A New Book: Natural Treasures of Chatham-Kent

 I had intended for this announcement to be out late last year. However there were some hiccups in the printing process along the way. Those have now been resolved, and so in the very near future, I expect this new book to be out. 

It is called Natural Treasures of Chatham-Kent and is similar in style to the one I produced almost a year ago, called Life on a Sandspit, which focused solely on Rondeau Provincial Park. You can see more about that here. Life on a Sandspit has been quite well-received to date, and I expect the coming few months will continue that trend. It is about 60 pages with more photos than text, and features a bit less than 100 photos. Natural Treasures of Chatham-Kent is about half as big again, with about 100 pages and more than 150 photos. I am fortunate and quite thankful that both Marie, and daughter Kristin, provided some helpful input to this book.

 There is a bit more text in Natural Treasures, as it features more natural habitats that were present at the time of settlement compared to those habitats restricted to Rondeau. It also includes some quotes from travelers through C-K from as far back as the late 1700s and the early 1800s.

It also includes a list of publicly accessible sites in C-K where some of these features can be found. It is surprising how many folks who have spent much of their lives in C-K are not familiar with some of these areas. With the continuing arrival of folks from elsewhere in Ontario who are now making C-K their home to take advantage of the relatively less expensive housing, it may be quite helpful for at least some of them.

I am not sure exactly when this book will be available, but hopefully within the next couple of weeks barring some unexpected future hiccups. I will provide that information, along with where it is available and the price in a future post. 

In the meantime, hopefully to whet the interest of some of you, what follows are a few photos that are featured in this new book. They are shown in more-or-less alphabetical order based on their photographic label. Click on them to see them in a larger format, but keep in mind that even then, they may not be as large as in the book itself (9" X 12").

American Rubyspot

Pawpaw

Bobolink

Bronzed Tiger Beetle

Large Yellow Lady's Slipper

Dickcissel

Eastern Grey Treefrog

Eastern Chipmunk

Eastern Prairie White-fringed Orchid

 

Autumn Maples

Hardwood Forest

Marsh Marigold

Tallgrass Prairie

Swamp Forest

Great Egret

Great Egret Roost

Giant Swallowtail nectaring on Ironweed

Forster's Tern bringing food to its mate

Lake Erie Cliffs

Golden Pholiota

Sandhill Crane against a stand of Pickerelweed

Lizard's-tail

Thames River from Tecumseh Monument

Wood Duck

Wood Thrush calling for a mate

Are there more books in the future? Perhaps. I have two ideas, one of which is well on its way, but there is a lot to be done to get them completed! Stay tuned!

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Giants, Lizards and River Cruisers

Yesterday I wandered through parts of Lambton County that I hadn't been to yet this year. Butterflies have been fewer than normal...maybe that is the new normal. Anyway, I hadn't come across any Giant Swallowtails yet this year, which is unusual given how far the summer is along. They were totally absent or in very low numbers on some of the local butterfly counts.

I often found a few in the past at the Bickford Oak Woods Conservation Reserve in west central Lambton, so that was one of my targets. There are two large grassy tallgrass prairie patches at BOWCR, each of several hectares in size They were planted into predominantly prairie vegetation about 15 years ago. I had no sooner started out into the prairie patch when I noticed a large butterfly fluttering in the distance. Bingo, not one, not two, but three Giant Swallowtails.

Some were on Swamp Milkweed, but there was an abundance of Teasel, and although it is not a native species, the butterflies didn't seem to mind at all. In fact Teasel seemed to be the preferred species. I saw at least seven of these giants at BOWCR and about 14 species of butterfly altogether in the BOWCR area.

 There is an abundance of tallgrass prairie plants at BOWCR, some of which are quite rare. This first one is Compass Plant (Silphium laciniatum). It grows fairly tall, standing well above many other prairie plants. It is arguably native in Ontario, although that isn't without some debate. Regardless, there are populations of it in Essex, Chatham-Kent and Elgin.

 This next one, Grey-headed Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) is not nearly as rare, but still quite uncommon in prairie and prairie type settings. It is restricted mainly to Essex, Lambton and Chatham-Kent.

 Dense Blazing-star (Liatris spicata) shown next, is protected under Ontario's Endangered Species Act. It is restricted largely to Essex, Lambton and Chatham-Kent as well.

Painted Lady

Viceroy

A bit further east from BOWCR is the Moore Wildlife Area. A section of the Sydenham River goes through it, and although with the high water earlier in the year making the trail impassible, the water level had dropped considerably, and as long as one could make it through the extensive dense stands of Giant Ragweed that reached well over two metres in height, one could make it to the river in a couple of places.

As is typical of various sections of the Sydenham River, Lizard's-tail is quite abundant even though it is rare in Ontario. I saw several patches.

 Not surprisingly there was a bit of Swamp Milkweed along the lower and wetter areas near the river, and Monarchs were using them from time to time.

 This Monarch was resting on a milkweed leaf. Clearly it has seen better times, but in spite of its damaged wings, it was doing its best to carry on butterfly activities while it could.

 There were lots and lots of damselflies, and especially abundant were Ebony Jewelwings.

male

female

 The photo above is that of White Vervain (Verbena urticifolia). Its tiny, delicate white flowers go almost unnoticed to the casual eye.

I had a Hackberry Emperor stop by, allowing me a couple of quick photos before a gust of wind caused the Giant Ragweed to blow too hard, dislodging its fluttery occupant.

Another one I came across is this Common Wood-Nymph.

There were lots of dragonflies along the river, and I saw good numbers of Common Whitetail and Widow Skimmer.

But the real highlight for me was to see at least two individuals of this large dragonfly patrolling the river, sometimes disappearing around a bend but eventually coming back my way. It is a Royal River Cruiser. I had never photographed one before, and I did not have a lot of success this time, but at least a few shots were identifiable. It never landed within view, and its fast and often erratic flight made it challenging to say the least.

Another target area I had for the day was to stop by Long Creek, a tributary of the Sydenham River a bit northeast of Dresden. There is a bridge that crosses the creek along Kent Road, which is the boundary between Lambton and Chatham-Kent. Right at the bridge I found....are you ready for it.....Lizard's-tail! Both upstream in Lambton and downstream in Chatham-Kent.

 I came across a couple of stems of Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale) ust coming into flower.

 A close-up of the stem, below, shows the "wings".

 This next one is Wild Senna (Senna hebecarpa) and is although it doesn't have any official status under the ES Act either, it is ranked as S1, which means there are five or fewer known populations in Ontario. It grows along Kent Line on both sides of the county line.

Before getting all the way home, I stopped along a roadside a bit northeast of Chatham to see if this shrub species, ranked S3, was still around. Although it has been cut numerous times during roadside maintenance, it persists but is not in great shape. It is Pawpaw (Asimina triloba).