting to see how many multi-stemmed individuals there are.

Of course oaks don't naturally grow with multi-stems. This is the result of intensive harvesting of them several decades ago. The stumps sprouted suckers and I have seen as many as 7 stems that survived.

Still other oaks, especially some that are near the edges of the woodland, are single stemmed and show an open grown character, with large low limbs.

Along the edges are some huge ant mounds. I'm not sure if they are any particular species, but they sure are evident. Some of the mounds are a metre high, and 3-4 metres in diameter.

 Large woodlands, especially oak woodlands, are favourite haunts of Wild Turkey. Oaks can be prolific producers of acorns, a favourite food. Turkeys are not often seen, especially during the hunting season, but you can see decoys up close!

Associated with this large woodland are two areas that at the time that the site was acquired, was in agricultural crop. They were planted into tallgrass prairie about a decade ago, and are coming along nicely.

Planted prairie habitat

Gray-headed Coneflower

Compass Plant

Compass Plant

Tall Coreopsis

Tall Sunflower

Dense Blazing-star

 Prairie habitat is fabulous for butterflies and other invertebrates.

Thistle with Crab Spider

Peck's Skipper on Prairie Dock buds

Great Spangled Fritillary

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Some small wetland areas have been created within the restored habitat, and wetland plants have appeared.

Monkey Flower

Twelve-spotted Skimmer

As the season progresses, schools of catfish appear. Given that this is not really directly connected to any other body of water, and even the small stream that the water of this pond runs out of, it makes one wonder how the mature fish got there in the first place to produce young.

There is lots more to be found at this wonderful site, and I plan on spending as much time as possible in this next field season.