Dickcissel, Wilson's Phalarope, BC Night-Heron, Least Bittern, Tiger Beetle and lots more!

I thought it was time to change the header, giving the Red Squirrel a rest. It is still around the park, but Prothonotary Warblers are one of the most sought after species to find. I got many photos of this cooperative male earlier in the spring. 

I've been out to various places in Chatham-Kent over the last few days. It is a great time to be out before more of the hot, humid weather is here to stay, with summer being just around the corner in spite of quite a few recent days giving hints of things to come.

Going to Rondeau is a regular destination of choice for me as readers will know. What is a little more appealing in the warmer weather is the effect of breezes off the water keeping things a bit cooler. And now that the spring birding frenzy of May is past, the trails are a little quieter.

A small type of plant that catches people's eye is first: it is American Cancer-root. 

Certainly not a rarity, but special in their own way is the species shown in the next two photos. It is the Brown-headed Cowbird, a species not everyone can appreciate due to their laying eggs in other bird's nests. I wrote about this in a previous post entitled "Bison Birds". 

Male

Female

More to people's liking is the Cedar Waxwing, next.

On the sunnier days of spring, before it gets too hot, the Common Five-lined Skinks are out and about. The first photo is of a first year skink, sometimes called a Blue-tailed Skink for obvious reasons.

A female skink is next.

Eastern Kingbirds are regular nesting species here.

I came across a Green Heron along Tulip Tree Trail. Sometimes its crest is raised.....

...but more often it isn't.

Of course Tulip Tree Trail has many Tulip Trees, and they are in flower now.

Little Wood Satyr butterflies are flitting about along trails...

...and a much smaller little creature is the Six-spotted Tiger Beetle. They are quite plentiful along most trails, but often are flighty so don't give a good view. This one enabled me to get quite close even with my macro lens!

A little farther north of Rondeau, I encountered a colourful bird hanging out at a sizeable grassy field. It is a Dickcissel, generally considered an uncommon species but which has been increasing in the last few years.

Inhabiting the same grassy field is this more common Savannah Sparrow.

Continuing a little farther north again, this time at the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons, there has been somewhat of an invasion of a fairly rare bird: Wilson's Phalarope. On one occasion when I was there, I came across 10 birds, all of which seemed to be mated pairs. This first photo shows a pair, with the female on the left and male on the right. In this species, the females are more colourful, and it is the male that does most of the work on incubating the eggs!

On another occasion, they were very cooperative for my camera, and I got this great close-up of a female.

I had hoped that at least one of the pairs might have stayed to nest, but as of the last couple of days, it is apparent that all have left. I remember back in about 1980, there was a pair that nested at the lagoons, and I got a photo of the male on the nest. Maybe next year.....

With the significant changing of the water levels of the sprinkler cells, it is less attractive for shorebirds, and at my last visit I had a mere 3 Semiplamated Sandpipers, a single Least Sandpiper, and the occasional Spotted Sandpiper, along with a handful of Killdeer.

Semipalmated Sandpiper

For any regular, or even periodic, birders checking the lagoons, you might have seen this truck working away. It is a special vehicle owned by Republic Services, and it was on site to suction off some of the oily sheen that was covering one of the lagoons. It so happens that my son is with Republic Services, and travels widely across southwestern Ontario in particular providing environmental clean-up services at various industrial sites, etc. He was operating this truck, and he told me he was going to be there for several hours, so I stopped by and saw him in action.

Continuing northwards again, I have been to St. Clair NWA on several occasions, as it is a great place to see and hear nature in action.  Black-crowned Night-Herons used to be a bit more commonly seen, but for some reason they are less numerous now. I did manage to get this photo of one flying relatively close by on one evening.

 Sandhill Cranes are fairly regular fly-overs, sometimes giving good photo ops.

June is egg-laying time for many turtles, so I wasn't surprised to see several Common Snapping Turtles roaming about the trail looking for a place to dig a hole and deposit their eggs.

Great Egrets are scattered about...

...and there are at least a few Least Bitterns inhabiting this NWA. They are much more often heard than seen, so I felt fortunate to get this photo of one as it flew by and disappeared into the cattails.

White-tailed Deer are periodically seen right on the trail...

...and on once occasion I saw this doe and her two fawns roaming along the edge of one of the more distant islands.

 

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Celebrating Wetlands!

