Giants, Lizards and River Cruisers

Yesterday I wandered through parts of Lambton County that I hadn't been to yet this year. Butterflies have been fewer than normal...maybe that is the new normal. Anyway, I hadn't come across any Giant Swallowtails yet this year, which is unusual given how far the summer is along. They were totally absent or in very low numbers on some of the local butterfly counts.

I often found a few in the past at the Bickford Oak Woods Conservation Reserve in west central Lambton, so that was one of my targets. There are two large grassy tallgrass prairie patches at BOWCR, each of several hectares in size They were planted into predominantly prairie vegetation about 15 years ago. I had no sooner started out into the prairie patch when I noticed a large butterfly fluttering in the distance. Bingo, not one, not two, but three Giant Swallowtails.

Some were on Swamp Milkweed, but there was an abundance of Teasel, and although it is not a native species, the butterflies didn't seem to mind at all. In fact Teasel seemed to be the preferred species. I saw at least seven of these giants at BOWCR and about 14 species of butterfly altogether in the BOWCR area.

 There is an abundance of tallgrass prairie plants at BOWCR, some of which are quite rare. This first one is Compass Plant (Silphium laciniatum). It grows fairly tall, standing well above many other prairie plants. It is arguably native in Ontario, although that isn't without some debate. Regardless, there are populations of it in Essex, Chatham-Kent and Elgin.

 This next one, Grey-headed Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) is not nearly as rare, but still quite uncommon in prairie and prairie type settings. It is restricted mainly to Essex, Lambton and Chatham-Kent.

 Dense Blazing-star (Liatris spicata) shown next, is protected under Ontario's Endangered Species Act. It is restricted largely to Essex, Lambton and Chatham-Kent as well.

Painted Lady

Viceroy

A bit further east from BOWCR is the Moore Wildlife Area. A section of the Sydenham River goes through it, and although with the high water earlier in the year making the trail impassible, the water level had dropped considerably, and as long as one could make it through the extensive dense stands of Giant Ragweed that reached well over two metres in height, one could make it to the river in a couple of places.

As is typical of various sections of the Sydenham River, Lizard's-tail is quite abundant even though it is rare in Ontario. I saw several patches.

 Not surprisingly there was a bit of Swamp Milkweed along the lower and wetter areas near the river, and Monarchs were using them from time to time.

 This Monarch was resting on a milkweed leaf. Clearly it has seen better times, but in spite of its damaged wings, it was doing its best to carry on butterfly activities while it could.

 There were lots and lots of damselflies, and especially abundant were Ebony Jewelwings.

male

female

 The photo above is that of White Vervain (Verbena urticifolia). Its tiny, delicate white flowers go almost unnoticed to the casual eye.

I had a Hackberry Emperor stop by, allowing me a couple of quick photos before a gust of wind caused the Giant Ragweed to blow too hard, dislodging its fluttery occupant.

Another one I came across is this Common Wood-Nymph.

There were lots of dragonflies along the river, and I saw good numbers of Common Whitetail and Widow Skimmer.

But the real highlight for me was to see at least two individuals of this large dragonfly patrolling the river, sometimes disappearing around a bend but eventually coming back my way. It is a Royal River Cruiser. I had never photographed one before, and I did not have a lot of success this time, but at least a few shots were identifiable. It never landed within view, and its fast and often erratic flight made it challenging to say the least.

Another target area I had for the day was to stop by Long Creek, a tributary of the Sydenham River a bit northeast of Dresden. There is a bridge that crosses the creek along Kent Road, which is the boundary between Lambton and Chatham-Kent. Right at the bridge I found....are you ready for it.....Lizard's-tail! Both upstream in Lambton and downstream in Chatham-Kent.

 I came across a couple of stems of Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale) ust coming into flower.

 A close-up of the stem, below, shows the "wings".

 This next one is Wild Senna (Senna hebecarpa) and is although it doesn't have any official status under the ES Act either, it is ranked as S1, which means there are five or fewer known populations in Ontario. It grows along Kent Line on both sides of the county line.

Before getting all the way home, I stopped along a roadside a bit northeast of Chatham to see if this shrub species, ranked S3, was still around. Although it has been cut numerous times during roadside maintenance, it persists but is not in great shape. It is Pawpaw (Asimina triloba).

Skunks' Misery

Skunk's Misery is, in spite of its name, a fascinating place to explore. The majority of its several hundred hectares sits in southwestern Middlesex County, but some of the natural areas in immediately adjacent Chatham-Kent, Elgin and Lambton have been included by most people who are assessing natural areas.

There are various explanations as to how this natural area got its name, but they are rather vague and I'm not certain which story is the most correct, so suffice to say I will leave it to your imagination.

