Rare and uncommon birds, a very rare orchid, and others

 There are a few rare to uncommon bird species around, mixed in with the expected species. One of the highlights of recent days is the arrival of Dickcissel. It used to be a rather extreme rarity up until a few years ago, and any reports of them immediately created a rush of birders anxious to get them on their life or year lists. While there is still a quick response by birders when one is reported, the occurrence of Dickcissels in southwestern Ontario is not quite the novelty it once was. The beginning of their fairly regular occurrence began in 2017, and I wrote about it for the April, 2018 edition of Ontario Birds, which you can read about here.

Dickcissels have appeared in several places in the south and mid western parts of Chatham-Kent so far in recent days, and I went to a spot where a sizeable grassy/prairie type field had been established a few years ago. I had a couple of the birds there last year, and sure enough, almost as soon as I pulled up to the edge of the road, there was a male singing away. Fortunately this species sings at a pitch that even my ears can easily detect, and this bird came and went several times, giving me lots of photo ops right from the vehicle.

I had been out to another site, privately owned, where I had them last year, but so far, they had not shown up. I will check in another few days. It was not a lost cause, as I was treated to a male Bobolink intent on feeding young at a nest......

....and lots of Savannah Sparrows.

The real bird rarity of the area was even rarer than a Dickcissel. It was a Cassin's Kingbird that showed up in southern Essex County. Its rarity status was clearly demonstrated by the dozens of birders that descended on the site as quickly as they could get there, giving variable views. I am sure it was an Ontario lifer for many. I did not venture there to see it however. It was in late November of 2013 when I found one of this species at Rondeau! Unfortunately it was dead, but still identifiable. It was resting in the sand dunes of the southeast beach of the park. It quite likely had been hanging out along the edge of the dunes and oak savanna, and had gone unnoticed by birders in the area, not all that surprising since it was in late November when birders do not frequent that area very often. With a cold spell of several days earlier, the amount of insects available to it had likely diminished, causing it to perish. It had deteriorated by the time I found it, but it was salvaged and eventually ended up at the ROM.

Far less rare, but still nice to see and even get a few photos of, were several bird species at the local sewage lagoons. About 5 White-rumped Sandpipers were using the sprinkler cells.

The White-rump is easily told by being larger than similar looking Semipalmated Sandpiper, with that latter species shown on the left side of the next photo, and also by the greater black markings extending farther along the flanks. It also has a reddish base to the underside of the beak and longer wings that extend beyond the tail when at rest. And of course the white rump, which shows in flight.

It is uncertain whether these White-rumps are just late in going north, given the vagaries of weather patterns over the last month or so, or early in returning. I had been told by someone much more expert than I, several years ago, that White-rumps go north fairly quickly and even overshoot southern Ontario for the most part, to get a good start on nesting in their arctic territories. But if the weather conditions there are not favourable and nests fail, then the birds will abandon further nesting attempts and slowly move south, appearing here in southern Ontario by mid-June. With that in mind, I suspect these birds are ones that are on the return.

A common shorebird species is the aptly named Spotted Sandpiper, and there are always a few at the sewage lagoons.

Not a shorebird, but a Song Sparrow, next, which occurs in a wide variety of habitats. This one was scurrying around amongst the vegetation at the edge of the sprinkler cells, often just out of sight.

A quick trip to Rondeau was not terribly birdy in the area I explored, but there is always something to see, and even get photos of. Gray Catbirds are not always so cooperative, but this one was advertising its territory and less concerned than usual about me.

Mourning Doves are often well beyond photo range.

The Common Five-lined Skink is anything but common, and is in fact endangered, but can be seen occasionally on a sunny log.

And in sunny spots along the woodland trails, the Six-spotted Tiger Beetle can be found quite regularly. Just so you know, it doesn't always have six spots, however.

One of my outdoor forays involved heading to Clear Creek Forest Provincial Park, a favourite destination at various times of the year. On the way there, I stopped to see how a very large Black Gum tree was faring, given the sometimes extreme wind, snow and ice conditions over the winter. It was doing fine. The flowers are not very impressive, and this next photo shows some deteriorating flowers as well as some early developing drupes, or berries, which will be much larger and blue at maturity.

It is a large, impressive tree, and the only location in Chatham-Kent that I am aware of. The next photo shows it just a bit past the peak of autumn colour, when the leaves are a deep red. This was taken in the mid-autumn of 2022. Maybe this coming autumn I will get it at its peak!

Any visit to Clear Creek Forest PP entails being on the lookout for anything and everything. A walk around the former gravel pit on the north side, can be good for dragonflies, and on this occasion I got these next two species:

Calico Pennant

Dot-tailed White Face

It was a coolish day, and I anticipate an increase in ode diversity over the next few weeks. 

My main purpose was to check up on a very rare orchid: Purple, or Lily-leaved, Twayblade (Liparis liliifolia). En route to that spot, I came across this Northern Crescent butterfly.....

...as well as a Virginia Ctenucha moth.

 I was successful in finding the orchid, in spite of it being partially hidden under other, more profuse vegetation, and overall it was in fine shape for photographing.

It is an endangered species, with very few locations for it in Ontario, and only one in Quebec.

Given its subtle appearance, and growing amongst other vegetation, it would not surprise me if it occurs in a few other places, but just hard to find!

