Late summer orchids

 This post has been in the works for a few weeks, since there have been a few orchid species typical of the late summer, and several are rather rare. Currently there are 19 species of orchids known from Rondeau, 18 if which are native. I have seen all but one species, so far. Of course one of the highlight orchids is that endangered species, Nodding Pogonia a.k.a. Three-Bird's Orchid, which is currently only known in Canada at Rondeau.

It used to be known from a private woodlot in eastern Essex County, but hasn't been seen there for several decades. Forest changes and activities in the forest have undoubtedly resulted in its demise there, but it is still possible. Access to privately owned properties have become increasingly challenging, since the presence of an endangered species might result in restrictions to what the landowner has planned for their property.

Regardless, this species has been known from Rondeau since about the mid 1960s, and their are several locations in the park. Fortunately for the species, these locations are mostly away from existing trails and roadways, although on rare occasion one or more can pop up within view of a trail. I have been following/surveying this orchid since 1973, when I encountered it during my first year of working on the naturalist staff of Rondeau.

It may begin flowering in very late July and even flower into the middle of September, but its peak flowering time is about the third week in August. What makes this orchid so intriguing is that it is very small, and flowering is very weather dependent. All of the potential buds develop to a certain stage, and then stop. It is only after a significant drop in the overnight temperature, that all of those buds at this stage will open. And then they will only remain open for a day, and it may be a week or so before the next set of buds will open, depending on the temperature triggers.

This is what a developing orchid looks like before flowering. You can see by its size relative to last year's fallen leaves it is emerging through, it is anything but showy.

 Its scientific name, Triphora trianthophoros, as well as the Three-Bird's Orchid name, is based on the fact that usually a plant will produce three buds, and on rare occasions, all three will open on the same day! This next photo shows a single plant, with all three flowers open at once. I don't see this every year, but this photo was taken in 2024.

 

 This photo of the three flowers is located in the extreme upper left of this next photo.

I was quite pleased to come across this concentration of the orchid. Normally they will occur in small groups of three or four, or sometimes just be singles scattered on the forest floor. This was one of the largest concentrations I have seen in recent years. They are so photogenic, I have many dozens of photos from over the years. Certainly a macro lens and flash is required for the best photos.

Sometimes one gets a bit of a surprise along with the photo. This next photo is an example. At first I thought it was just another, typical flower.....

...but when I got a closer look at it on the computer, I noticed something peeking out.

I am not sure exactly what it is, but it is possibly a pollinator. When I was studying this orchid in the 1980s in preparation for writing the official status report, I collected some pollinator insects found on the plants, and it turned out they were mostly of the Halictid group which are types of sweat bees. This individual isn't fully shown, so it is not conclusive, but it has a strong resemblance to members of that group of insects.

A full frontal look at a plant with a single flower, may show the single, small roundish leaf, as in the following photo.

I particularly like the ones that have a tinge of magenta in the flower. Some are almost pure white, but it seems that later flowering ones are more likely to have the magenta tinge. I don't know what causes this, and some years they are almost all white ones.

Moving on to other late summer orchids, I have seen this next one called the Sphinx Ladies'-tresses.

Fairly similar, but flowering a bit later, usually about the middle of September, is this next one, which is called Great Plains Ladies'-tresses. It is a bit larger than the Sphinx and has a slightly yellowish tinge to it, especially when you look down the 'throat' of the flower. It also has a more fragrant scent to it.

The last orchid to flower at Rondeau is this next one, the Autumn Coralroot. And yes, this photo shows it in flower! There are two varieties of this orchid, and one will look like this, with a very small flower that hardly opens and droops downward, but the seed capsule forms anyway. This orchid is fairly rare throughout its range, and although I didn't look intensively for it this year, I only came across this single plant. However being as small as it is, and it isn't exactly showy, it likely occurs in places scattered throughout the pine-oak forest of Rondeau.

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Late Orchids and other rare to endangered species

 As promised in my previous post, this one will focus primarily on orchids, some of them quite rare, that occur in the August/September time frame.

As is featured in the current header, Nodding Pogonia (Triphora trianthophoros) is one of the rarest in Canada. While I have seen it in flower in very late July and as late as mid-September, typically about the third week in August is when it is at its peak.The following photos of this orchid were taken on August 25. It is legally Endangered, as the only known location for it in Canada is at Rondeau Provincial Park.

 It is very small, as you can probably tell from the first photo. They rarely exceed 12 cm in total height.

The flowers, all of which are developed to a certain point, will open simultaneously for a single day, can be slightly more than 1 cm in height. Singles are the norm, and it is always nice to see them with lots of magenta.

Doubles on the same flower seem to be plentiful at times.....