Most of you will already know that a few days ago, Feb 2, was Groundhog day, but did you also know that it was World Wetlands Day? Wetlands are some of the most misunderstood and abused natural habitats on earth. They provide and cleanse sources of fresh water that we all need. They prevent flooding, and who hasn't heard of the major floods occurring in so many areas. Yet wetlands are drained, filled in, and treated like a garbage dump etc.

Some of the most extensive wetlands on earth occur right here in Canada including major ones in Ontario. The Hudson Bay Lowlands stretch inland from Hudson Bay for several hundred kilometres, and extend from the Quebec border to the Manitoba border and beyond. I had the privilege of being up there doing wildlife surveys for two weeks in both 1990 and 1991. It is one thing to look at this area on a map, but quite another to spend several hours flying over it to get to one's destination, and realize how little of the area you have actually seen. Being on such a landscape and far removed from any semblance of civilization is an awesome experience.

 It was incredible, to say the least, with many dozens of species of wildlife nesting and migrating, including some that rarely show up in southern Ontario such as Pacific Loon and Parasitic Jaeger.

Pacific Loon near its nest

Parasitic Jaeger on its nest

While those wetlands are still relatively intact, there are constant threats to their survival and integrity. Resource development, especially mining, is constantly being explored. In addition the wetlands are being impacted by air borne contaminants that originated in the developed part of the world.

Farther south, the boreal forest of the Canadian Shield is dotted with wetlands.But even those, if they are close to an urban area, can be tainted. This next photo is in the vicinity of North Bay. At the far right of the photo you can see buildings. It is a commercial area, and there are things falling into the wetland. In another wetland nearby there is a auto wrecker/recycling depot immediately adjacent, and some of the material has fallen into the water.

 Beavers seem to get along reasonably well, as there are numerous beaver lodges. It doesn't hurt that the beaver pelts are not as valuable as they used to be!

Some of the most diverse wetlands in the entire country are here in southern, and especially southwestern Ontario. Most of the time, the term wetlands conjures up the idea of large areas of cattails, and rightly so. Wetlands along the coastal areas of the Great Lakes are some of the largest and most diverse wetlands.

Rondeau marsh, from the former tower, 2014

 This next image shows a wide angle view of the Rondeau marsh from the south beach in July of 1987.

St. Clair National Wildlife Area

 They are immensely valuable for fish, invertebrates and plants that cannot survive anywhere else. More visible is some of the bird life. Marsh Wrens are abundant and frequently heard but seldom seen.....

 .....as are Swamp Sparrows.

Much rarer are things like Black Terns, which nest on muskrat houses or exposed and mounded  mud flats.

 Least Bitterns are present in some of the larger and best quality wetlands, but are not plentiful and more often heard than seen.

 Common Gallinules are much more often heard than seen as well, as they give various squawks and hoots from the density of the vegetation.

 Once in awhile, a patient observer might get to see a family of them roaming from one patch of vegetation to another.

Various turtle species are abundant here.

Map Turtle

 Within the stand of cattails, sometimes some rare plants can be found. This pink flower emerging from the cattails is Swamp Rose Mallow.

 And depending on water levels at certain times of the year, Wild Rice can be found.

A single stem of Wild Rice, at right of centre, emerging from the cattails

 In good years, this annual plant can be fairly abundant.

 The next photo shows an almost solid stand of Wild Rice.

 Wild Rice isn't in the foreground, but is a solid stand in the back ground here.

 And in open water, there are floating plants of various water lily types. These plants with their floating leaves provide shade and coolness for the critters living below, and also a surface for things to attach themselves to.

 However all is not well with these wetlands. The non-native and very aggressive Common Reed, also known as Phragmites, can quickly take over a wetland becoming an almost solid stand. Wildlife generally does not adapt well to such an aggressive invader.

A solid stand of Phragmites

 Wetlands can be wooded, and these are appropriately known as 'swamps'. They are usually much smaller than the coastal wetlands, and once the trees are removed, can be easily drained and converted to agricultural crops. Unfortunately when that happens, it directly increases the risk of flooding nearby, since the sponge-like absorption of these wooded wetlands is no longer functional. Please keep that in mind next time the waters of a creek or river near you is in flood stage, an event that is becoming more and more frequent.

 Wetlands are clearly a valuable component of our natural environment to celebrate, enjoy and protect. Next time you drive by one or visit one, I hope you take a few moments to appreciate all they mean to our landscape and to us!