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Forest changes, some new locations for an endangered species, and lots of wave action

 This is the time of year when some of the more dramatic changes on the landscape occur. Late October through November is when the longest and strongest winds occur, and in combination with the continuing drop in temperature, the changes in forest vegetation are quite noticeable. As the chlorophyll in the leaves retreats up the stem, the normally less dominant colours of other elements in the leaves become visible. Red, yellow and orange will be more evident, until they turn brown, and then are blown off. 

It is one of my most favourite times of year, even with the shorter day length to contend with. Natural areas are preparing for their winter senescence. Natural areas are less crowded, and one can enjoy the changes.

I've been out to Rondeau and elsewhere a few times over the last several days. Most recently it was on one of the windiest days of the fall to date, and with a predominant east wind. Walking the trails, shuffling through some of the fallen leaves, and listening to the waves roar is inspiring, at least to me. This photo of the east beach was taken this past Thursday.

I had decided to walk some of the inland roads and trail where it wasn't all that windy, but the roar of the waves was in high gear. Birds inland were not plentiful, but included the normal inhabitants: Red-bellied Woodpecker, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Black-capped Chickadee, etc. Perhaps if I had spent some of the time 'scoping the waterfront, I might have come across some of the uncommon species that others saw from nearby shorelines. Maybe next time. 

The following photo was taken on Oct 28, showing a bit of change from the next photo, which was taken not quite three weeks earlier, on Oct 8. In some years, most of the leaves have already turned colour and/or fallen by now, but the warm, damp weather that has been the norm over the past few weeks has delayed that process. I expect much bigger changes in the next week or so.

As a further comparison, this next one was taken on Oct 26, 2015.

  These next two were taken along Harrison Trail, the first one being on Oct 28 while the second one was taken in late September at almost the same vantage point.

This is normally the best time of year to find an endangered species: Red Mulberry. Red Mulberry is mainly limited in its Canadian range to places like southern Essex County (Pelee Island and Point Pelee NP), Rondeau and some parts of the Golden Horseshoe at the east end of Lake Erie. There are very few individuals elsewhere, but a few. 

I hadn't been intentionally looking for them on this day, but always keep an eye open for them when the forest gets to this stage. I hadn't found any new ones in the last couple of years, so I was surprised to find not one, not two, but four and a half new ones! Yes, one was only a half a Red Mulberry in my opinion. While it showed very large leaves with some good drip tips, they were heavily lobed, as the next photo shows. Lobing does occur in Reds, but is more typical of the non-native White Mulberry, and there are quite a few Whites scattered around the park, especially on the east side. The lower leaves, also heavily lobed and much smaller, did not seem to have much in the way of pubescence on either the upper or lower surfaces, a sure sign of hybridization, although some of the pubescence may not be as evident as during the peak of the growing season. Most definitely I will have to take a closer look at this tree next year.

The leaves shown here are more typical of Red Mulberry: very large, almost small dinner plate size, with an occasional lobe but often none. Also they have quite obvious drip tips. It is my understanding that because the leaves of the Red Mulberry have pubescence on the surface, it holds moisture from any precipitation, and therefore can be more susceptible to mould and mildew. The weight of the moisture trapped by this pubescence causes the leaves to droop, and run off on the drip tip, reducing the likelihood of such mould and mildew build-up, and hence a healthier tree.

I also spent a bit of time at Erieau, as one never knows what might show up during the autumn migration. Perhaps the Harlequin Duck, scoters or Black-legged Kittiwake would make Erieau a rest stop. All of those have been here before. I didn't see any of those on this visit, but did encounter a small number of lingering Sanderling.

A Lesser Black-backed Gull, not a common, but regular species and probably about a third-cycle bird, was resting on the pier with the more abundant gull species.

On the windiest day of my periodic visits to Erieau, I purposely went in order to capture some photos of the waves crashing over the pier. It was well worth the effort, but took care trying to shield my camera from the spray of water and sand.

Some of the wave sprays must have gotten as high as 10 metres or more above the pier. It was not a time to be venturing out on the pier! Some had done this many years ago, and came to a tragic end.

 It isn't quite as dramatic as what Lake Superior must have been like when the Great Lakes freighter Edmund Fitzgerald went down to the bottom with all hands lost, but even this is certainly a demonstration of the power of moving water, and how it can shape the shoreline. Rondeau, as a sandspit peninsula, is all about such wind, wave and water currents that formed it over many centuries.

 In some of my other travels of late, I came across a couple of new locations for Pawpaw. It is officially a Very Uncommon species in Ontario and Canada, although for some reason, Chatham-Kent has a significant segment of the overall population. These two clusters were fairly close together in the vicinity of Clear Creek Forest Provincial Park.

I also came across this rather large individual of Black Gum, another officially Very Uncommon species in Ontario and Canada. This is the only naturally occurring one that I know of in Chatham-Kent and is located a bit southeast of Thamesville. Using a clinometer, I measured it to be about 25 metres high. I didn't try and measure the diameter at breast height with my diameter tape, as the trunk was covered with many poison ivy vines, but I estimated it to be almost a metre in diameter. I had checked on this tree a couple of weeks ago, and although there was some nice deep red colour in the leaves, the sky was very bland, so I waited for a sunnier, brighter day. Alas, many of the leaves by this time had fallen off.

Enjoy the autumn colours while they last!

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