Skunk's Misery is a provincially significant Area of Natural and Scientific Interest as well as a provincially significant wetland. The huge area and relatively intact forest that includes large areas of interior forest, not to mention harbouring a large number of species at risk, are cause to celebrate the continued existence of this site. A little over half of it is owned by the county of Middlesex, the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority or Thames Talbot Land Trust (TTLT). The rest is privately owned. There are a few unofficial trails through some of the publicly owned sections.

I was recently contacted by representatives of the TTLT to see if I could help them locate an endangered orchid on a property that they are in the process of acquiring. It seems I was the last person to see this orchid back in the mid 1990s. The property has had some changes to it since then, mainly some timber harvest. So earlier this week I met two representatives of the TTLT and off we went to see if my recall would get us to the right place to find this endangered orchid.

Anyone with any experience at Skunk's Misery is well aware of the hordes of mosquitoes that inhabit this upland/lowland forest complex. It is usually fine until early May, but after that all bets are off. If you are prepared for the onslaught both mentally and physically, they can be endured, but if not......

Getting organized at the roadside was a hint of the potentially challenging conditions we may be facing in surveying the interior, as those pesky winged creatures sought us out. But prepared and undaunted, we entered. And surprisingly, the mosquitoes were not as bad inside the woodland as they were at the roadside! It was a normal day temperature-wise, but I attribute the lack of mosquitoes inside the woodland to the extremely dry conditions of the spring in recent weeks. Standing water was almost nowhere to be found; areas where normally one would need rubber boots to get through, one could walk through in running shoes with no fear of wet or even damp feet.

As a side note, a recent media article suggested that the Black Fly should be the national insect. I disagree. While Black Flies can be be amazingly annoying, their season is relatively short, typically only a month or two, and even then primarily in areas where there is fast flowing water. The highly oxygenated water is critical for their reproduction. Mosquitoes, on the other hand are much more widespread across the country, and are active for a much longer period of time. So if there ever was an attempt to establish a national insect like there is currently to establish a national bird, I would think that the mosquito should win in a land-slide....but not necessarily because of popularity.

Back to Skunk's Misery. There are some sizable trees here, since portions of it have not been harvested for quite a few decades. The large Tuliptree in the image below measures about 158 cm in diameter.

We did manage to get to the spot where I recall seeing the orchid. But much to our chagrin, there was no evidence of it. Maybe the changes to the forest in the last couple of decades were the reason; or maybe we were a tad too early.....perhaps if we return in a couple of weeks, it may have appeared. But given the amount of rainfall in the last few days, I would expect the mosquito population to have exploded to gargantuan numbers.

This was one of the more pleasant visits to this natural area, due to the lack of mosquitoes. In several hours I only had a few dozen mosquitoes harassing me. Even after we had completed our search for the orchid, I decided to explore other areas without fear of losing too much blood. I didn't even bother with repellent.

There were other things to take note of on this site visit, although with the profusion of leaves out, birds were more likely to be heard than seen. Things like Hooded Warbler, which Skunk's Misery is known for, as well as Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Yellow-throated Vireo, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Scarlet Tanager were all heard.

Butterflies were present in small numbers, including several Giant Swallowtails.

Giant Swallowtail resting on Mayapple

Spicebush Swallowtails and Eastern Tiger Swallowtails were also observed, but they were on a mission and were definitely not sticking around to satisfy my photographic tendencies. The usual mix of Red Admirals and Question Marks were seen briefly. A few Juvenal's Duskywings, on the other hand, were more cooperative, although they are quite small and challenging to photograph.

Several female Common Whitetails were zipping by, and one hung around for a few moments as shown in the next image.

We missed the majority of the spring wildflower display, but there were things like this Large-flowered Bellwort still to be seen.

Skunk's Misery is always worth a visit!

More Willet and some dragons.

A short post today. I went back to Rondeau, intending to photograph the Willet, which was still there yesterday (which answered one of my questions from my previous post). Sure enough, it was still in the area, although it had moved from the main pond at the Dog Beach Access on the weekend, to the smaller pond north of that yesterday, and today it was roaming the edges of the biggest pond, a.k.a. Lake Erie. I wanted to use a different camera/lens combination today, to see if I could improve on the overall photo regardless of the heavy overcast. I was relatively pleased with the results.

Some Sanderling were also using the shoreline, but they didn't stick around for long. Notice that this one is balancing on a single toe!

Lots of cormorants streamed by.....several thousand at least. And lots of Bonaparte's Gulls as well, in various plumages. I looked for something more exotic, such as Sabine's or even a Little Gull, but did not note any. I did encounter something even rarer......a former MNR colleague who had retired more than a decade ago and had not seen since, so we had a good visit for half an hour. I'm sure a good gull went by during that time.....:-).