....while three flowers on the same plant, open all at the same time, is more unusual. In checking on this rare orchid annually since the early 1970s, I don't see a triple flowered one every year.

As tiny as Nodding Pogonia is, here is one that is even less conspicuous. It is Autumn Coralroot (Corallorhiza odontorhiza) and is also quite rare, although not as rare as the first one. It is a bit taller on average, but the flowers are much less showy. There are two varieties of this orchid. The one shown here is var. pringlei, and this is the 'open-flowered' variety. Even though the drooping flowers are open, the seed capsules are already well-developed. The form with flowers that never really open is even less obvious. In both cases, self-pollination occurs. To give you an idea of how small this is, it was taken with a 100mm macro lens plus 68mm of extension tubes, and then cropped some more.

Sticking with orchids a bit longer, there is an interesting group of them in the Ladies'-tresses genus, and some can be challenging to tell apart. A previous post featured the most common one at this time of year, the Sphinx Ladies'-tresses (Spiranthes incurva). I photographed it at Rondeau a few weeks ago. While looking for an endangered gentian in eastern Chatham-Kent, I photographed this same species.

Its flowers are almost entirely white, with little or no fragrance. The brownish spots appearing are an indication that it is past its best. It was photographed on Sept 1, and normally would have been in its peak condition around the third week of August

It has small leaves at the base.

A similar looking one is this next one: Southern Slender Ladies'-tresses (Spiranthes lacera var. gracilis). It is quite dainty, and not easily seen amongst the fairly dense prairie vegetation.

A closer look reveals one of the key characteristics of its spiral flowers: the distinctly green centres of each flower.

Sometimes the spiraling of the flowers takes on a slightly different look with a more drawn out spiral.

It is an extremely rare species, with only this one population showing up in the iNaturalist database. There are older records that I am aware of, but they have not been seen for several decades, primarily due to a change in the overall vegetation.

I have been out to check on another extremely rare orchid of this group: Yellow Ladies'-tresses (Spiranthes ochroleuca), but it was not visible on this date. It occurs on a normally fairly dry sandy site, and it is possible that the extremely dry late June through early August period may be the reason it hasn't appeared. Or maybe I was a few days too early, so I will be out checking for it again soon.

Another one in that genus, while considered rare in Ontario but is relatively common at Rondeau, is Great Plain's Ladies'-tresses (Spiranthes magnicamporum). It is a bit early for it at the moment, but should be showing up in the next week. It is a more robust looking species, with a slightly creamy centre as well as a spicy vanilla scent, and no basal leaves. It grows in grassy areas.

Not an orchid, but an Endangered gentian, is the White Prairie Gentian (Gentiana alba). It grows in the same vicinity as the Southern Slender Ladies'-tresses, and so I combined the time out to photograph them both. There are three sub-populations of this gentian, and at the moment, are the only ones known for Canada. Key characteristics are the creamy white flowers, most of which are fairly closed but not always tightly closed. The flowers also have slight ridges, typically with greenish lines. The plant grows best in high quality tallgrass prairie/savanna vegetation communities.

They can sometimes be confused with another gentian, commonly known as Bottle Gentian (Gentiana andrewsii), which is fairly widespread in a broader vegetation community. Normally they are quite a deep blue, but on occasion they can be white. Such was the case where I was investigating a reported occurrence of the White Prairie Gentian (WPG) in eastern Chatham-Kent. We didn't find any WPG, but did see this white colour form of the Bottle Gentian. The flowers are more tightly closed, and doesn't have the more obvious ridges with greenish edges.

Just to add a little non-botanical information to this post, while I was in eastern Chatham-Kent on the hunt for some of the species above, I stopped by a couple of spots along the Thames River to look for some rare, and very rare, damselflies. The first one is much more common than the second species: American Rubyspot. It has a partially reddish area near the base of the wings, and their abdomen shows definitive brighter rings. They don't always sit in an ideal place to photograph them, but when they do, the patience required is worth it. In Ontario, it is found in many scattered locations west of the Toronto to Barrie area.

Much rarer is the Smoky Rubyspot, next, which shows a bit of red near the base of the wings, and a smoky tip of the wings. Also the abdomen is only faintly ringed, if at all. In Ontario and Canada, it is found primarily along the Sydenham River, the lower reaches of the Thames River and in a couple of places along the Ausable River.

I also managed to check on a couple of rare plants I knew about in the area, both of which are ranked as Endangered. The first one is Eastern Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida), and while it is not in flower now, it is still quite distinctive. It has a small cluster of red berries.....

...and the large buds of next year's flowers are quite prominent.

