Late season prairie veg and leps

This early autumn splurge of warmer weather has benefited some lingering tallgrass prairie vegetation as well as the persistence of butterflies. A good spot to see this in Chatham-Kent is the Mitchell's Bay North Shore Nature Trail. Butterfly diversity is diminishing, and with the forecast cooler trend beginning this weekend it will likely continue to diminish. But the ones that are around do provide some good photo ops.

Cabbage Whites continue to be super abundant. Clouded Sulphur and Orange Sulphur are also fairly abundant.

Cabbage White

Clouded Sulphur

Orange Sulphur

An occasional Red Admiral, here sipping nectar on a Spotted Joe-pye-weed, may still be around.

Red Admiral

Monarchs are on the move, heading southwest towards their overwintering site in the Mexican highlands..

Common Checkered-Skippers, those diminutive and attractive little later season visitors, are still around. Some of the later blooming asters are good spots to check for them.

Common Checkered-Skipper

While the dominant colour of flowering plants in early autumn is the yellow of various goldenrod species, there are a few others tucked away. Surprisingly this Gray-headed Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) was seen in good flower recently.

One that does not occur very commonly anywhere in Ontario is Biennial Gaura (Gaura biennis). It blooms early on a sunny day, and typically closes up by late morning.

A relatively rare autumn orchid is Great Plain's Ladies'-tresses (Spiranthes magnicamporum) occurs. There are several Spiranthes in the area in the late summer and early autumn, but even though this is S3 and therefore ranked as reasonably rare, it is by far the most common Spiranthes located here at this time of year here in the southwest.

Not restricted to prairies by any means, is this Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana). It has attractive white flowers that develop into succulent looking bluish-purple berries. Birds love them! But don't you try eating them....all parts of the plant are quite toxic to humans and other mammals.

This next species, the brilliant Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis), normally is in flower in early to mid-August. For some reason this one decided to extend the season.

If you have been paying attention to non-raptors passing by the various hawk watches in southern Ontario recently, you may have noticed tens of thousands of Blue Jays passing by, heading southwest. Are they all heading to Texas in support of their American League namesake???

Go Blue Jays!!!!

Snow birds and big trees

Some 'snow' birds are showing up here in southwestern Ontario. A Snowy Owl was seen by Jim Burk a few weeks ago, but it seemed to disappear. Then a few days ago, Irene Woods reported one on a pumphouse near the corner of Bisnett Line and Lagoon Road. It apparently likes this vantage point....far enough away from any road to minimize disturbance, and in a slightly lower portion of the ag field where it is less breezy. I've seen it on this pump house on several occasions. This is a highly cropped image from a photo taken with lens giving the equivalent of a 22X binocular. Fortunately this is a species that even at a distance is easily identified under less than ideal conditions.

Snow Geese are not common in this area. In eastern Ontario, they can number for a few days in the tens of thousands in a single field. Here, we are lucky to see a few individuals each fall. In checking the database of the Blenheim/Rondeau Christmas Bird Count, which has been going for 75 years (and most often between Dec 15-21 so at the very tail end of fall), we've recorded them only about a third of the time, and even then, mostly in numbers less than 10. The blue phase of the Snow Goose is even rarer here. In those same 75 years, we have recorded them on only 7 occasions. So it was a nice treat to see this blue Snow Goose hanging out with several hundred Canada Geese along the east side of Rondeau, which is off limits to hunting and the birds are fairly tolerant.

A juvenile white phase Snow Goose is still in the area, but I didn't get photos of it. It has sometimes been seen along the east beach of Rondeau, but yesterday I saw it with several hundred Canada Geese along the lake shore off of Erieau.

Another mostly snowy white goose is the Ross's Goose which I saw, got decent photos of, and posted about recently. Those two seem to have left the area, as several birders have been diligently looking for them without success.

Right at the beach edge of Rondeau I noted this:

I don't think it will be in high demand for picnicking any time soon, but it might be useful for small kids to put their beach toys on next year. That is if it survives the winter ice, etc.

Sticking with the snowy white bird theme, these large majestic birds are frequently seen, unfortunately in increasing numbers, around Rondeau Bay.

Mute Swans are popular with the general public, but most of the public are not aware (or perhaps don't care) that these birds are some of the most vicious, nasty and damaging species of waterfowl we have to contend with. They really play havoc with almost all of our native species of waterfowl, taking over large areas of wetland and refusing the presence of other species.

Owls are also popular with almost anyone, whether it be a Snowy Owl as shown above, one of the largest of our owls, or the smallest of our owls, the Northern Saw-whet Owl. The Northern Saw-whet is the smallest owl species in Ontario, being only 20 cm (8") although when you see them they usually look even smaller. Just a few days ago one is thought to have flown into a window or something and was sitting in a rather vulnerable place, being threatened by a cat. The landowner brought it to the park. Nothing seemed to be broken, so it was put on a safe branch of a pine tree and left to recover.

