An interesting twist to the Paxton's Bush Great Horned Owls

The pair of Great Horned Owls in Paxton's Bush, on the northern edge of the city of Chatham, has had quite a following over the years. Nesting season in particular has had people far and wide out to view them. For example back in 2013, they nested low down in a cavity created by a broken branch of a Black Cherry tree, and people came from as far away as Toronto to photograph them. Here is a photo I took at the time.

They only used that nest for one season. I guess it was too accessible for the large number of people coming to admire them, so the adults moved to a more remote part of the woodlot and in a higher tree stub. Then a couple of years ago, they moved again, closer to the south side of the woodlot. This is a photo of last year's owlets peeking over the top of the nesting stub.

 They were at it again in the same place this year, but not really all that visible yet. This next photo is one I took a few days ago, and the only way to determine that it was occupied by the owls was by looking carefully at this little slash opening near the top of the stub. You can see a few barred feathers of the adult either incubating or tending the young.

I remember commenting to Marie on our visit there last week that the tree stub looked very fragile, and wondered how much longer it would be useful.

We got the answer on Sunday. It was very windy with wind speeds reported at one point as 60 km/hr with gusts in excess of 80 km/hr, and the tree stub came crashing down. This next photo is what it looked like today.

A closer look showed some of the nest contents. The first photo shows some feathers of an American Crow which had become a meal. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, the nest in the cherry tree above had a few crow feathers clinging to the edge of the broken branch cavity. There is no shortage of crows to feast on!

 Right close by was this little rodent, which quite possibly had been delivered to the young owlets before the nest tree came crashing down. The meal went untouched, at least by the owlets. Presumably it will be feasted on by various invertebrates over the next few weeks including maggots (the larvae of flies) and beetles.

Although the destruction of this nest could have had a tragic ending, the quick action of some neighbours has increased the success of the nest considerably. With the help of staff from the Bluewater Centre for Raptor Rehabilitation in Lambton County and others, the youngsters which were approximately two weeks old, were checked over for any injuries, then kept warm until a new nest could be installed later that day.  This next photo shows the new nest, a little higher up and in a nearby tree, a Silver Maple, that is far better condition. The laundry basket is partially filled with pine needles and anchored by two by fours so that it looks fairly sturdy. Apparently while this was going on, the adults were in a nearby tree keeping watch, but never made any attempt at protecting the young or harassing the humans. And shortly after the installation was complete and the owlets deposited in the nest, the female came back. I took this photo today, and it is a lot easier to see the adult on the nest than the previous nest stub which was far too deep. It will be quite entertaining, hopefully, as the owlets grow and become much more visible before they fledge, so stay tuned for more photos as this unfolds.

 And of course the other member of the pair is typically perched fairly high up in a nearby tree, ensuring that the local American Crows and Cooper's Hawks don't become too much of a menace.

A bit more background on this story can be found on this link to The Chatham Voice.

Thames River Flood in Chatham

Perhaps you have been deluged with photos of the recent flood of the lower reaches of the Thames River. Here are a few more.

The Thames River watershed is massive, draining approximately 5800 square kilometers. With all of the rain received in the watershed in the last few days, as well as the warm weather causing rapid melt of the higher than average snow pack, all that water has to go somewhere, and that somewhere is down through Chatham-Kent before the river empties into Lake St. Clair.

It has hit Thamesville and Chatham particularly hard. An interesting short video can be seen here.

I've checked out the flooding from several vantage points. One of the more accessible ones is the Third Street Bridge. This first shot looks towards Thames Street, which is totally flooded, and you can see well off to the right where the river is supposed to be. It has overflowed the banks by at least 100 metres at this point, it seems. (Click on any of the photos to get a larger view).

Towards Thames St with the flooded parking lot on the right

 This next shot shows the entrance to Thames St, just south of Harvey's (which was open the entire time, and sometimes quite busy, too).

 There was no one lining up to pay for non-existent parking!

 The bridge abutments managed to snag some debris, causing a slight damming effect.

