Natural Areas of Chatham-Kent, Part 13 (Sinclair's Bush)

Sinclair's Bush is one of the few areas in Chatham-Kent where you can drive and have forest on both sides of the road. Not for a long way, mind you, but it is a start, and gives a hint of what driving through southwestern Ontario was like a few decades ago. It is not far from where I grew up, and I remember spending time there many years ago, exploring the natural features. It continues to be an attraction to me and others, partly because it is so accessible. Spring time is the perfect time to visit.

So where is this place? Note this first photo, showing the town of Blenheim. Towards the middle right hand side, is the letter "S", indicating Sinclair's Bush.

A closer view, also complements of Google Earth, shows the configuration of the overall woodland. Most of this almost 40 ha woodland complex is privately owned, but in the centre of the site, shown within the blue line, is the approximate boundary of the Conservation Area owned by the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority.

This parcel now owned by LTVCA was slated for development in the mid 1980s. It was going to be the site of a single house surrounded by woodland. In fact along the trail, the pipe where a well was dug, is still visible. However local landowners, who took pride in this larger woodland area and were not in favour of the house, joined together with conservation agencies and the Ministry of Natural Resources which had identified the overall site as part of an Area Of Natural and Scientific Interest to oppose this development. Funding from landowners, conservation groups and others as well as a significant contribution from Union Gas, allowed this site to be purchased and retained in its natural condition. It was turned over to the LTVCA.

This site is a mix of upland and lowland forest typical of southwestern Ontario. The rich, well-developed soils support a lush forest.

As mentioned above, spring is one of the best times to visit, before the leaves of the trees are out which shade the forest floor. The spring wildflower display on the CA property as well as those adjacent properties that are privately owned can be impressive! In the earliest period, the lowland forest can have some wonderful displays of Marsh Marigold.

 Dog-toothed Violet, a.k.a. Trout Lily, is in prime condition on a sunny day in early May. On cloudy days, the flowers close up.

 Cut-leaved Toothwort is plentiful.

 Starry False Solomon's-seal is scattered about.

This next one is seldom noticed, although there are good sized patches of it. Normally all one sees is the mostly round green leaves. However if you take a closer look, and move some of last year's leaves that cover the base of the plant, you may see a purplish/chocolate brown flower. It is known as Wild Ginger.

  The flower is in bloom under the leaves, since it is pollinated by ground beetles, not the flying insects that pollinate many of the other flowers you will see here.

 One of the more interesting discoveries I had here was to find the yellow form of the Red Trillium. It is not commonly seen anywhere. I know of only 4 locations for it in Chatham-Kent, although undoubtedly there are more.

 A woody plant that Sinclair's Bush is known for is Pawpaw. The flowers are fully open just as the leaves are developing. The leaves here with the flowers look like ordinary leaves, but they are still quite small.

 The flowers may develop into a greenish fruit. When it ripens fully, it can be fairly aromatic. Note the size of the leaves here.

 To get a fuller appreciation of the leaf size, see the next photo. The leaves at the top are those of Black Walnut, which are not small themselves. But the huge leaves are Pawpaw.

I found my first American Woodcock nest at Sinclair's Bush many, many years ago. This species returns to southern Ontario in late March or early April, and nesting begins shortly afterwards.

The young are able to leave the nest shortly after hatching, and blend in well with their surroundings. Do you see it in this next photo?

 How about here?

 Okay...here is a much closer view.

Red-bellied Woodpeckers are a regular feature here, as it is in many southern Ontario woodlots these days. However that wasn't always the case. In the early 1970s, it was quite a rarity in Ontario. I remember an experienced Canadian naturalist from another province camping on our lawn, since he wanted to get to Sinclair's Bush to see a Red-bellied Woodpecker which had recently been discovered there.

It is a likely place for lots of other birds in season. There are currently 85 species known for this site.

SInclair's Bush is well worth getting off the nearby paved road known as Talbot Trail (Hwy #3) and quietly driving down this rural, gravel road to experience this small remnant of what much of C-K used to look like.

Natural Areas of Chatham-Kent, Part 12 (Erieau Rail Trail)

The Erieau Rail or Marsh Trail is another excellent area to explore and it is just a short distance away from the previously described natural area, McGeachy Pond. Both are shown in the following image. McGeachy Pond is the triangular area along the lake in the upper part of the image, and the Erieau Rail Trail is shown as the linear blue line. This is part of the Waterfront Trail system.

 It is sometimes noted as the Erieau Marsh Trail since the trail goes by marshy areas at the edge of Rondeau Bay. The trail is actually on an old railroad bed. The railroad connected Chatham with Rondeau Bay more than a century ago, when at the time it was believed that Rondeau Bay would be an excellent shipping port since it was so well protected from a more turbulent Lake Erie. However it was eventually realized that Rondeau Bay was too shallow for the increasingly large ships so its role as a major shipping harbour quickly fell out of favour. Nonetheless, the railroad bed ended at Erieau, and ships and barges could enter the harbour to that point. The railroad through Erieau was located on what is now a boulevard between the two one-way streets. I remember as a kid, seeing piles of coal which had been unloaded at Erieau. Now that spot is a trailer park and marina for mostly recreational water craft.

The railroad was abandoned several decades ago, and became an unofficial trail for hikers and birders. It was only a few years ago when it became an official trail thanks to many local residents, stewardship groups and the like.

It is notably different from the McGeachy Pond area, with a greater amount of treed area along the trail. That makes it especially good for attracting migrant birds. The following four species of warbler are examples of birds that occur only as migrants. To date there are 194 species of bird that have been recorded here.

American Redstart

Black-and-white Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler

Palm Warbler

There are many other bird species that use it as either a breeding or feeding location.

Eastern Towhee

 A pair of Great Horned Owls are often seen, and occasionally nest in the immediate vicinity.

Great Horned Owlet

Marsh Wren

Swamp Sparrow

Yellow Warbler

The adjacent wetland makes the trail an ideal spot to see water birds.

Common Tern

Great Blue Heron

Red-winged Blackbird

 Some water birds are very furtive, such as the Sora, a member of the Rail group (and therefore fitting along this Rail Trail). They are more often heard than seen, and even when they are seen it is usually only a brief, partial look like this next one.

 On occasion, they can seem to be quite bold. I watched and photographed this one from the observation tower for an hour in 2017, and it was apparently unconcerned about my presence.

A larger and less common rail species is the Virginia Rail.

Part way along the trail is an observation deck, giving excellent views of the adjacent wetland and this corner of Rondeau Bay. This next image was taken from the observation deck. There is a small pond right below the deck, and in late summer one can see a cluster of pink flowers at the edge of the cattails.

 The pink flowers are those of Swamp Rose Mallow, an rare species in Ontario, but relatively widespread around high quality wetlands here in the southwest.

 There is a Wood Duck nesting box at the edge of the pond, but so far all I have seen using it are Tree Swallows.

With relatively little open area along much of the trail, it doesn't seem to have the same diversity and abundance of butterflies like the McGeachy Pond area has. But species that like more wooded areas, such as this Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, and others, can be found.

It is a good spot to find the Eastern Fox Snake, an endangered species in Ontario. While it can be a large snake, well over a metre in length, it is not dangerous. It moves slowly and may vibrate its tail in leaves to sound like a rattlesnake if it feels threatened, but is quite harmless. Even though they are there, the chances of seeing one is not very high.

It is a wonderful spot to see a diversity of wildlife along a relatively short trail, and has many photo opportunities from sunrise on.

Sunrise looking north east from the observation deck

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!