Some of nature's diversity besides birds

 It is such a wonderful time of year to be out. So many things to photograph, or just to see and appreciate for their beauty as the world of nature continues to awaken from their dormant period. This post will focus not on birds, but other things.

One of the highlights at the beginning of the season is to see a few Common Five-lined Skinks, Ontario's only lizard. It is considered an Endangered species. Fortunately it can be found in a variety of places at Rondeau. 

 While walking this trail, I came across another reptile, a Common Snapping Turtle, a Near Threatened species at risk. Again, it is relatively widespread in the wetlands of southern Ontario, and can be found in the marsh as well as the larger sloughs of Rondeau. This was a very large female, seen right along the Tuliptree Trail, just poking her head above the surface.

 Another official Species At Risk is this next one, American Ginseng. I have seen it in a very few places, and due to it being a popular item for collection, will not mention where I found it. 

The flowers are just starting to form in a tight bud. I will try and feature it in good flower a little later in the season.

Much more common is Canadian Lousewort, next, and can be found in various colours as shown in the next couple of photos.

Also fairly common is Cut-leaved Toothwort, quite abundant in the rich beech-maple forest.

 There have been a few bright, sunny warm days of late, and a few butterflies and other things can be seen, such as this Eastern Comma....

....and this Eastern Gartersnake.

Very similar to the Eastern Gartersnake is this Ribbon Snake, with striping a little different but one of the easier features to see without handling it, is the small white spot in front of its eye.

Ontario's official flower, the White Trillium, can be abundant. However due to the very high population of White-tailed Deer in the past, the numbers of this species is not what it should be. This first photo shows a nice stand of these trilliums inside one of the deer exclosures, which have been in place since 1978, protected from hungry deer.

Immediately outside the deer exclosure is an example of what spring wildflowers can look like when they are available to those hungry deer. There is hardly a single spring wildflower in flower. There are developing leaves, but no flowers! Quite dramatic!

In yet another part of Rondeau is this rare wildflower, officially Vulnerable. It is Goldenseal. The flowers only last for a short time before small red berries begin to form.

 Some more spring wildflowers include:

Jack-in-the-pulpit

Large-flowered Bellwort

This next one is Large-leaved White Violet. I came across a small population of them along the Black Oak Trail, and it is new to the park's plant list. The petals are white both front and back, except for the purplish centre at the front, and the leaves are separate from the flowering stem and fairly broad with a pointed tip.

Wild, or Red Columbine, is in peak flower these days.

Red Trilliums are mostly past flowering....

...as the new leaves of this next tree appears, and initially look like flowers. But they are the developing/emerging leaves of Shagbark Hickory.

In some of the more open sloughs with a fair bit of water, there is an abundance of this next one, the Yellow Water Crowfoot, a member of the buttercup family.
 

Along various trails is Wild Geranium....

...but very limited in it abundance at Rondeau is this next one, the Twoleaf Mitrewort. The flowers are quite small as you can see, but are very attractive.

Two-leaved Toothwort

Fairly common is Starry False Solomon's Seal, next, and just becoming quite abundant....

.....whereas Spicebush, also quite abundant, has mostly finished flowering, and the red berries are slowly developing.

Sometimes a small green beetle will be actively wandering the trails or other open areas. It is the Six-spotted Tiger Beetle.

One of the 18 species of orchids known from Rondeau is this next one, the Showy Orchis, and it has been considered a Species At Risk, but is not officially yet. It is quite rare at Rondeau, only occurring in a couple of places as far as I know, but due to the presence of ticks, I spend a lot less time off the trails in my search for things than I used to. I have contracted Lyme Disease 5-6 times, and fortunately have not been as negatively affected as some, but I don't want to press my luck, so I mostly remain on trails. I assume there are many wonderful things to see away from the trails, but I will try and limit my time off trails.

An unfortunate presence in the forest of Rondeau, and elsewhere in extreme southern Ontario, is this next thing, called Beech Leaf Disease. I have hardly come across any American Beech tree at Rondeau that doesn't show at least some sign of it. At this time of year, as the leaves are developing, they will be crinkled with brown areas between the veins. As time goes on, the brown will turn to black, and many leaves will not develop properly. Some mature beech trees are now dead, mostly because of this disease, but to a lesser extent, due to very high water levels some years. This does not bode well for the Endangered Acadian Flycatcher, which nests almost entirely in these beech trees.

While hiking at St. Clair NWA not long ago, I managed to get this photo of a Beaver swimming by.....

...and I saw these two large female Snapping Turtles in a territorial dispute. 

  

 

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Two books done, one to go......