Looking straight down Thames St

Looking to the south side of the river, from the Third St bridge

 This next photo is looking straight upstream, towards the Fifth St Bridge, which is under construction and barely above the water level.

 This next shot shows the entrance to the promenade on the south side of the river.

This next photo is looking downstream from the Third St Bridge. The tallest building on the left is the Civic Centre, and the complex of buildings on the right is the hospital. Fortunately the hospital side is a little higher so less threatened than the opposite side.

These next three photos were taken from the waterfront at the Civic Centre. The first one shows part of the former YMCA parking lot, with the hospital in the background across the river.

This one is directly in front of the Civic Centre, with a small building and a stairway in the water. The actual Civic Centre grounds did not appear affected, although there was some water in the Centre's closed off underground parking area.

 Across the river between the Civic Centre and the Third St. Bridge are some houses that normally would have a nice waterfront setting. Note the 'above ground' swimming pool almost completely underwater.

These next two photos were taken from the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority headquarters. The first photo looks towards the Fifth St Bridge which is under construction. Note the top of the picnic table. It wasn't apparent whether it was floating or not.

Next is from the waterfront deck of the LTVCA HQ, looking across to Tecumseh Park. Most of the park is high enough so as not to be affected by the current water level, although the walkway along the water's edge is completely submerged. A street on the left goes to the water's edge, but is blocked off.

A bit farther upstream is Thames Grove Conservation Area. There is a boat launch, a picnic area and walking trail and lots of open space. It is where the tremendously popular War of 1812 Re-enactment event took place in the fall for quite a few years. There is housing that backs right on to the CA. Now much of the CA is completely underwater and has also affected back yards. I'm not sure how basements fared, but there were some that had hoses out the basement window which had been pumping out water!

In this first photo, note the top of a large picnic shelter through the trees, barely sticking above the water.

 The water came close to some houses.

 Many back yards were at least partially submerged, and this photo was taken a few hours after the water had peaked.

 A couple of Mallards were using some debris to take a rest.

With winter winding down and spring just a few weeks away, hopefully this is the worst we will see!

Some Natural Areas of Chatham-Kent, Part 1

The Sydenham Field Naturalists are hosting several outreach events at the Chatham Public Library, to encourage more residents to be aware of the local environment and what they as a club are doing within Chatham-Kent and southern Lambton County. I was asked to be the first presenter, and as some readers will already know, I gave a presentation on Some Natural Areas of C-K just a few days ago.

It was very encouraging to see the packed house and enthusiasm of the crowd. Some folks came from almost an hour away! I heard the attendance was in excess of 80, and clearly there was standing room only. Since there were folks who couldn't make it but are interested in the subject, and had they all arrived there wouldn't have been enough room anyway, I have decided to break down my presentation into a dozen or so individual blog posts. They won't be posted concurrently, since I will be reporting on other things I will have done as the winter subsides and early spring arrives. But over the next couple of months (I hope!), I will highlight the same sites that I covered in my library presentation. So check in once in awhile if you like.

Some Natural Areas of Chatham-Kent, Part 1

Historical Context

The municipality of Chatham-Kent covers about 240,500 hectares.

At the time of settlement, about 66% of the landscape (~160,000 hectares) was wetland, which includes both cattail marsh

and swamp, also known as lowland forest. Due to the topography of C-K being very limited, with only small differences in elevation other than a very few creek valleys, the landscape is a mix of gentle undulations with water accumulating in the depressions and the higher, slightly drier areas supporting more upland forest.

Currently there is no more than about 3.5% remaining.

Estimates of tallgrass prairie (yes, Ontario could be considered a 'prairie province') ranged as high as ~40,000 hectares! Estimates are based on historical surveyors descriptions as well as an analysis of soil maps.