A few days ago I purposed to explore part of the Keith McLean Conservation Lands (KMCL), just north of Rondeau, that I had never been to. I was encouraged to do so after having had a conversation with Ken Bell, who had earlier seen one or more very large trees near the far northeastern corner of the property. So I ventured out. En route I crossed a portion of the wetland/creek system that was still free of ice. Some Mallards, Gadwall and this Ruddy Duck were enjoying the respite from the waterfowl hunting going on around Rondeau Bay.

One of the plants that stand out at this time of year is Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana). The dark purplish blue berries against the reddish purple stems are quite obvious. They aren't edible for humans, but birds love them!

 I eventually got back to where some big trees were. I came across a Shagbark Hickory that measured 87 cm dbh (dbh is the official height for measuring tree diameter. It is 1.3 metres above the ground which is about 4.5 '). That makes it one of the largest Shagbark Hickories I have ever seen. But larger trees were in store. Near a cluster of woods where some older farm buildings and a residence formerly occurred, I came across this tree that Ken had told me about. It is a Sugar Maple, and measured 125 cm (almost 50") dbh.

And as I gazed across the field towards the wide creek system at the eastern edge of the KMCL, I noted some oak trees that were impressive even from a distance. I had to see them. One of the first Red Oaks I encountered was almost exactly one metre (~40") dbh, but that one was small. One not far away was 155 cm (slightly more than 5') dbh.

Red Oak, 155 cm dbh

 The Red Oak that is almost a metre dbh is in the background of the photo above.

This one isn't in great shape, but that is typical of trees that have been around for a couple of centuries or more and qualify as old growth specimens. It is hard to tell how old this one is, but is likely at least 200 years old.

Old trees often have hollow sections, which are quite popular with wildlife. When I first saw this raccoon, I thought it was just basking in the sun, but in very short order, I realized it was dead. There has been an outbreak of distemper amongst raccoons this year, which often happens when populations are high, so this individual might have been a victim of that.

As I continued along the top of the creek system, I encountered a real behemoth: this Red Oak, although it was difficult to measure using the exact protocol of the Ontario Forestry Association for the Ontario Honour Roll (OHR) of Trees.

Those standards require measurement at 1.3 m in height from the highest point of land the tree is growing on, which in this case is at the left hand side of the photo. This specimen is on a slope, and measuring at the 1.3 m height means that the large branch on the creek side will interfere with the measurement. So I measured a bit below at about the narrowest diameter, and it came up at about 190 cm (which is almost 6.24 feet across!). It is likely even older than the previously shown one, and it is not impossible for this tree to be ~250-300 years old. It does seem to be in better shape than the 155 cm one, based on outward appearances. I noted afterwards that there were other very large specimens elsewhere along this creek system, perhaps even larger than the ones I've seen already.

This is not the largest Red Oak in Ontario, however. That bit of notoriety is claimed by a specimen growing on private property closer to Blenheim which I measured and proposed to the OHR in 1984 at 194 cm. I intend to get back to measure it again. No doubt it has grown even larger in the 30 years since!

Myriad wetland plants

Mid to late summer is a great time to see a diversity of wetland plants. Many will have a prolonged flowering period due to fluctuations in moisture levels. The proximity to water also moderates the air temperature, which can prolong the flowering period.

Wetlands are generally hard to access without a kayak or canoe. Fortunately there are trails complete with observation platforms in some of the provincial parks and national wildlife areas of the region that provide excellent access and viewing opportunities.

This first photo is of the observation tower at Rondeau, and the photo that follows shows a marsh scene looking north from the tower.

 St, Clair National Wildlife Area, along the shoreline of Lake St. Clair, also has a trail and tower.

 A more basic, but still quite useful observation platform is present along the Angler Line to Mitchell's Bay trail.

 Any of the trails leading to these towers pass through wetland areas that are full of attractive plants, some of which are illustrated below.

Spotted Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)

This Spotted Jewelweed, a.k.a. Touch-me-not, looks like a small horn-of-plenty. It gets its a.k.a. name because the seed pods, when ripe, will explode when touched, which is an interesting mechanism for seed dispersal.

Another species is the Fringed Loosestrife (Lysimachia ciliata) named because of the fringed edges of the long-stalked leaves.

