More on a couple of endangered species, plus a new species for Rondeau, etc.

 Earlier this month, I went to Rondeau to try and get some impressive shots of the super moon. I spent a bit of time ahead of the moon rise, exploring other areas, including the Marsh Trail. One of the first things I was able to get photos of was this Merlin keeping an eye on me.

On the trail itself, I encountered a Short-tailed Shrew. It was dead, and that is the most likely way to encounter one. 

A few more living things were noted, and photographed, including Blue Jays, which are migrating through in large numbers....

Eastern Phoebe

Northern Flicker

A flock of ducks flew high, overhead. Most of these are scaup, but hard to tell whether Greater or Lesser from this photo.

White-crowned Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

As the evening progressed, I went out to the east side of the park in anticipation of a large, orange super moon at the horizon. There was a bit of haze at the horizon, so I waited and got this one as it rose a bit.

I went back a couple of days later, with a different camera\lens combination, as the horizon appeared to be clearer. Unfortunately it was quite windy, and I couldn't hold the camera still enough in such dark conditions especially with such a slow shutter speed, and when there is often more atmospheric interference right at the horizon. So the quality of photo I was hoping for wasn't what I got. 
 

Later in the evening, I got this:

It is sharper, of course, but it doesn't look a lot different than a normal full moon. Oh well, I guess I will have to work on my moon rise photography technique and keep trying!

In other park explorations, I managed to see these things:

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers are more plentiful, as they are in migration mode. The occasional one may stay the winter at Rondeau.

As the human crowds thin out a bit, deer are more likely to be out and about.

Wild Turkey

Next is a fruiting capsule of the endangered Nodding Pogonia. It wasn't a great year for this species, as the dryness at a critical time of the summer likely had an impact, as did other factors. For those that did flower and produce a seed capsule, this is what one will find. It is a very small plant to begin with, as one can tell in comparing it to the fallen leaves beside it, and so even extra care had to be made as I searched for evidence of seed production. As the capsule develops, it sits upright, and starts to split along some of the lines, enabling the tiny seeds to disperse with a bit of breeze.

Something I was surprised to encounter was this next little critter. It doesn't have a common name, but is a member of the Tree Hopper family, and its scientific name is Stictocephala basalis. According to iNaturalist, it is the first record for Rondeau and although generally widespread across southern Ontario, is not common at all. When I came across this little rascal, I only had my 100-500mm lens, so had to be creative in getting even a few record shots. Fortunately the lens will focus down to 1 metre at 500mm, so that helped.

Next is a member of the Trametes fungal group, commonly known as the Turkey-tail group.

In spite of the fairly sunny and warm temperatures, butterflies have really dropped off, most likely to that stretch of cold overnight temperatures not long ago.

Fruiting bodies of Fringed Brome grass

Eastern Garter Snake

Downy Woodpecker

Next is a photo of a fungus called Destructive Pholiota. The first photo shows it a week later than the following photo, indicating that these fruiting bodies don't last very long.

Dekay's Snake

Lots of Common Grackles are migrating these days!

Seed pods of Bristly Sedge

Salamanders are fairly common across the damper areas of the park, but are seldom seen, especially considering how dry the sloughs are now. This one is likely a Blue-spotted Salamander, but with the genetic research taking place by researchers amongst the salamander group, it might be a hybrid.

Mid to late October is one of my favourite times to search for another endangered species, Red Mulberry. This species occurs in very few places in extreme southern Ontario, being limited primarily to Pelee Island, Point Pelee and in the extreme eastern Niagara Peninsula. Rondeau has a fairly good population, but that may be changing as the forest conditions have changed a little more dramatically in the last few years. I intend to discuss that topic in more detail in a future post. In the meantime, in the last week or so, I have been looking for this species to determine its continued presence at known locations, as well as keeping an eye open for new locations. As a result, I believe I have found at least two, possibly three, new locations. The leaves are much fresher looking this late in the season compared to most other trees. The leaves are quite large, round and have obvious 'drip tips'. These drip tips are helpful in that due to the slight hairiness of the leaves, which can hold moisture, the drip tips allow for a greater falling off of the moisture droplets. The leaves have a fairly symmetrical base, unlike those leaves of somewhat similar looking Basswood leaves.

As mentioned, they retain the green colour later in the season than most other species. All of these Red Mulberry photos were taken in the last week. There are numerous non-biting midges present lately throughout the park, and they often take refuge on the underside of the leaf which this next photo shows.

This species never grows as tall as most of the other species it associates with, so if you see a relatively short tree with a trunk only a few centimetres in diameter, and with lots of large green leaves as described above, it may be a Red Mulberry. A species it can be confused with includes Basswood, a native species, and Northern Catalpa which is often planted in built up areas but can be distributed into forests, so be aware!