In the same general area is a remnant of a population of Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia cespitosa), also Endangered. It was once part of a large population that was widespread across a sandy hillside back in the 1940s, according to a former co-worker of mine who lived across from the site. But eventually the hillside was converted to agriculture, and only a small remnant persists along the roadside.

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Late Season Orchids, Butterflies, and some Waterbirds

 Summer may be over, but the last couple of weeks of it and first bit of autumn is still a great time to be out looking at things.

A diminutive orchid I always try and find is the Autumn Coralroot. It is considered an Ontario and Canadian rarity, although that may be partially because it is so hard to find even when you know about where it is. It seldom grows more than 15cm (6") tall, and the flowers, if they open up at all, are droopy.

Another late season orchid is the Great Plain's Ladies'-tresses. It is quite restricted in its Ontario range, and is considered Vulnerable in Canada. It is one of the latest blooming of our native orchids. Only one species, much rarer, normally is in flower later than this species. Sometimes there is an obvious spiral to the rows of flowers, but not always. However the inside of the lip almost always shows a slight yellowish tinge, and when the plants are in peak flower, emit a fragrance that some have likened to a sort of vanilla. I sometimes think it is closer to the scent of a type of hot plastic! At any rate, it is quite distinctive, and on occasion it can be so prevalent that I can smell them before I see them.

I was at Rondeau yesterday, not specifically looking for birds, although I did see a smattering of warblers and others, as well as a lot of Blue Jays. They have been migrating in huge numbers this season. One of the hawkwatch observation points southwest of here, has reported tallying around 400,000 flying by so far. The thought is that since the food source farther north is limited, the birds are getting out of the country to where food is more plentiful.

I saw a good variety of butterflies, and most were in quite fresh condition.

Question Mark

This Common Buckeye is looking quite fresh. I have seen quite a few of this species in the last few weeks, but most are tattered and worn, since they likely arrived as a result of southerly winds. They are generally considered migrants from the south, but there are a few records of breeding in southwestern Ontario. Perhaps the reason this one is so fresh looking is due to a local breeding event?

Common Buckeye

Eastern Comma

The Eastern Comma above is in its overwintering form, given the relatively light colour of the hind wing. This next image is also of an Eastern Comma taken a few weeks ago, but it has a darker hind wing, indicating its summer form, which fits its rather faded and worn appearance.

There are still a few non-orchid species in good flowering condition along the trails of Rondeau.

Blue-stemmed Goldenrod

Bottle Gentian

This next one isn't a flowering plant per se, but a rare fern called Broad Beech Fern.

Do you recognize the seed pods here?

The shape and habitat (sandy open areas) are clues to it being that of the colourful Butterfly Milkweed.

Butterfly Milkweed

Spotted Jewelweed

Great Lobelia

Pale Jewelweed

Rattlesnake Root

Hairy Goldenrod

The dampness of late summer brings on the fruiting bodies of fungi, such as this colourful Russula species.

There are still lots of waterbirds around. I saw several Black-bellied Plover at Erieau a short time ago. It always helps to know for sure when one raises its wing to show the black feathered 'armpits' characteristic of this species.

Sanderlings are quite regularly seen.....

.....as is the all too common Double-crested Cormorant. If they just weren't so abundant and messy at times, one could consider them a nice bird to see!

I've stopped at Keith McLean CA a couple of times to see if I can catch up to the Nelson's Sparrows that have been reported. So far I've been unsuccessful, as have many others. They are furtive at best. Hopefully they stick around for a few more days like they have done in past years. So without seeing the Nelson's Sparrow, I took solace in enjoying a few of the other birds that come and go.

Dunlin numbers are starting to build, and as one of the later shorebird species to migrate through, I expect there will be lots of them over the next few weeks.

Semiplamated Plovers, on the other hand, probably won't be around much longer.....

...and the two or three Great Egrets that have been enjoying the shallow flooded fields here for many of the past few weeks, will likely be harder to find before long.

Pied-billed Grebes are still plentiful, with typically a dozen or more around. This one is checking me out as I photograph him/her.

There are lots of those aerial garbage cleaners passing through, feasting on washed up fish/cormorants/gulls/ducks/whatever.

One of the recent highlights was to catch up to this Whimbrel, along the Rondeau shoreline just south of the Dog Beach Access. Whimbrel are not often seen in the autumn, so to have this juvenile bird hanging around for a week or two is unusual. It is by itself, and is quite tolerant of humans. Presumably because it is a young bird, it has had little or no contact with humans until it arrived here, so as long as viewers do not threaten it, it carries on without any fear, it seems. Although I did have my 100-400mm lens on, at one point as I squatted down to be less intimidating, I had to zoom back to only 125mm in order to get the bird in the frame!