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.

If you would like to subscribe, or unsubscribe, to Nature Nuggets, send an email to: prairietramper@gmail.com
 

More than just birds!

The peak of the spring bird migration is now behind us for another year, much to the chagrin of keen birders. There are still some species heading north, but in just a few short weeks, others will be heading back south!

During the last couple of weeks or so, there have been some lulls in the bird activity, and then it is time for me to get out a different camera and lens combination to focus on plants. I am almost glad for these lulls in birds, since the parade of spring wildflowers is nothing short of amazing in its own right.

Exploring the forest is a rich and rewarding experience, especially on a quiet day with little wind and after a cleansing rain. This post will highlight, in no particular order, some of the more recognizable herbaceous wildflowers one can see in the woodlands or adjacent areas. Perhaps some of you were noticing these plants in your quest for birds, but didn't know what they were. The ones shown here are fairly typical of similar habitats across southern Ontario.

 
There are many sloughs at Rondeau, which is perfect habitat for the Yellow Water Crowfoot/Buttercup (Ranunculus flabellaris), a member of the Buttercup family. This year was a particularly good one for this species. I don't think I have ever seen it as profuse as what it was this year. Even though it started flowering early in May, it is still in flower in small numbers. It shows up towards the back of the image above. My main purpose for taking that photo wasn't for the flowers, however, but because I like the large Silver Maples in the slough with the green setting.

A similar species, but one which didn't start flowering until a few days ago, is the White-water Crowfoot/Buttercup (Ranunculus longirostris). It tends to be in the quiet, shallow water of cattail marshes. The submerged leaves of both of these species are very finely dissected, as they appear in this next image.

Everyone knows the trillium. But this next one is a rarity. It is the yellow form of the Red Trillium (Trillium erectum).

Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) is a delicate wildflower found especially at the edges of pine oak forests. Hummingbirds love them. On occasion you will see a hummer hovering below, sticking its long bill up to get the nectar at the top of the flower tube.

This first image is what it typically looks like.

 Sometimes you may find a paler version.

 This year I found a creamy yellow version, only the second time I have seen it in Rondeau.

I expect that everyone knows the Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum).

Large-flowered Bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora) is abundant. Since its flowers hang down, the yellow colour gets lost on the bright, sunny days. It is much more showy on an overcast day and when you get down to take a closer look.

Wood Betony, a.k.a. Lousewort (Pedicularis canadensis), is common in the sandy pine-oak forest. It can be mostly yellow....

 ....or sometimes mostly burgandy.

Also at the edges or openings of the forest is the Starry False Solomon's Seal (Maianthemum stellata). It is a member of the Lily Family.

This Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium montanum) is not very noticeable unless you get a close look. Contrary to its name, it is not a grass at all, but a member of the Iris family.

White Baneberry, a.k.a. Doll's-eyes (Actaea pachypoda), is scattered throughout the hardwood forest. If you see these plants in fruit, you may notice the hard, bright white berries with black dots. Pioneers used the fruit as the eyes for their home-made dolls.

Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum) is widespread in forests of all types, as well as in very open habitats.

Blue Phlox (Phlox divaricata) is also abundant. It can be almost pure white, pale blue or even pinkish purple.

Mayapple, a.k.a. Umbrella Plant, (Podophyllum peltatum) is dominant in the hardwood forest under storey.

Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia) is very local at Rondeau.

The forests of Rondeau support orchids of many types. In fact there are at least 19 species of orchid that occur in various parts of the park. Some are relatively showy, such as this aptly named Showy Orchid (Galearis spectabilis). It doesn't get very tall...seldom getting over 10 cm high, but its flowers are indeed showy.

 Being relatively short, this orchid is challenging to get a ground view look at. Hence I dug out my P&S camera with the swivel screen and macro feature.....it sure is a lot easier on the back!

The Large Yellow Lady's-slipper (Cypripedium calcelous var pubescens) is an orchid that most people would recognize. It occurs in several locations at Rondeau. This one grew no more than 20 metres from one of the common trails in the park, and is quite visible from the trail. I imagine that hundreds of birders and other hikers walked by it without seeing it.

Violets are abundant, colourful, and sometimes confusing. Some of the most common ones are
Long-spurred Violet (Viola rostrata), accurately named because of the long spur protruding behind the front of the flower.

Yellow violets are abundant as well, including this Downy Yellow Violet (Viola pubescens).

Canada Violet (Viola canadensis) is local but widespread in the deciduous forest. There are much rarer violets which I intend to highlight in a future post.

An intriguing plant that most people have never really seen is Mitrewort (Mitella diphylla). The flowers are tiny....really, really tiny. The overall plant may get 15-25 cm high, but there are only a couple of small leaves on its single stem, and a very tiny cluster of delicate flowers at the top. Individual flowers are extremely tiny....typically only about 4-5 mm across. But if you take a close look, they are amazing! For this next image I used a full frame camera, a 100mm macro lens with extension tubes totalling about 68mm, and then I cropped it heavily. Did I mention that it is tiny??

In the last few days, Sweet Cicely (Osmorhiza claytonii) is starting to appear. This plant doesn't have large showy flowers, but is better known for its seeds. If you are walking through a patch of this plant after the seeds have formed, you will discover long black seeds with very sharp points stuck in your socks, your pant leg, or you!

Not all plants are green. This next plant, looking like a pale coloured pine cone sticking out of the leaves, is called Squawroot (Conopholis americana). It does not have chlorophyll, but gets its energy from tapping in to the roots of other plants. This species is most often found in the pine-oak forest.

There is always something to see!