The flowering season is finally over!

No kidding!

The lingering autumn allowed at least a few plant species to continue to flower a lot later than they normally might have. But with the onset of below freezing temperatures and even snow in the last few days (with a lot more on its way, apparently), even the hardiest plants have called it quits. And so have some of the insects that took advantage of the lingering mild weather.

For example, this Clouded Sulphur butterfly was around less than two weeks ago, on a very windy day at the Tilbury Sewage Lagoons (it seems that sewage lagoons are always windy.....). It had a hard time hanging on to this dandelion seed head.

Somewhat more surprising, was the existence of these active Cabbage White larvae on our kale as late as yesterday!

Sewage lagoons are good spots to find some late flowering plants. These next ones were all seen recently at the Blenheim sewage lagoons.

Butter-and-eggs (Linnaria vulgaris)

Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis)

Mustard species

Sowthistle (Sonchus sp)

Perhaps it is the presence of warm water outlets that make a slightly milder micro climate.  It is also good for late shorebirds, as many readers will know, since a few Dunlin and a Western Sandpiper have been regularly seen at the Blenheim lagoons as late as today, but the open water is diminishing.

Of the four plants shown above, three of them are not native. Only Evening Primrose is native. Persisting in such extreme conditions must be a helpful survival strategy for these colonizers of disturbed areas.

Natural areas may also have a few flowers persisting. This next image, of a native Aster species, was seen in the sand dunes of Rondeau not too long ago.

The plants in this next image have finished flowering (yes...grasses do have flowers), but I think they look particularly attractive at this stage. This is a common tallgrass prairie species, and frequently found in the beach dunes of Rondeau.

Indian Grass (Sorghastrum nutans)

Just another three and a half months or so until the next flowering season begins!

A new hiking & birding trail in Chatham-Kent

For anyone paying attention to the local media, you might already be aware of this new trail, which opened on September 19. It is officially known as the Mitchell's Bay North Lake Shore Nature Trail. As some of you will know, there is already a Mitchell's Bay Lake Shore Trail, which extends from Angler Line north to the village of Mitchell's Bay. There are plans to connect these two trails at some point, but for various reasons, that hasn't happened yet.

For more on the media coverage on the opening of this trail, read the article here.

A couple of days ago, I went to check this new trail out, getting some photos in the process.

But backing up a bit, this first photo is what part of it looked like in April, 1989. Given that it was taken in that era, it is a scanned image, of course. I was giving some new regional MNR staff a tour of the MNR interests along the tri-county area shoreline, describing the various features that they should be aware of or would find interesting. Even back then, I seldom went anywhere without my cameras and various lenses, so I rattled off several rolls of film over the three hour tour.  While passing by the eastern shoreline of Lake St. Clair, I noticed this property which really stood out. Had aliens visited it, leaving these strange shapes and lines as a hidden message visible only to viewers from the air? No, it was a wetland that had cookie-cutter equipment on site to create a more open wetland through the dense cattails, which is more conducive for wildlife in general and nesting waterfowl in particular. Little did I know at the time that I would be involved to some degree when this property would become open to the public for hiking and nature appreciation!

Trails have been a higher priority for the municipality in recent years. This is the latest result of the municipality of Chatham-Kent, along with the commitment and support by two local families in particular (the Cadotte family and the Allen family) and various community groups to make this trail available and open to the public.

Note in this first link the trail map from a publication put out by Chatham-Kent Recreation showing the location relative to Mitchell's Bay, and the configuration of the trail itself. The south part of it goes along a dyke which separates the agricultural land from Lake St. Clair, while the other part goes into the wetland itself.

Ontario NativeScape has been instrumental in the design of the trail through the wetland, as well as the restoration of prairie vegetation along the drier raised section of this trail. I was asked to provide ideas, text and photos for several natural heritage education signs for the trail. They are being prepared at this time, and will eventually be installed at various points along this trail.

There is only one access to this trail at the moment. It is at the corner of Winter Line and W. Lewis Line. An official parking lot has not been created yet, so one has to park along the road side.

With this trail's location along the Lake St. Clair shoreline and in a coastal wetland, there is bound to be some interesting wildlife, especially birds, that are recorded as time goes on. On the day I was there, I didn't see anything all that unusual, but did see expected species such as Great Egret, Common Gallinule, Green Heron and a dozen or so warblers feeding in the willows near the beginning of the trail. Here is my ebird list.

 This is a great area to see Great Egrets. There is a regular nesting colony or two of them at nearby Walpole Island, just a short flight from this trail, so birds from that colony are frequently seen feeding in this vicinity.

The trail itself is a wide gravelled pathway, making it accessible for hikers as well as wheelchairs. The vegetation along these slightly higher sections of the trail are predominantly tallgrass prairie, or will be once the restoration has matured. This is a wonderful thing, as at the time of settlement, depending on water levels in the lake, the shoreline and adjacent areas would be either wetland or tallgrass prairie. In fact a huge portion of the former Dover Township, where this trail is located, was tallgrass prairie according to some of the earliest surveys. It is also very productive agricultural land, and was easily converted so there is virtually no natural tallgrass prairie left. Re-establishing a bit of tallgrass prairie vegetation is perfect for this site.

 Most obvious at the moment is Indian Grass (Sorghastrum nutans) as well as Tall Sunflower (Helianthus gigantea).

 With the sunflower in prime condition, their bright yellow flowers are a-buzz with bees.

There are numerous channels through the wetland, and varying water levels, providing habitat for herons, waterfowl and other waterbirds as well as turtles, snakes etc.

 These logs will provide excellent basking opportunities for turtles and snakes.

Painted Turtle basking

 Bullfrogs are by far the largest frog in Ontario. I remember being amazed by the intensive chorus of their 'jug-o-rum' call on a late spring evening in some of the Lake St. Clair wetlands, but they have been in serious decline throughout their range over the past couple of decades. Retaining quality wetlands are very important to their survival.

