Late season orchids, shorebirds, etc

I'll take a short break from all the mothing posts, although be warned...there is more to come! But I haven't abandoned some of the other interesting elements of the season.

Actually while I was out getting ready for an evening with moths recently, I had about a dozen Common Nighthawks swooping back and forth not far away, but generally heading south while presumably hoping for a snack along the way.

 Shorebirds have been fairly predictable so far in the area, and that isn't likely to change too much in the next few weeks, but who knows?

Pectoral Sandpiper

 Lake McLean at Keith McLean Conservation Lands continues to be attractive to shorebirds. Probably the best shorebirds in recent days have been as many as 5 Long-billed Dowitchers. I've only stopped a couple of times and did not catch up with any of that species. But their shorter billed relatives have been there, along with a Stilt Sandpiper or two.

Short-billed---Stilt---Short-billed

 This next photo shows a nice comparison between the larger, stockier and longer billed Short-billed Dowitcher and the smaller, more slender and shorter billed Stilt Sandpiper.

Orchids have a fascination all of their own, but most people don't realize how many native orchids there are in Ontario. Even at Rondeau, there are 18 species of native orchid growing there. One of the most abundant orchids at Rondeau and similar habitats this late in the season is the Great Plains Ladies'-tresses (Spiranthes magnicamporum). It is fairly large for a Spiranthes, with fairly large flowers which smell a bit like vanilla to some, or a bit like hot plastic to others. Most Spiranthes don't have any fragrance at all, but this species does. I measured an individual at Rondeau the other day, and even though it was not completely in full flower it measured just over 40 cm tall (16").

The rows of individual flowers may be fairly straight, as in this next photo....

 ...or they may be somewhat spiralling, as in this next one.

 Regardless, the individual flowers have a fairly long lower lip, with slightly yellowish centres.

Recently I went out to a spot with a couple of friends, to look at another, smaller, Spiranthes. It is quite rare in Ontario. It is Yellow Ladies-tresses (Spiranthes ochroleuca). The individual flowers are shorter and more hump backed than the previous species, and their lip isn't quite as long, although it, too, has a slightly yellowish centre.

While we were out looking at this Spiranthes, we came across a peculiar growth form of another, and not just of one individual, but of at least 14 individuals in a scattered group.

We initially thought it might be a different species altogether such as one of the really rare, small flowered ones. However after sending the photos to a Spiranthes specialist at the New York Botanical Garden, who did his Ph. D. on revising the Spiranthes cernua group, the explanation goes something like this: at some point in ancient history, a subspecies of Spiranthes cernua hybridized with Spiranthes magnicamporum somewhere in the Great Lakes region. As a result, the progeny of that hybrid is often apomictic, which means it doesn't need to cross-pollinate but can produce viable seeds through self-pollination. The result is that such small, closed flowers are not all that uncommon, and since it continues to produce viable seed through self-pollination, the entire group of 14 or so that we saw is of this growth form. This species has been named Spiranthes incurva.

Another fairly uncommon orchid is this next one: Autumn Coralroot (Corallorhiza odontorhiza). It is small, barely 15 cm tall, and the flowers often droop or don't even open, so this is about as showy as it gets. It used to be considered quite rare in Ontario, but that is mainly because it is so hard to find, even when you know where it is. It typically occurs in forested areas, so the dappled light on the forest floor makes it even more difficult to see.

I was recently out at a high quality savanna in Lambton County, where one of the only three known populations in Canada of White Prairie Gentian occurs.

 Many readers are likely familiar with the Closed or Bottle Gentian, shown next.

 On occasion, a white colour form of Bottle Gentian occurs, which can really get one's attention, hoping for it to be the endangered White Prairie Gentian. However even though this white colour form of Bottle Gentian is uncommon, an easy way to tell the difference is that Bottle Gentian has little fringes at the tip of its petals whereas White Prairie Gentian is not fringed. What makes things a bit more challenging is that both species occur at one of the 3 sites of White Prairie Gentian, leading to some interesting hybrid colour forms, so checking the flower tips is critical to determine which species it really is.

There is, however, a species of blue gentian with very obvious fringes, as shown below. This is called, appropriately, Fringed Gentian. While I photographed this individual on a cloudy day, the petals weren't as open as they would be on a bright sunny day.

On one of the sunnier days I was out at Rondeau, I decided to look along the east beach for some regular, but seldom seen, occupants. It is the Hairy-necked Tiger Beetle. They were really quite common, but only if you were looking intently. I saw perhaps three dozen of them in less than 30 minutes, but they are difficult to approach, and you don't really see the hairy neck without close focusing binoculars, or a good telephoto camera lens and then look at them on the computer. If you click on this image, it should show up larger if you want to see them.

There are some late season wildflowers that are good for attracting late season butterflies and other things. New England Aster is popular, as are other aster and goldenrod species.

Blue-stemmed Goldenrod

 While photographing some butterflies at this patch of asters, I noticed something else. It was a moth, a day-flying one known as Corn Earworm. That is my token moth photo for this blog :-).

Viceroy

Painted Lady

 There are still quite a few Monarchs around, but diminishing as the days go by. I do have one in a chrysalis in my yard, but it is getting darker and will emerge in the next day or so.

 There is the occasional Peck's Skipper still around. I also saw a Common Buckeye a couple of days ago but since I only had my macro lens on the camera, was not able to get a photo of it.

 Goldenrods, if they are still in good flower, can be quite busy with insects. Wasps especially are searching out nectar. This final photo shows a wasp look-alike but is actually a long-horned beetle type known as a Locust Borer.

