A couple of endangered orchids

 Orchids are fascinating to find. There have been 19 species known from Rondeau, with all but one being native. Of course probably the best known of these is the Nodding Pogonia, which for the past several decades, has only been known in Canada from Rondeau. And of course due to its small size and extreme rarity, is probably the least often seen, as its whereabouts are kept fairly confidential. It only flowers in August, so I will feature that species a little later in the season.

One of the orchids that I like to keep close tabs on at Rondeau is the Puttyroot (Aplectrum hyemale).

 

  

I have mentioned this species in previous posts, as during the late fall and through until spring, its leaves are quite distinctive and visible. But as it puts up a flowering stem, the leaves have all but disappeared, or at least look very shriveled. I have seen this species in 6 different areas of Rondeau, although two of the spots have either not been checked in recent years, or in the case of one, seems to have disappeared altogether. I managed to find a new population earlier this year. 

In several of the places where it has been found the number of leaves have been quite few, usually less than about 6. The number of leaves in a population is the best idea to get some sense of how many plants there are, as very few will put up flowering stems, which is why I try and check on the various populations in early spring. The largest population that I have been following for several decades, have had as many as about 75 leaves on occasion, but I have seldom seen more than about 15 flowering stems appearing in that one. This year in that population, I only saw two flowering stems.

Another endangered orchid is the Large Twayblade (Liparis liliifolia). It is not, at least at this time, known to occur at Rondeau, but it might be tucked away somewhere and yet to be found! It is known from Clear Creek Forest Provincial Park in a rather out of the way location. When I first went out this late spring to see how it was progressing, this is what it looked like.

 

And this is what it looked like in peak flowering condition shown next. Another individual in leaf form only is visible right next to it. Maybe it will flower next year?? 

 Close-up views of the individual, delicate flowers are always fun to photograph!

And while I was looking for this one, another species was developing close by. It is the Fen Orchid (Liparis loesellii), not an endangered species, but not common either. It occurs in one out-of-the-way location at Rondeau, although I haven't looked for it lately. A careful look at this individual will show a very small flowering stem starting to appear, as well as the remains of last year's flowering/seed stem.

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Orchids...spring wildflowers, and birds!

 Okay it isn't really orchid flowering season, nor is there much of anything else flowering for that matter. However the leafless season is one of the best times to find this one:

It is called Puttyroot (Aplectrum hyemale) and is an Endangered Species in Ontario and Canada. Rondeau is fortunate to have had several populations known from various parts of the park over the years, and I have been able to track down 7 different ones. Unfortunately at least two of those populations have disappeared, whether it is due to forest floor changes as a result of canopy cover alteration from the arrival of Emerald Ash Borer, which decimated the ash trees that were dominant in the canopy. Or maybe due to fluctuating water levels. Or something else entirely. 

At this time of year, they are not in flower, but their overwintering leaves are distinctive and if one is concentrating sufficiently on the leaf litter, they can stand out nicely. Each leaf represents an individual plant, but very few will actually flower in a given year. In the main population, which I have been following for more than 3 decades, I have sometimes seen up to about 75 leaves, but never seen any more than about 20 with a flowering stem and in flower and that was in a good year. More typically I only see a dozen or so in flower at the most.

While out looking around a few weeks ago, I cane across a new-to-me population with 7 leaves, a single leaf of this new population is shown next. Given the habitat that this species occurs in, I expect there are more populations as yet unseen. There are hundreds and hundreds of what appears to be suitable habitat. The leaves are starting to dry and they will almost totally disappear before long.

It will be interesting to see how many flowering stems are found this year.

There are other things that are actually in flower. This first one is called Snowdrops. It flowers early, and is not native. It often occurs in fairly abundant little patches. This patch occurred next to a cottage in the park.

One that is native, but not often seen, is called Skunk Cabbage. The green and purple stems emerge from a fairly wet area, sometimes where standing water is present at least in early spring. It doesn't occur at Rondeau. I have been keeping an eye on this small population at Clear Creek Forest Prov Park.

A closer look inside one of the purple leaves, known as a spathe, may show the little cluster of flowers, as seen here.

