Roaming around two of the best natural areas of C-K!

 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!

If you would like to subscribe to Nature Nuggets, contact me at: prairietrampe@gmail.com
 

 

 

Late Season Orchids, Butterflies, and some Waterbirds

 Summer may be over, but the last couple of weeks of it and first bit of autumn is still a great time to be out looking at things.

A diminutive orchid I always try and find is the Autumn Coralroot. It is considered an Ontario and Canadian rarity, although that may be partially because it is so hard to find even when you know about where it is. It seldom grows more than 15cm (6") tall, and the flowers, if they open up at all, are droopy.

Another late season orchid is the Great Plain's Ladies'-tresses. It is quite restricted in its Ontario range, and is considered Vulnerable in Canada. It is one of the latest blooming of our native orchids. Only one species, much rarer, normally is in flower later than this species. Sometimes there is an obvious spiral to the rows of flowers, but not always. However the inside of the lip almost always shows a slight yellowish tinge, and when the plants are in peak flower, emit a fragrance that some have likened to a sort of vanilla. I sometimes think it is closer to the scent of a type of hot plastic! At any rate, it is quite distinctive, and on occasion it can be so prevalent that I can smell them before I see them.

I was at Rondeau yesterday, not specifically looking for birds, although I did see a smattering of warblers and others, as well as a lot of Blue Jays. They have been migrating in huge numbers this season. One of the hawkwatch observation points southwest of here, has reported tallying around 400,000 flying by so far. The thought is that since the food source farther north is limited, the birds are getting out of the country to where food is more plentiful.

I saw a good variety of butterflies, and most were in quite fresh condition.

Question Mark

This Common Buckeye is looking quite fresh. I have seen quite a few of this species in the last few weeks, but most are tattered and worn, since they likely arrived as a result of southerly winds. They are generally considered migrants from the south, but there are a few records of breeding in southwestern Ontario. Perhaps the reason this one is so fresh looking is due to a local breeding event?

Common Buckeye

Eastern Comma

The Eastern Comma above is in its overwintering form, given the relatively light colour of the hind wing. This next image is also of an Eastern Comma taken a few weeks ago, but it has a darker hind wing, indicating its summer form, which fits its rather faded and worn appearance.

There are still a few non-orchid species in good flowering condition along the trails of Rondeau.

Blue-stemmed Goldenrod

Bottle Gentian

This next one isn't a flowering plant per se, but a rare fern called Broad Beech Fern.

Do you recognize the seed pods here?

The shape and habitat (sandy open areas) are clues to it being that of the colourful Butterfly Milkweed.

Butterfly Milkweed

Spotted Jewelweed

Great Lobelia

Pale Jewelweed

Rattlesnake Root

Hairy Goldenrod

The dampness of late summer brings on the fruiting bodies of fungi, such as this colourful Russula species.

There are still lots of waterbirds around. I saw several Black-bellied Plover at Erieau a short time ago. It always helps to know for sure when one raises its wing to show the black feathered 'armpits' characteristic of this species.

Sanderlings are quite regularly seen.....

.....as is the all too common Double-crested Cormorant. If they just weren't so abundant and messy at times, one could consider them a nice bird to see!

I've stopped at Keith McLean CA a couple of times to see if I can catch up to the Nelson's Sparrows that have been reported. So far I've been unsuccessful, as have many others. They are furtive at best. Hopefully they stick around for a few more days like they have done in past years. So without seeing the Nelson's Sparrow, I took solace in enjoying a few of the other birds that come and go.

Dunlin numbers are starting to build, and as one of the later shorebird species to migrate through, I expect there will be lots of them over the next few weeks.

Semiplamated Plovers, on the other hand, probably won't be around much longer.....

...and the two or three Great Egrets that have been enjoying the shallow flooded fields here for many of the past few weeks, will likely be harder to find before long.

Pied-billed Grebes are still plentiful, with typically a dozen or more around. This one is checking me out as I photograph him/her.

There are lots of those aerial garbage cleaners passing through, feasting on washed up fish/cormorants/gulls/ducks/whatever.

One of the recent highlights was to catch up to this Whimbrel, along the Rondeau shoreline just south of the Dog Beach Access. Whimbrel are not often seen in the autumn, so to have this juvenile bird hanging around for a week or two is unusual. It is by itself, and is quite tolerant of humans. Presumably because it is a young bird, it has had little or no contact with humans until it arrived here, so as long as viewers do not threaten it, it carries on without any fear, it seems. Although I did have my 100-400mm lens on, at one point as I squatted down to be less intimidating, I had to zoom back to only 125mm in order to get the bird in the frame!