Rare and uncommon birds, a very rare orchid, and others

 There are a few rare to uncommon bird species around, mixed in with the expected species. One of the highlights of recent days is the arrival of Dickcissel. It used to be a rather extreme rarity up until a few years ago, and any reports of them immediately created a rush of birders anxious to get them on their life or year lists. While there is still a quick response by birders when one is reported, the occurrence of Dickcissels in southwestern Ontario is not quite the novelty it once was. The beginning of their fairly regular occurrence began in 2017, and I wrote about it for the April, 2018 edition of Ontario Birds, which you can read about here.

Dickcissels have appeared in several places in the south and mid western parts of Chatham-Kent so far in recent days, and I went to a spot where a sizeable grassy/prairie type field had been established a few years ago. I had a couple of the birds there last year, and sure enough, almost as soon as I pulled up to the edge of the road, there was a male singing away. Fortunately this species sings at a pitch that even my ears can easily detect, and this bird came and went several times, giving me lots of photo ops right from the vehicle.

I had been out to another site, privately owned, where I had them last year, but so far, they had not shown up. I will check in another few days. It was not a lost cause, as I was treated to a male Bobolink intent on feeding young at a nest......

....and lots of Savannah Sparrows.

The real bird rarity of the area was even rarer than a Dickcissel. It was a Cassin's Kingbird that showed up in southern Essex County. Its rarity status was clearly demonstrated by the dozens of birders that descended on the site as quickly as they could get there, giving variable views. I am sure it was an Ontario lifer for many. I did not venture there to see it however. It was in late November of 2013 when I found one of this species at Rondeau! Unfortunately it was dead, but still identifiable. It was resting in the sand dunes of the southeast beach of the park. It quite likely had been hanging out along the edge of the dunes and oak savanna, and had gone unnoticed by birders in the area, not all that surprising since it was in late November when birders do not frequent that area very often. With a cold spell of several days earlier, the amount of insects available to it had likely diminished, causing it to perish. It had deteriorated by the time I found it, but it was salvaged and eventually ended up at the ROM.

Far less rare, but still nice to see and even get a few photos of, were several bird species at the local sewage lagoons. About 5 White-rumped Sandpipers were using the sprinkler cells.

The White-rump is easily told by being larger than similar looking Semipalmated Sandpiper, with that latter species shown on the left side of the next photo, and also by the greater black markings extending farther along the flanks. It also has a reddish base to the underside of the beak and longer wings that extend beyond the tail when at rest. And of course the white rump, which shows in flight.

It is uncertain whether these White-rumps are just late in going north, given the vagaries of weather patterns over the last month or so, or early in returning. I had been told by someone much more expert than I, several years ago, that White-rumps go north fairly quickly and even overshoot southern Ontario for the most part, to get a good start on nesting in their arctic territories. But if the weather conditions there are not favourable and nests fail, then the birds will abandon further nesting attempts and slowly move south, appearing here in southern Ontario by mid-June. With that in mind, I suspect these birds are ones that are on the return.

A common shorebird species is the aptly named Spotted Sandpiper, and there are always a few at the sewage lagoons.

Not a shorebird, but a Song Sparrow, next, which occurs in a wide variety of habitats. This one was scurrying around amongst the vegetation at the edge of the sprinkler cells, often just out of sight.

A quick trip to Rondeau was not terribly birdy in the area I explored, but there is always something to see, and even get photos of. Gray Catbirds are not always so cooperative, but this one was advertising its territory and less concerned than usual about me.

Mourning Doves are often well beyond photo range.

The Common Five-lined Skink is anything but common, and is in fact endangered, but can be seen occasionally on a sunny log.

And in sunny spots along the woodland trails, the Six-spotted Tiger Beetle can be found quite regularly. Just so you know, it doesn't always have six spots, however.

One of my outdoor forays involved heading to Clear Creek Forest Provincial Park, a favourite destination at various times of the year. On the way there, I stopped to see how a very large Black Gum tree was faring, given the sometimes extreme wind, snow and ice conditions over the winter. It was doing fine. The flowers are not very impressive, and this next photo shows some deteriorating flowers as well as some early developing drupes, or berries, which will be much larger and blue at maturity.

It is a large, impressive tree, and the only location in Chatham-Kent that I am aware of. The next photo shows it just a bit past the peak of autumn colour, when the leaves are a deep red. This was taken in the mid-autumn of 2022. Maybe this coming autumn I will get it at its peak!

Any visit to Clear Creek Forest PP entails being on the lookout for anything and everything. A walk around the former gravel pit on the north side, can be good for dragonflies, and on this occasion I got these next two species:

Calico Pennant

Dot-tailed White Face

It was a coolish day, and I anticipate an increase in ode diversity over the next few weeks. 

My main purpose was to check up on a very rare orchid: Purple, or Lily-leaved, Twayblade (Liparis liliifolia). En route to that spot, I came across this Northern Crescent butterfly.....

...as well as a Virginia Ctenucha moth.

 I was successful in finding the orchid, in spite of it being partially hidden under other, more profuse vegetation, and overall it was in fine shape for photographing.

It is an endangered species, with very few locations for it in Ontario, and only one in Quebec.

Given its subtle appearance, and growing amongst other vegetation, it would not surprise me if it occurs in a few other places, but just hard to find!

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Forest fun plus bird atlassing

 The bird migration has slowed to a crawl now but soon, the autumn migration will begin! Shorebirds that had nest failures in the arctic or sub-arctic may be back on their southward migration. Fortunately there are lots of other things to spend time looking for.