Over the next few weeks, I am looking forward to finding a lot of other spring wildflowers! In the meantime, there is hopefully an increasing number and variety of birds to look for and try and photograph. American Robins are becoming quite numerous, with sometimes several dozen seen on even a short outing. On one occasion on a cold day and driving through a small town, I drove by what looked to be a type of crabapple tree. Underneath were at least 30 robins groping around in the lawn, looking for crabapple residue.

American Pelicans have appeared in southwestern Ontario in recent days. Of course a birder and photographer always hopes to get views such as this next one, which I photographed flying over Rondeau Bay near Erieau last year. Opportunities such as this do not occur very often.....

....as this next photo illustrates. This photo was taken from the Mitchell's Bay South Nature Trail, where as many as a dozen pelicans were resting on the sheltered edge of a large stand of cattails. In viewing them through binoculars, it was difficult to know for sure that they were in fact pelicans, or some of the many large swans that were also in the area. I know of at least a few birders who ventured out to try and see these birds, but were not successful. However a high powered 'scope confirmed them as pelicans, as every few minutes one would get up, stretch its neck and it large orange bill would be obvious. At other times one would stretch its wings, and the black wing tips and outer primaries would be distinctive. The photo below is the best I could do. Even with my top quality lens, this photo was taken, and subsequently cropped to be at slightly more than 100X.

More predictable are Bald Eagles. At least some of the known nests are being occupied, such as this one at Rondeau, visible from the west South Point Trail.

But lots of eagles are on their migration to nesting areas farther to the north. On one occasion in the last few days, while on the east South Point Trail, I saw about 11 and most were adults.

Brown Creepers are arriving.

Downy Woodpeckers are permanent residents, and are a little more noticeable as they start to establish territories.

Eastern Phoebes are arriving, and there are a few flying insects for this flycatcher to feed on.

Killdeer are fairly widespread in muddy fields and marsh edges.

Northern Flickers are present in increasing numbers, searching for ants on lawns.

Pileated Woodpeckers are also residents, and are more often noted due to their loud drumming to demarcate their territory. When I was out today, I heard three different birds calling from my one vantage point, one was fairly close and the other two were a fair way either north or south of the closest one.

Turkey Vultures are fairly plentiful these days, depending on the wind. On one occasion I saw about 40 circling a wooded area late in the day, presumably looking for an overnight roost.

Wild Turkeys are also permanent residents, and a little more visible now than sometimes. I stopped one day to look for the Wilson's Snipe that sometimes occurs at this wide creek, but only saw this turkey hopping across.

And these two were roaming about a farm field near St. Clair NWA.

I saw my first of the year Yellow-bellied Sapsucker a few days ago, but only got some record shots.

Local Canada Geese are paired up.

I saw my first of the year Great Egret fly over a few days ago, just north of Mitchell's Bay, where during the summer and fall season it is common to see a dozen or more, as they nest in some of the offshore cattail islands.

 Sandhill Cranes continue to be around, although they are starting to pair up and instead of large groups, are often in groups of four or fewer.

Of course Red-winged Blackbirds have arrived in large numbers especially in wetland areas, where they are seen and heard giving their choke-er-ee calls attempting to lure in a female as they arrive.

Not to be left out of the wildlife scene of late, are turtles especially on some of the warmer days. Blanding's Turtles are an Endangered Species. I usually see a few, such as this next one, along the Marsh Trail near Erieau.

On the other hand, Midland Painted Turtles are fairly abundant. On this day I counted at least 40 all sunning on a log or some similar spot.

There is always lots to see!

 

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A Long-tail, lingering shorebirds, snow geese, and puttyroot

 More about fungi in a future post, but for now, there is a bit of catching up to do mostly regarding birds. With the weather being above normal, there is lots of open water, including muddy edges for lingering shorebirds. I was at the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons a few days ago, and was treated to some good photo ops. Certainly a highlight was to get a pair of cooperative Long-tailed Ducks fairly close to the edge of the middle pond, and they didn't seem to mind my presence all that much.

Long-tails are not seen all that often in southern Chatham-Kent, although they do occur on Lake Erie, but usually seen only from a distance. The southern end of Lake Huron at Point Edward can be a good spot in the winter, so seeing them so handily at the lagoons these last few days was a real treat. They swam back and forth, dove under at times,

...and got up to fly around. They didn't go far, staying at this middle pond all the time I was there.