 

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Fruit on the forest floor, Part 1

 No, I am not talking about walnuts, or acorns or something like that scattered on the forest floor. I am referring to fungi.

There are many, many types of fungi, and the part that we see growing on the forest floor, or a rotting log, is the fruit of the fungus plant. The main part of the fungus is underground, or in the rotting log, in the form of extensive mycelial threads that act to decompose the rotting log. But more than that, the threads cover extensive areas and travel for huge distances underground. These mycelial threads are actually known to 'communicate' with each other, and share energy, and they are critical components of what makes a forest healthy.

So the actual fungus is just the fruit which bears the seeds or more correctly, the spores, which are dispersed by the breezes. The names and shapes of such fungus are highly varied.

Aborted Entoloma

I have spent a fair bit of my time roaming about forests in the late summer and fall, on the lookout for fungi. They are busy doing their thing under ground, or in a log, for a good part of the year, and seem to be the most visible during the more humid periods of the season when they get to the fruiting stage, although some fruit even in spring. Sometimes I consider my outing to be part of a fun, fall, foray for fungi!

They aren't all colourful, like many warblers or wildflowers, but are fun to find and photograph regardless.

These 'fruits' release their spores, through their gills. Gills are often shown like this following fungus, known as member of the Agaricomycetes group of fungi. The type of gills aren't always visible from the top. In looking at the first photo above, the gills are not noticable unless you break off or look underneath the fungus. Given that most fungi grow quite low and on the ground, looking underneath is challenging, so some mycologists, the name for persons who study fungi, break off the fungus to see the type of gill.

Other fungi have hidden types of gills, such as this next one, known as the Bear's Head Tooth fungus.

This next one, illustrated by the next three photos, is fairly common, at least in forests where American Beech are common. It is known as the Beech Rooter fungus.

Note to the reader: while I have attempted to put a name to the fungi that are in this post, and I believe many of them are correct, I am anything but a specialist when it comes to fungi. I rely fairly heavily on the Computer Visualization capabilities of the database on iNaturalist, where there are thousands of examples of various species which it will compare to, in order to come up with a strong possibility. Over time, specialists in the mycological field will take a look and either confirm or correct its name. So while I believe most identifications here are fairly accurate, there is no guarantee that 100% of them are at this point.

Back to some fungi.

Some are small, looking like a small parasol. This next one is a member of the Bonnet's group.

They can be quite colourful, such as this Chantarelle Waxcap, next.....

...or are typically less colourful as these next ones demonstrate,

Deer Mushroom

Deer-colored Mushroom

Closeup of Deer-colored Mushroom

Most of the fungi shown above, were growing out of the ground, or a moss covered log. One fungus that I came across was growing out of the end of a Tulip Tree log which had been cut to clear a path. It was a bit larger than normal and quite distinctive. I got a couple of photos with the camera I had in hand. It is known as the Destructive Pholiota.

I went back to the fungus a couple of days later with a different camera/lens combination. The fungus had changed a bit...

....a closer look at the underside showed the gills as well as the brownish ring at the upper side of the stem. It didn't last long, however. The fruits of fungi seldom last in good condition for any more than a few short days. As soon as the spores are released, the fruit head deteriorates quickly.

I don't know who comes up with the names of fungi. This next one is called the Dog Vomit Slime Mold. While some fungi are edible, just the name of this one is enough to turn one off! I have no idea of whether it is edible or not......

Not all fungi grow out of the ground. This next one is known as Dryad's Saddle, and typically grows out of the side of a dead tree trunk.

A fungus that is fairly widespread and visible is this next one, the Chicken-of-the-woods.

A lot less colourful is Hen-of-the-woods, shown next.

As mentioned, looking underneath the 'cap' shows the gills, as this Honey Waxcap shows.

This next one is a member of the Hygrophoraceae group. Yellow ones like this do not seem to be all that common.

This next one is the Lion's Mane Mushroom.....

....and this next, colourful one is one of my favourites, the Mycena leaiana, or Orange Mycena.

As mentioned at the beginning, these fungi are exceedingly important in the transfer of energy not only to other fungi. Trees and non-woody plants obtain significant amounts of energy from the mycelial threads that are extensive underground. It is what helps to keep a forest healthy. When one part of a forest is disturbed, that disturbance can be communicated to other parts of the forest via these mycelial threads and end up causing problems. And that is why forests that are logged or otherwise have the soil disturbed decline in health. Their connection to the multitude of other plants is severely disrupted. It is also why attempts to establish a plantation on a previously worked up agricultural field is seldom very healthy, at least not for many, many years. The constant work-up of the soil through cropping, as well as the application of so many chemicals to benefit the agricultural crop, has destroyed the mycelial threads and severely limits the trees growth and development. It may take many decades for the soil to become more natural with mycelial threads for the transfer of energy to the multitude of the forest inhabitants.

That's it for this post, but I expect to feature more fungi in a future post!

 

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