One of the rarest plants in Canada

Walpole Island First Nation is a fabulous place, full of rare, threatened and endangered species of flora and fauna. Of course to host all of these rarities, there is an abundance of significant habitats as well. Walpole is renowned for its tallgrass prairie, and I have had the privilege of spending a lot of time exploring the wonderful natural areas there over the years, dating back to about the mid 1970s.

One plant I am always excited to see is one of Canada's rarest: the White Prairie Gentian (Gentiana alba). It is a striking yellowish/white flower with fine green markings along the fluted edges. It will partially open, so as to allow pollinators access. This species, at least on Walpole, is in some of the best quality tallgrass prairie/oak savanna habitats.

White Prairie Gentian

It occurs in three known places on Walpole, all of them which are somewhat out-of-the-way. It is interesting to note that even historically it was only known from two other locations in Canada: Northumberland County and Essex County. Those two sites are considered historic, not having been seen for several decades, in spite of searches at known historical locations.

A recent survey of the populations at Walpole totalled 50 plants, with about 40 of them having flowers. That is it...... the entire known Canadian population is just 50 plants, and some years there are even fewer recorded. It is legislated as an Endangered species both provincially and federally, not surprisingly. The localized spots where it occurs are reasonably well protected, although the original population, first found in 1984, is quite shaded and the single surviving plant has not been seen in flower for several years.

At one point during the survey, I only had my point-and-shoot camera, and I got a few shots including this next one. It was the freshest looking of all of the ones we encountered. Most others had at least a bit of brown showing on the petals.

What makes this species toehold in Canada even more precarious is the fact that it sometimes hybridizes with the much more common Bottle or Closed Gentian (Gentiana andrewsii). As its name indicates, it remains closed, and the only way for pollinators to pollinate it is to be a rather robust insect, such as a medium to large bee, having the capability to force its way through the side of the petal.

Bottle Gentian

Clearly the two species are quite different looking, at least in colour, and those hybrids make for some unusual colour combinations.

Gentiana alba X andrewsii

 Some hybrids are mostly closed, with others being at least partly open.

White Prairie Gentian typically flowers in late August, whereas Bottle Gentian typically flowers after mid-September. Of course there are sometimes early or late ones of either species, and if the flowering period overlaps where they both occur, hybrids are more likely.

Raptors and more

There has been some great weather for watching raptors on the move.....north northwest winds, a mix of sun and cloud all work together for pushing raptors down towards the Lake Erie shoreline. They follow the shoreline to southwestern Essex County before travelling across the Detroit River and continuing their way south.

These past few days, the usual hawkwatch sites here in the southwest at Hawk Cliff, Holiday Beach and across the Detroit River at Lake Erie Metropark/Brownstown have had some impressive lists and numbers of raptors and Turkey Vultures. But you don't have to go to those places to see good numbers. Anywhere along their usual route under the aforementioned weather conditions can be worthwhile.

This past Saturday I was at Rondeau and was starting to check for passerines in the campground feasting on the Red Cedar berries, but I quickly got side-tracked by moving raptors and other birds passing across the blue sky. A few Turkey Vultures were noted at first, and they were fairly low down.

Then came a flock of Gadwall heading from the lake over to Rondeau Bay.

A few Red-tailed Hawks moved through, including one fairly low.

And waaaay up in the blue were some tiny specks that warranted closer inspection. They were almost too high to identify with only binoculars, but I grabbed a few shots with the equivalent of an 800mm lens and heavily cropped them on the computer to confirm the ID.

A pair of immature Bald Eagles.

An immature Red-shouldered Hawk.

The bonus bird of the time there was this immature Golden Eagle soaring way up! But even at this altitude, the large sized dark bird with the tell-tale white patches in the outer part of the wing and at the base of the tail are classic Golden Eagle. This species is just starting to show up in southern Ontario on their autumn migration. The above mentioned hawkwatches have each recorded one or two so far, but there will be more on their way, and late October is the perfect time to see them.

I did check out other things during my time in the park, but towards the end of the day as I was getting ready to leave, I noticed a large swirl of vultures, and they just kept coming. And coming. And coming. The sky was getting a bit cloudier, and I suspect this large group was looking for a place to descend and roost for the night.

A portion of a group of ~600 Turkey Vultures

When all was said and done, I estimated there to be a good 600 birds in this group. I looked for other birds mixed in, as sometimes happens, even hoping for a Black Vulture, but all I saw were Turkeys. I did notice that at upwards of 4000 or more Turkey Vultures were observed at a couple of hawkwatch sites the next day, so presumably this group was part of that event.

80+ Turkey Vultures

In other news.....October is the time of year when gentians are in bloom, and there are two species which can be found at Rondeau: Bottle Gentian (Gentiana andrewsii) is fairly common but scattered in tallgrass prairie and old field edges. Fringed Gentian (Gentianopsis crinita) only occurs in a handful of locations in the park. Neither are particularly rare in Ontario, unlike other gentian species that are fairly restricted to high quality prairies, but great to see just the same.

Bottle Gentian

Note the closed nature of the Bottle Gentian. That is as much as they open up. They are pollinated by bees which are large enough and strong enough to cut their way through the outer part of the flower. By forcing their way inside in this way, they gain nectar and in the process, pollinate it.

Fringed Gentian

Fringed Gentian typically grow in clusters as shown in the image above. Note the close-up of the flower below, showing the fringed edge of the petals illustrating why it gets its name. They are usually tightly closed on cloudy days or during the period that they are in the shade, so if you want to see them at their finest, you have to go out on a bright sunny day.