Bullfrog

 Towards the farthest point of the trail, in the section going through the wetland, there are larger ponds.

At the farthest point, there is a raised mound to get a better look at the marsh closest to the lake. That is Walpole Island First Nation in the distance to the right.

Although wildlife can be seen from the trail, sometimes they are seen on the trail.

Leopard Frog

Differential Grasshopper

Some hikers who came along just as I was leaving had even come across a young Eastern Fox Snake, an endangered species. The lands adjacent to Lake St. Clair is one of the hot spots in southern Ontario for this beautiful creature.

Eastern Fox Snake (photo taken previously)

So put this trail on your list of places to explore in Chatham-Kent. Whether you are birding or just wanting to see a different part of the municipality and go for a hike, it is a very welcome addition to the trails and natural areas in C-K!

Tallgrass prairies of Walpole, in their prime

I have been fascinated by prairie and savanna from at least as far back as 1973, when I was working at Rondeau. And since the 1980s, I have had the privilege to be able to explore some of the finest tallgrass prairie and oak savanna in Ontario, and arguably Canada. The prairies of the Walpole Island First Nation are indeed remarkable and spectacular. One of the prairie sites has, on more than one occasion, hosted a breeding pair of Henslow's Sparrows!

You may remember a previous post, in early July, where I was able to visit one of the more remote prairies at Walpole Island, along with the owner and her family. It looked like this:

I had memories of this site from a few years earlier, when it was in its peak of colour with the Dense Blazing-star in its prime, along with several other showy species, so we planned to re-visit in early August to again see it in that showy condition. On the way in, we saw various prairie flowers in their prime, including Flowering Spurge.

Flowering Spurge (Euphorbia corollata)

Grey-headed Coneflower was also doing well. It is provincially ranked as S3, meaning there are fewer than 80 locations for it in Ontario and is vulnerable to extirpation..

Gray-headed Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata)

As we got to the site we were headed for, we were not disappointed.

This image was taken from a very similar vantage point as the first one in this post, but at a slightly different angle.

Dense Blazing-star (Liatris spicata) is one of the prairie plant species which many consider to be iconic.....that is, when one sees it, it evokes a sense of place that is a high quality tallgrass prairie. Mind you it can grow in some rather disturbed sites as well, but in a setting such as the one above with a multitude of other quality prairie species, it truly is an indication of a special place. Dense Blazing-star is a Threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Under the Provincial Ranking system, it is S3.

Purple is the primary colour, but if you look closely at the image preceding this, you may have noticed a white plant. It is a rare white colour form; less than one per cent of all blazing-star stems are white. It serves to add to the diversity of colour at this time of year when so many prairie plants are purple against a green background.

On the day of our visit, it was a wonderful day to see some butterflies as well. Monarchs, Red-spotted Purples and Black Swallowtails were fairly abundant, but the one that caught my eye was Giant Swallowtail. There were several flitting about, enjoying the nectar of the rich purples available to them in this setting. Giant Swallowtails are ranked as S2 in the provincial ranking system, meaning that there are likely fewer than 20 populations and have a restricted range in Ontario and are very vulnerable to extirpation.

In both of these cases, the swallowtails chose to sip on the flowers of an ironweed rather than the blazing-star and that seemed to be the case most of the time. I'm not sure if the deeper purple colour was more attractive, or maybe the nectar was more satisfying. I'm not a butterfly whisperer to know that detail.

There are two species of ironweed on the Ontario prairies. For many years it was believed there was just one species, but in the early 1990s while a botanical colleague and I were photographing some prairie plants on Walpole, he realized there was something different about some, and after a closer examination of images and confirming using technical manuals, I concurred, thus adding with some certainty that there was in fact another species. The differences are somewhat subtle, and are based in part on the number of florets (small, individual flowers on the flower head). One species is Tall Ironweed and the other is Missouri Ironweed. The next photo is of the latter, and most recently confirmed, species. It is provincially ranked as S3.

Missouri Ironweed (Vernonia missurica)

Of course tallgrass prairies are more than just colourful wildflowers, although they are the showier plants. But as the name 'tallgrass' suggests, grasses are a major component of such a prairie. A healthy prairie in the mid-west consists of about 70% grasses, although there are only a handful of species making up that ~70%. Here in the eastern range of the tallgrass prairie biome, it is believed that wildflowers, collectively called 'forbs', make up about 50% of the vegetation in a healthy prairie, and grasses the other 50%. This may be due in part to the greater amount of precipitation in the east. Prairie grasses in general have deeper root systems than most forb species, so that in the drier part of the prairie range in the mid-west, the grasses have the advantage over the forbs. It may also be partly due to the greater presence of savanna, those prairie-type habitats where up to 25% of the cover is made up of fire resistant trees, usually oak species. Some forbs that do well in an oak savanna will also do well in a tallgrass prairie.

Indian Grass (Sorghastrum nutans) is one of the main grasses to be found on a tallgrass prairie. Grasses have flowers too, although most people do not pay much attention to them. This particular plant was in good flower, with the bright yellow stamens visible here.

In this next photo, there are some tall grasses visible amongst the forbs, although more in the background. They are Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), a.k.a. Turkeyfoot, named because of the 3-4 flower and seed spikes at the top that may resemble the foot of a turkey. It is by far the most abundant grass of most tallgrass prairies.

Also in this image is a Tall Sunflower (Helianthus gigantea) visible in the upper right. In a few days, this scene will have taken on a decidedly yellow look, as the many goldenrod species open up. There are some goldenrods in this image that are in a tight bud stage, but have not yet opened.

I will be posting more on Ontario's tallgrass prairies in the future!