Fringed Loosestrife

This next species is Giant Ragweed (Ambrosia trifida). It occurs in disturbed areas as well as along the edges of wetlands. It can be very tall, sometimes reaching 4-5 metres in height. Its greenish candelabra style of growth and branching reminds me of a book I had to read back in about Grade 10 English.....The Day of the Triffids, by John Wyndham. It was a sci-fi story about tall plants that could move on their own, and spit venom into people's eyes which caused blindness. The few illustrations in the book showed these weird plants having a distinct similarity in appearance to Giant Ragweed, too. At least that is what I recall....Grade 10 was a loooong time ago! And interestingly, the species part of the scientific name of Giant Ragweed is 'trifida' so I assume there must be some kind of connection, even if only in a sci-fi way. I think about that literary classic (?) often when I see this plant.

Giant Ragweed

In the dense vegetation along wetland trails, you may see this three-leaved plant twining around other types of vegetation. There will be a pea-type flower that is pale bluish white. It is known as Hog Peanut (Amphicarpa bracteata).

Hog Peanut

Often closely situated with Hog Peanut is Swamp Thistle (Cirsium muticum), a much taller plant. It looks like other thistles, except there are few spines on the mostly purplish stem. Also the flower heads often have many strands of spider silk present, more easily seen in the second photo.

Swamp Thistle

Boneset (Eupatorium perforatum) is another one often found close by, along with Spotted Joe-pye-weed (Eupatorium maculatum).

Boneset

Spotted Joe-pye-weed

Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) may be found along shrubby wetland edges, as well as open woodland edges. It flowers progressively, with flowers, developing fruit and ripe fruit sometimes present on the same flower head. Although the dark purple berries look tasty, and in fact are popular with birds, they apparently are somewhat poisonous to humans, so leave them for the birds!

Pokeweed

Some plants are covered with white flowers. The one that follows is Wild Cucumber (Echinosystis lobata).

Wild Cucumber

Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata) is a less obvious species than most of the ones shown previously. It also blooms for a long period. Only a very few flowers are open at any one time, but there is a progression of them from bottom to top. In addition to wetland edges, it is found in wet prairies. Although the colour of this shows as purplish-pink, in reality is a little more blue. But for some reason photos of blue flowers typically show up with more pink than they actually have.

Blue Vervain

Once you get to where there is open or standing water, the vegetation changes a bit. The following photo is of Water-willow (Decodon verticillatus) a.k.a Swamp Loosestrife. It has arching stems. When they bend far enough to touch the water surface, the stems will expand via special cells that make them very spongy, and often roots will extend from these spongy cells.

Water-willow

 One of the rarer wetland plants in Canada is Swamp Rose Mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos), and is considered a Special Concern classified Species At Risk with a provincial ranking of S3. S3 means there are fewer than 80 known locations, and due to their habitat or other factors, are at risk of being extirpated. It is quite abundant in the wetlands along the Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair shorelines, but away from those areas it is almost non-existent. It apparently was recently found in a single wetland along eastern Lake Ontario, the only location on that lake. It is a large, showy plant and easily stands out amongst the cattails.

Swamp Rose Mallow

This latter image was taken from the observation platform along the Erieau Rail Trail, looking out towards the village of Erieau.

Another plant is Wild Rice (Zizania aquatica), also seen here from the Erieau Rail Trail platform.

Wild Rice is quite abundant in lakes of northwestern Ontario, but the southern Ontario variety has declined considerably and is ranked as S3. It is greatly affected by water levels. It seems to do best when the water levels are high in the spring, which suppresses some of the vegetation, but drops almost to the point of exposed mudflats by mid summer. If that happens, it can be the dominant vegetation. The large drainage ditch along Erieau Road just north of the McGeachy Pond area is quite full of Wild Rice. This particular photo shows only a single plant, but is easily identified by its height and form. Wild Rice is a favourite of wildlife. Ducks love it, and if you come across a dense stand in late August when Soras are migrating, toss a pebble into the stand during an evening visit and you may hear a chorus of peeps. I have done that in a very large stand of it and on occasion estimated there were at least 100 Soras peeping back at me.

An obvious wetland plant is Cattail (Typha sp.) I use the 'sp.' to indicate that it is difficult to tell sometimes whether the species most common in this area is Wide-leaved or Narrow-leaved Cattail, and they often hybridize to the point where it is almost impossible to tell for most of the season. When it is in peak flower, there are slight differences in the flowers, but those characters only occur for a short time. It is believed that most of the cattail vegetation in southwestern Ontario is the hybrid type. Of course the brown cattail is quite identifiable as Typha.

Cattail

And with that, I will close, but before I do, I want to wish all of the summer staff at the Rondeau Provincial Park Visitor Centre a sincere thank-you for all of your work this summer. Many of you will be pursuing your education goals beginning as early as next week. If you have time to read this before packing it in at Rondeau, I sincerely hope that the transition back to school goes well for you. And hopefully we will see you back at Rondeau in 2015!