While I was in the area, I hiked the South Point Trail to the end. Birds were quite few! It probably had something to do with Sharp-shinned Hawks and a Merlin that were flying through. But there were lots of dragonflies, most notably Twelve-spotted Skimmers (lots) and Common Whitetail (fewer).

Twelve-spotted Skimmer

Common Whitetail

And this one which is what I believe to be an Autumn (Yellow-legged) Meadowhawk.

Autumn Meadowhawk

The day was getting darker, and rain was on its way, but I wanted to check out the first part of the Marsh Trail. It was more out of the wind. I'm glad I did. There was quite a flurry of birds, including a few warblers. Most notable was a nicely marked male Golden-winged Warbler. I hadn't caught up to any of this species in the spring, so it was nice to see this one a couple of times today. Canada Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, American Redstart and Common Yellowthroat were all seen as well, in addition to others that were flitting through the dark and leafy conditions and remained unidentified. A few Empidonax flycatchers and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks were present as well as the more common resident species. Unfortunately the conditions were not suitable for many photos!

I did get this shot, but it isn't easy to identify. Guesses, anyone?

But out in the open were things like Monarchs. I only saw half a dozen today. And the goldenrods had lots of pollinators visiting them.

The rain that arrived just a little before 1 p.m. put an end to the day, since it was supposed to be steady with lots of wind as the day progressed. It just means I have a reason to return......

Spring is over for another year

Today is officially the beginning of summer! And now the days begin to get shorter.....

Over the last precious few days of spring, I have enjoyed a few forays around various parts of Rondeau. The summer visitors have not yet arrived in great numbers, so the trails are relatively quiet. So quiet, at times, that other forms of wildlife are found using them. Many birds have been busily nesting, and I have had some success photographing a few of them, but that will be the subject of another post.

Six-spotted Tiger Beetle

A walk around Tuliptree Trail on Thursday turned up both male and female Prothonotary Warbler at the usual spot. They delighted us with close views, but were constantly on the move searching for caterpillars. Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Scarlet Tanager and Wood Thrush were all calling or put in a brief appearance as well.

Along the South Point Trail, there were lots of butterflies flitting about in the sun. Lots of Spring Azures (difficult to separate from Summer Azures for the most part, but according to the reference books, it is still more likely to be the flight period for Springs rather than Summers, and given the lateness of this spring, I will defer to calling them Spring Azures) plus various other species.

Spring Azure

Hobomok Skipper

Little Wood Satyr

Northern Crescent

The extra dark line on the right wing of the Northern Crescent is a shadow from a grass stem just above the butterfly.

The highlight lep for me was to discover a Pipevine Swallowtail, along the Lighthouse Trail offshoot of the South Point Trail. This species is considered fairly rare in Ontario. It was busily feeding on puccoon, but never actually lit on the plant. Instead it semi-hovered as it sipped nectar, so getting a good shot was next to impossible. I did manage the following record shots which show the single row of orange spots on the underwing, in a slightly iridescent blue patch, and the lack of much colour on the upper wing other than very dark bluish black. The butterfly being backlit didn't help my photographic efforts.

Another highlight was getting some decent shots of a Painted Skimmer, a species which is not common in southern Ontario, but seems to be seen regularly in various places this year.

As I continued out along this trail to the lake, several Killdeer and Spotted Sandpipers voiced their dismay at my presence. No doubt they had a nest or young nearby, but I didn't go looking.

Killdeer

Some other hikers who ventured out along the lake beyond the washout reported they saw several large Eastern Spiny Softshell Turtles just off shore. June is the prime month for turtles to come ashore to lay eggs, and the softshells of the Rondeau area favour the sandy beaches for their egg-laying.

Back along the South Point Trail, I noted an immature male Common Whitetail.

Common Whitetail

A very large American Toad was along the trail. It never moved while I was in the area, and even the occasional cyclist didn't seem to bother it much.

The lush growth of this Carolinian Forest Zone was evident throughout the forest. Vines in particular are taking advantage of some of the extra light available due to the death of ash trees from the effects of the Emerald Ash Borer. Virginia Creeper and Poison Ivy are particularly adept at climbing and making use of the supporting structure of such dead trees. Although such vine growth can sometimes shade out and even kill some living trees that are not shade tolerant, the good news is that such lush growth of these vines results in a profusion of berries which will provide nourishment for warblers and other songbirds as they return on their southward migration later this season. Some warblers such as Yellow-rumped Warblers may linger well into the winter if enough berries are available.

Virginia Creeper