At Rondeau, I've wandered around looking for plants, some of which are extremely rare. Puttyroot, shown first, is not officially a Species At Risk, but it has been considered in that context in recent years.

Ash trees have taken a major hit in the last couple of decades, due to the Emerald Ash Borer, and while there is lots of regeneration of the species in various natural areas, Black Ash is now considered a Species At Risk. It grows in wet spots, usually in standing water. One of the key ways to separate it from other ash species is to look at the underside of the leaves. At the base, it is obviously hairy/pubescent.

Chicken-of-the-woods is a colourful fungus that can be seen from spring to fall. This is a small part of a large outcropping of this fungus that I saw on a large fallen log, along the Tuliptree Trail.

A short distance away, I encountered an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail having a snack.

Unfortunately this next item is not rare. It is Beech Leaf Disease, and is quite evident on the many American Beech trees at Rondeau as well as many other natural areas in southwestern Ontario. The future of this beech tree does not look good, as the disease can kill trees.

A quite rare plant species is this next one: American Ginseng. There are a couple of places where I have seen it, but due to its popularity for supposed medicinal purposes, it gets picked a lot. It will likely be in flower any time now.

This is what the developing flowers look like, at great magnification.

A species that is a general look-alike to the previously featured one, is this next one, known as Wild Sarsaparilla. It is widespread.

June is the month when Tuliptrees are in flower, and the flowers are impressive to say the least. It is an unofficial flagship species for the Carolinian Zone.

Fungi are more often seen in the damp, humid conditions later in the season, but some can be found when the right conditions occur even quite a bit earlier. This one is called the Eastern American Platterful Mushroom.

On sunny days, one might come across another Species At Risk, known as the Eastern Five-lined Skink, which is Ontario's only lizard.

And even during the day, one might encounter moths. This one is a Morbid Owlet....

...and this one is Three-spotted Fillip. I've been out to Rondeau with my black lights a couple of times so far, and will be featuring some of the moths that have visited my set-up one of these days.

On occasion you might encounter a black mass clinging to an American Beech branch. It is Black Sooty Mold, and forms as a result of a gathering of Wooly Beech Aphids, sometimes known as Boogie-woogie aphids due to their 'dance' when they feel threatened. They sip on the liquids in the branches and leaves, and secrete a large amount of liquid onto the branches, which then supports this mold.

As shown above, butterflies are out and about and once in awhile I will photograph some cooperative ones. This is a Hobomok Skipper, nectaring on a type of fleabane.

I spent a bit of time at McKerrall Woods, a municipally owned woodlot located a few kilometres northeast of Chatham, looking for bird action that could be contributed to the ongoing Breeding Bird Atlas. It is a woodlot that seldom gets visited by anyone else. At the small parking lot, there was lots of clover which attracted a rare butterfly, the Giant Swallowtail.

It clearly had had a rough time of it at some point, based on the damaged part of its hind wing. It didn't seem to hinder the flight of the butterfly, however.

Between the parking lot and the woodlot, one walks past a good-sized hayfield. There were lots of grassland birds....

Bobolink were fairly common, with at least 15 or more in the area, the males doing their courtship flight and chasing off competitors....

...while females took note in between carrying out their parental duties, carrying food to some nestlings.

Savannah Sparrows were even more abundant, shown below, but hard to photograph. I was hoping for a Dickcissel, but none were seen or heard.

Looking across the hayfield, I noticed this critter walking through, but at a distance.

Then it would leap and bound to make better progress passing through the tall vegetation.

There are no trails in this woodlot....

...but a few places that are not covered with vegetation.

That makes wandering through this woodlot a bit of a challenge, as there is lots of woody material under the dense growth ready to trip you up. A good walking stick is handy to have.

There is very little in flower now, as the leaves of the canopy have shaded the ground, and all the spring wildflowers have gone into seed production mode. This next photo is of a sedge, known as Gray's Sedge, not a common species but fairly widespread.

I did record a few bird species for the atlas, but due to the heavy canopy, did not get any photos to share.

I also have been at Clear Creek Forest Provincial Park in eastern Chatham-Kent. It is always a worthwhile place to visit, although the forest birds are hard to photograph. The wetland areas are more productive, photographically speaking.

A Turkey Vulture was resting on a broken stub above the wetland. The light was fairly harsh, against the mottled background. After preening for a few minutes, it flew off and joined some others.

Dragonflies are fairly plentiful in the various wetlands pockets here. This first one is a Dot-tailed Whiteface, aptly named due to the white dot on the tail, and the white face. This branch is a popular place for it to rest, as shown by the exuviae of other dragonflies using this stick from which to crawl out of an earlier stage of development before taking flight.

Next is a Calico Pennant with its quite distinctive colour and markings.

Blue Dashers were probably the most common dragonfly species that I saw. Some were just sitting...

...and presumably on the lookout for a mate with which to reproduce with. This next photo shows a pair of them 'in wheel', and preparing for the next step of reproduction.

A short time later, the female hovered over the water for a few seconds.....

...and then would regularly lower the tip of her abdomen to the water surface, depositing an egg onto a bit of vegetation. In a few days, the eggs will hatch, and the very young dragonflies will emerge and spend the first part of their lives underwater, before escaping the confines of their exuviae at the larval stage, as shown on the lower part of the Dot-tailed Whiteface dragonfly above. At that point, they will carry on with their life's adventures.

Stay tuned for more atlassing adventures, as well as some black lighting highlights!

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