Some shorebirds were there to be found as well. Three Dunlin, which also stayed close enough to be photographed were there. Again, with the weather being what it has been, it wasn't a bit surprise, but nice to see just the same.

There is a lot of mudflat along the Erieau Marsh Trail, and a Pectoral Sandpiper has been seen from time to time. It is much less likely to be seen this late in the season than the Dunlin, so I was pleased to get this photo, even though it was at the far side of the mudflat and the photo is greatly cropped.

There were three Lesser Scaup in the more open area of the mudflat, where there was open water, but they were far less tolerant of me aiming my lens at them. I guess it being hunting season, with a couple of hunter's duck blinds not all that far away, it wasn't too surprising.

While I was at Erieau, I checked the waterfront, hoping that there might be a Purple Sandpiper or some other shorebird hanging out along the shoreline, or even at the pier, but it wasn't to be on this day. I did manage to get a reasonable photo of a Snow Goose along the shoreline, as it was with a large flock of Canada Geese....

...and when I took a drive by St. Clair NWA, in amongst the gazillion Canada Geese were at least eight Snow Geese....

...including several blue phase Snows.

In meandering around the former Dover Twp.,  I knew that a particular Wood Duck box was often used by an Eastern Screech Owl. It was there on this visit, nicely peering out at me.

I went out to the Jeannette's Creek boat launch, hoping to catch sight of a lingering Great Egret, which happens this late in the season from time to time. In fact it was just a few short years ago when up to three hung around for the SCNWA Christmas Bird Count, and even stayed well into January! But there were none to be seen on this day, although there is lots of area for one or more to still be around. So instead, I satisfied my birder/photographer's urge by shooting this Belted Kingfisher. It was on the far side of the Thames River, so is greatly cropped. I doubt it even knew I was there.

There were up to 6 Great Blue Herons that I saw, or at least partly saw. They were usually obscured by something or other.

I usually make it out to Rondeau on one or more occasions each week. I haven't been out at the right time to catch up to the Western Flycatcher of a few days ago, or even the adult male King Eider that was a flyby for a few hours one day. The Western Flycatcher would definitely have been a new species, but the King Eider is something I have seen before. It was on the Rondeau CBC back in about 2000 when one that had been seen in the Erieau area off and on. It was present when I got to the west end of the south beach of my territory, so already had that species on my Chatham-Kent list. But there is no question that an adult male would have been great to see. But in my various wanderings through the park, I was able to digitally capture a few of the more expected species, as follows.

American Tree Sparrows are fairly commonly seen....

...as are Dark-eyed Juncos.

House Finches are resident, although not abundant.

White-crowned Sparrows, such as this immature one shown next, seem to be declining this late in the season....

...but White-throated Sparrows are plentiful.

At one point this accipiter type of falcon showed itself briefly, but I only got a look at it from the backside. Based on the overall size, and the length of its tail beyond the wing tips, as well as the slightly pale back and side of the head, I felt it fit Cooper's Hawk most closely. It certainly is a relatively common accipiter type.

On one of my trail jaunts, I checked the leaves of a rare orchid: Puttyroot. The leaves are most visible from about November through April, as long as they aren't covered with snow. While this known population only had two flowering stems this past June, on this visit I counted a total of 146 leaves, one of the highest totals I have ever had in all the years I have been watching this population! It will be interesting to see how many flowering stems appear this next June.

Since it is getting close to Christmas, I will put in a plug for my first book, Life on a Sandspit, which I published last spring. 

 It is still available at several locations in Chatham-Kent, including:

Bayview Market, Rondeau

Mindful Market and Eco Hub, Blenheim

Mitton's Jewelers and Gifts, Ridgetown

Five-Eau, Erieau

Book Brothers, Chatham

Sydenham Field Naturalists, through their web site sydenhamfn@hotmail.com

Friend's of Rondeau Bookstore at the Rondeau Visitor Centre, although the centre is only open on weekends and the bookstore is not always open. The centre will be open more frequently during the Christmas break.

And just so you know, I have a second nature book at the printer, titled Natural Treasures of Chatham-Kent. I am not sure when it will be available for purchase, so stay tuned for a future blog in the very near future describing it in some detail, as well as where it would be available, price, etc.

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