Present day Ontario tallgrass prairie, Essex

Present day Ontario tallgrass prairie, Lambton

Here is how Patrick McNiff, a land surveyor who was one of the first to describe what would eventually become C-K back in 1792, says. Referring to the lower reaches of the Thames River, he writes:

"On each side, and for a distance of 6 miles, were extensive meadows and marshes without any wood except for a few scattered trees. On the Dover side, the marshes and meadows extended north northeast as far as the eye could see. To the south they were confined to much shorter limits.” 

It perhaps looked something like this, which is actually a photo I took not of an Ontario tallgrass prairie (I wish!) but one of the spectacular tallgrass prairies I've explored in Missouri.

Upland forest, which is the drier woodland not the swamp forest referred to earlier, made up an estimated 40,000 hectares.

Today, no more than 5% of both upland and lowland forest remain in C-K.

Anna Jameson was an early pioneer traveller, who had the foresight to record her thoughts on her travels through C-K back in the 1830s. At one point she travelled through C-K heading westward through Morpeth along what is now known as the Talbot Trail. When her party got as far as about what is now C-K Road 15, they had to change direction due to the almost impenetrable area known as the Ten Mile Bush, which was the general area of forest and swamp between C-K Road 15 and Blenheim. I grew up in that area along the Talbot Trail, but more than 120 years after Anna Jameson did.

“No one who has a single atom of imagination can travel through these forest roads of Canada without being strongly impressed and excited. The seemingly interminable line of trees before you; the boundless wilderness around; the mysterious depths amidst the multitudinous foliage where the foot of many hath never penetrated—and which partial gleams of the noontide sun now seen, now lost, lit up with a changeless magical beauty……the wondrous splendour and novelty of flowers—the silence, unbroken but for the low cry of a bird or the hum of an insect, or the splash and croak of a huge bullfrog—the solitude in which we proceeded mile after mile, no human being, no human dwelling within sight—are all either exciting to the fancy or oppressive to the spirits according to the mood one may be in.” 

“How savagely, how solemnly wild it was! So thick was the overhanging foliage that it not only shut out the sunshine, but almost the daylight; and we travelled on through a perpetual gloom of vaulted boughs and intermingled shade. There were no flowers here…..The timber was all hard timber, walnut, beech and basswood, and oak and maple of most luxuriant growth.”

It perhaps looked like this:

Lest we think it was always a pleasurable experience, here is what else Anna Jameson had to say:

“Mosquitoes…suddenly we were again surrounded by our adversaries; they came upon us in swarms, in clouds, in myriads—entering our eyes, our noses, our mouths, stinging until the blood followed.”

 Clearly travelling through such swampy terrain was a challenge.

This next quote from Anna Jameson is interesting:
“A Canadian settler hates a tree, regards it as his natural enemy, as something to be destroyed, annihilated by all and any means.” I guess things weren't so different in the early 1800s than they are in the 21st century!

Chatham-Kent in 2013

This next photo is one I took in April of 1989, showing southwestern Chatham-Kent, at a point about two kilometers west of Port Alma along Hwy 3/Talbot Trail. There were two tiny fragments of woodland present in this photo at that time, and one of them has disappeared since.

Nonetheless, there are some fabulous natural areas remaining in Chatham-Kent. Some are reasonably well known, such as Wheatley Provincial Park and Rondeau Provincial Park.

Wheatley Provincial Park

Wheatley PP is about 240 hectares in size. It has a small, but impressive woodland component to it, as well as is the outlet for a creek system.

 Within the woodland are a few small individual American Chestnut trees, an endangered species that at one point was one of the most common trees in area woodlands but was almost entirely wiped out due to chestnut blight.

Am Chestnut trunk

Am Chestnut leaf

Am Chestnut flowers, almost never seen anymore

Am Chestnut fruit

There is a good population of Climbing Prairie Rose present.

The endangered Acadian Flycatcher is known to nest here occasionally. I was the first to discover this species nesting here in the early 1980s.

A bird only recently considered a regular nesting species in Ontario is the Orchard Oriole.

Wheatley is a delight to explore from spring,

to fall.

Next in the series will be a brief overview of Rondeau Provincial Park.