An early orchid and other plants

 With the abnormally advanced spring, many wildflowers are ahead of their normal blooming time. A prime example is this Showy Orchid. Usually it would not be in flower until about the end of the third week in May, but here it is in prime condition about two weeks earlier.

Lots of things have been steadily appearing, although with the very warm weather similar to mid-July temperatures, many species do not last long. What follows is an array of things that have caught my eye and camera. 

Violets can sometimes be quite dominant on the forest floor, such as this Eastern Canada Violet.

The flowers are mostly white....

...with the back of the petals showing a purplish tinge.

Common Blue Violet

Long-spurred Violet

Mayapple

This next one is rather rare, and restricted to southwestern Ontario. It is Pawpaw, a small tree, and the flowers are often open before or just as the leaves are unfurling.

Blue Phlox

Shagbark Hickory is not common, but widely scattered. Its bark is distinctive...

...and as the leaves first emerge, they almost look like flowers.

White Baneberry

Red Columbine

Wood Anemone

Many of the sloughs of Rondeau are full of yellow flowers. Leaves are not all that visible, as they are at or under the water surface. It is the Yellow Water Crowfoot.

When one is wandering the trails looking for flowers, other things pop into view. This first one is also a plant, a fungus known as Dryad's Saddle

There have been lots of Eastern Tiger Swallowtails flitting about!

This Northern Brown Snake was right on the path, and seemed reluctant to move off, as it was enjoying the sun.

These Six-spotted Tiger Beetles had other things on their mind!

There are always a multitude of things to see and enjoy in the natural world!

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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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