Natural Areas of Chatham-Kent, Part 11 (McGeachy Pond)

McGeachy Pond is located along the Lake Erie shoreline, just before the village of Erieau. This first image shows this triangular wetland's location. The trail goes along the dyke between the lake and the wetland, although you can walk around the entire periphery if you want to walk along the road sides. If you look at the surrounding farmland, you will note that it is quite black, and is typical of soils produced by wetlands. The dyke was constructed a little over a century ago to protect the low lying farmland and residential areas from flooding during wave action and high water levels of Lake Erie.

There are small parking areas at either end of this Conservation Area, shown by the 'X'.

 This site is under the jurisdiction of the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority.

 There is an observation tower along the trail, looking out over the lake.

 It is a great spot to watch for water birds out on the lake, as well as boats, or people using the trail. The east end of the trail continues right into the village of Erieau.

The location is fabulous for watching wildlife...birds and butterflies especially. As of this post date, there have been ~215 species of birds observed here. Waterfowl are fairly abundant, either passing overhead or resting up for the next leg of their migration journey.

Tundra Swans

Northern Pintail

 The shrubby/treed area is good for those species that like such habitat for nesting such as the next two species.

Gray Catbird

Eastern Kingbird

 This next species is a frequent non-breeding resident.

Great Blue Heron

The heron is wading through a large patch of Pickerelweed, a common and distinctive aquatic plant of shallow wetlands.

The current water levels are controlled, but before the water control system was installed, the water levels naturally fluctuated. As a result the habitat was more variable. It was during this time in about 1978 that a friend of mine discovered the nest of a King Rail and I had a chance to see it and briefly photograph it. King Rails have never been common in Canada, but the wetlands along Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair were where they were most likely to occur. King Rail has gradually declined even from the low numbers of that era to the point of it being legally Endangered in Canada. Although there are still a few breeding records of it in some of its more popular haunts, I believe this 1978 record is the last time an actual nest was found in Ontario.

Many migrating birds follow the shoreline especially on their southward migration, so it is a good spot to check. In the last couple of years these next two species have put in an appearance.

Bohemian Waxwing

American White Pelican

A much more regular winter resident is Snowy Owl, often seen in the fields immediately adjacent to the site.

This is a great spot to find butterflies as well. The openness of the vegetation which supports many flowering plants throughout the growing season, as well as being along the shoreline which, like the birds, facilitates migration movement, are two of the factors that make it productive for butterflies. The presence of a large butterfly bush adjacent to the western parking lot doesn't hurt either! As a result it is a regular spot to look for butterflies during the annual Butterfly Count in mid-July, but can be useful to check almost any time of the wildflower growing season.

The first two images show one or more Bronze Coppers. They can sometimes be quite numerous. On one occasion I counted 55 of them!

 Monarchs are here during much of the season, but are particularly abundant in September as they are migrating through on their way to the wintering grounds in the highlands of Mexico.

 The abundance of New England Aster in late summer is popular with many butterflies.

As mentioned, there is a large butterfly bush adjacent to the west end parking area. Butterflies are drawn to it in impressive numbers. On one occasion I saw at least 8 species using it simultaneously. These included:

Fiery Skipper

Gray Hairstreak

Monarch

Painted Lady

American Lady

Peck's Skipper

Question Mark (under side)

Question Mark (upper side)

In addition to seeing a diversity of wildlife, it is a great spot just to enjoy the lake side setting, listen to the wave action and feel the gentle, cooling breezes off the water in summer. And it has many wonderful photographic opportunities as well, especially at sunrise!

Butterfly Bonanza

One doesn't normally consider September, and late September at that, to be a prime time for finding butterflies. But then the extended mid-summer weather isn't exactly normal, either.

It had been a little more than two weeks since I had last been to the McGeachy Pond trail and checked on the butterfly bush by the west end parking lot, so I decided it was time again. I went out this past Tuesday morning....another hot sunny day.

The butterfly bush still had numerous flower clusters, with lots of butterflies vying for a spot from which to sip the nectar. It was hard to decide which butterfly to photograph first! The west end of the trail also had numerous butterflies, and overall I ended up with well over 150 butterflies of a dozen species! This area had been mine to cover during the butterfly count back in July, a time when butterfly diversity is usually at its peak, but on that occasion I got only half a dozen species and only a few dozen individuals at the most.

The following photos were taken on this visit. I didn't attempt photos of Cabbage White or Red Admiral.

It has been an excellent late season for Painted Lady. On this occasion I saw at least 30, and most looking quite fresh.

 Monarchs were not surprising at all, as they are well into their southwestern migration. There were at least 22 of them.

 Silver-spotted Skippers were few....no more than 5.

 I didn't bother counting Orange Sulphurs, although there were at least a dozen.

 One which I was hoping for was Fiery Skipper. If it shows up in southwestern Ontario, it is usually late in the season, so not a total surprise but nice to finally see one for the year. There were actually two individuals.

 Gray Hairstreak is also more likely to be seen later in the season, and this single individual was my first of the year, and one of the few I've photographed in recent years.

Along the trail was a profusion of goldenrod and New England Aster, among others, but it was clear that New England Aster was the favoured plant.

There were a few Clouded Sulphurs, another quite expected species.

Common Buckeye is another late season species. The one individual I observed wasn't my first of the year, but I've seen no more than half a dozen so far.

 Certainly one of the highlights was to see a super abundance of Bronze Coppers. I had a couple on the early July Butterfly Count, a little early for them, but only one or two since. It is a species that is often associated with wetlands, so the adjacent McGeachy Pond wetland was undoubtedly a factor. I was quite surprised to count at least 55 individuals along the trail, certainly more than I usually see in an entire season!

 It wasn't uncommon to see three or more in close proximity to each other......

 .....or even 7! There are 6 visible (one only partially) in this tight shot.

 Another first of year for me was this Common Checkered-skipper. It had been reported in other areas, but for some reason has not been common in Chatham-Kent. It is very tiny...about the same as the width of the aster flower head.

While the temperatures are dropping a bit for a few days, getting to be about normal, a slight warming trend early next week will likely continue the butterfly action, so at least one more visit will be attempted then to see what differences there might be. Stay tuned!