 Most readers will be aware of the first two books I have produced. The first one came out in early 2023, and was entitled Life on a Sandspit. It features lots of photos and some habitat description of Rondeau.

Earlier this year, the second book was completed, and is entitled Natural Treasures of Chatham-Kent. It features a broader array of natural habitats that formerly occurred in C-K and where some remain, as well as listing where such habitats are publicly accessible.

Both books are available at the following places:

Friends of Rondeau bookstore, Rondeau Park

Bayview Market, just outside of Rondeau Park

Book Brothers, King St E, Chatham

Lavender and Honey, King St. E, Chatham

Mindful Market & Eco Hub, Blenheim

Mitton's Jeweler's, Ridgetown

The Gift Cabin, Erieau (update: The Gift Cabin is closing, so the books are not available here)

The Five-Eau, Erieau

I do envision making them more available across Chatham-Kent, but marketing is not my strong point, and I have been, of course, more involved with other priorities in the last few months.

The third book which has been initiated and is in a first draft, will focus on the Prothonotary Warbler. It is probably the most iconic and popular bird species in the Carolinian Life Zone and most certainly at Rondeau, where it was first discovered nesting in Canada back in 1929. It has been discovered nesting elsewhere in Canada, mainly along the north shore of Lake Erie, but Rondeau has generally been considered the primary stronghold for this species ever since.

I have been following this species at Rondeau at various intensities, for 51 years, and have been able to get some wonderful photos. This current year, I spent far less time due to Marie's ill health and eventual passing, which of course changed my priorities considerably. On the rare occasion that I was out this spring, I only managed to photograph the female, shown next.

I do hope to get back to completing this book over the next few months as time and my energy dictates. It will be a much smaller and shorter book compared to the first two, but there is lots to show and tell about the Prothonotary and its relevance to Rondeau.

I did manage to see a few other birds during my occasional outings, along with a few photos, including the following, such as this female American Redstart building a nest.....

....this female Black-and-white Warbler searching for insects to gain the energy it needs to make it to its more northerly breeding territory...

and this Great Crested Flycatcher, perched high above the slough where I was watching and waiting for a Prothonotary to show.

My previous post mentioned that I had been to places other than Rondeau during the month or so after Marie passed away, where I could get some quiet time, focus on nature and refresh my soul. Some of these places included St. Clair NWA as well as the lakeshore nature trails both north and south of Mitchell's Bay. All of these places are along Lake St. Clair, and with their spacious and wide open nature, gave lots of photo opportunities and the usually gentle breezes helped to keep mosquitoes and deer flies in reduced numbers.

American Goldfinches were plentiful, picking away at the mature seed/fluff of Canada Thistle for some nest building material.

Barn Swallows were mostly concentrated near the observation tower at the NWA, as they had built a nest in the upper corner of the tower.

Black Terns used to be quite abundant near large wetland areas, not only feeding but also nesting. In recent years, however, they have been on the decline. They are always nice to see, but due to their rather erratic flight, can be a challenge to photograph!

The Common Snapping Turtle is not all that common, and is on the Species At Risk list. This large female was on the trail looking for a spot to lay her eggs.

Common Yellowthroats are fairly common, and this male was carrying some food item to the nestlings at its well-hidden nest.

Great Egrets nest at some of the offshore islands, but are frequently seen nearby foraging at the coastal wetlands for food. They seem to be more tolerant of hikers once they depart from the shallow marsh and perch up in a tree.

This next one was actually well away from the coastal wetlands, since with all the recent rain there were many flooded fields.

A much smaller heron type, is a Green Heron. As with the egret, it seems to be more tolerant of hikers once it can get safely up in a tree....

...but even then, they have their limit of tolerance.

Northern Leopard Frogs are abundant....

...as are Red-winged Blackbirds. There are many hundreds of them along the coastal wetlands, as well as elsewhere.

Sandhill Cranes are becoming more and more regular and in greater numbers. Before the crops get too far along, they can be seen foraging in fields adjacent to the NWA.....

....or in flight between the fields and the wetlands. A small number of them may be nesting in some secluded area of the marshes.

Tree Swallows are frequently seen foraging for insects over the wetlands. Hopefully they are finding lots of mosquitoes!

In the earlier part of the season, Wild Turkeys will be more often encountered, as the young of the year are prowling around becoming familiar with their local landscape. In the case of this one, it was with a couple of others at the edge of the field along a wide shrubby creek adjacent to the NWA. As the season progresses, there will be fewer and fewer, most likely due to the predatory habits of Eastern Coyotes. Only the strong and wary turkeys will survive.

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