Black-necked Stilts, Pelicans, Phalaropes, June flowers and...Orchids!

 I really had planned on getting more posts out in June, but it has been busy! Lots of the normal things to deal with, and I have been getting back into black lighting in a much bigger way than the past 2-3 years. It involves a lot of preparation time, actual black lighting for hours at a time, and then 'recovery time' as well as processing hundreds of photos. I will be including a black lighting post or two over the next month, which happens to be Moth Month. I am also preparing on a post regarding the saga of Prickly Pear Cactus at Rondeau, which is more complicated than it might seem. And of course taking time to get my head around, and produce the occasional post in my Life Is A Journey blog.

With that being said, this post might be a little longer than average, as there is so much to catch up on. Most of my efforts have been concentrated in the southern part of Chatham-Kent, but also includes a couple of forays to search for orchids elsewhere in C-K and beyond. 

Bird migration has slowed down, but there have been some interesting things to see. I mentioned Dickcissels having arrived in CK in my previous post, and they continue to be present there, as well as at other places. For example some friends who have a combination woodlot and planted prairie a bit north of Blenheim have had at least two pairs of Dickcissels present, and I spent at least a couple of hours quite recently watching and photographing them. They weren't often very close, but I managed to get some fair photos, with the first one showing a nicely coloured male in full song. What is handy about this species is that it will sing fairly frequently throughout most of the day.

The female, shown next, isn't up and nicely visible nearly as often as the male, as she is likely tending the nest. Her markings are more subdued.

Much more common than Dickcissels are Savannah Sparrows, and they occupy very similar habitat. I saw at least a dozen of them in the vicinity.

At the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons, there has been a pair of Black-necked Stilts busily feeding in one of the cells. The male is on the left, and has the black back....

...while the female has more of a brownish/black back.

Also at these lagoons, there was quite an 'invasion' of Wilson's Phalaropes earlier in June, at least 5 mated pairs, which I featured in my previous blog. After most of them left, there was a single male still present for several days. For this species, after the female has laid her eggs, she will typically leave the area in search of another mate, and the male will carry on with the incubation of the eggs in a grassy nest, and raising the young. I had hoped that this might happen since a male was present for several days after the female disappeared, but as far as I am aware, nothing like that happened. 

Male Wilson's Phalarope

Perhaps the mowing around the cells, or perhaps the greatly fluctuating water in the sprinkler cells was not conducive.  At any rate, my last two visits to these lagoons did not have any phalaropes present. I am aware of only one occasion when nesting of this species actually occurred here, as they are mainly a much more western species. But back in about 1980, there was a nest and I managed to get a photo of the male sitting on it.

Another unusual wetland bird species showed up at the Keith McLean Conservation Lands for 2-3 days. It was an American White Pelican.

It must have felt a little out of place, as even before I got very close, I could sense that it was getting restless. In just a few moments it got up and flew out to Rondeau Bay but I managed to get a few heavily cropped photos.

Much more common bird species are this one: Field Sparrow, a pair of which perched reasonably close by, enabling me to get this photo of the pair. They were busy flitting about a fairly large area, which must have been their breeding territory, but at least one periodically came back to this perch.

While the spring wildflower varieties have tapered off somewhat, there are still a few of the usual, mostly colourful ones present, and some are in fair abundance. This first one is False Indigo Bush, a bit of a provincial rarity, but unofficially introduced to Rondeau by someone.

A naturally occurring rarity is next: Green Milkweed. It doesn't seem to be as abundant these last few years, so I was pleased to see this one.

Much more common are:

Bladder Campion

Canada Anemone

Fringed Loosestrife

Ground Ivy

Pale-spike Lobelia

Hairy Beard's-tongue

Poke Milkweed

These next three often get the attention of even the casual walker:

Purple Flowering Raspberry

Wood Lily

Butterfly Milkweed

 One may encounter other elements of wildlife as one travels around. First off is a type of dragonfly, likely a White-faced Meadowhawk due to the season and the relative commonness of this species although the actual face cannot be seen to know for sure.

Lots of these little guys around, and on occasion they will even sit long enough for the camera.

Much less common is this next one: a Blanding's Turtle, which is a provincial rarity. It was crossing the main road in the Rondeau forest, seemingly out of its normal wetland habitat.

Finally, a bit on some successful orchid hunting. Earlier in June I ventured into northern Lambton Co, hunting for some specific orchids. I had hoped to find a Ram's-head Orchid, with the known location being the most southerly location in Ontario for it. But it was not found. However a Pink Lady's-slipper is always a treat to see, and usually are farther north in Ontario than where I venture most of the time.

Next is Hooker's Orchid, a much less colourful orchid, and I have seen it at Rondeau but not for many years. It may still occur, but I don't spend as much time off the trails as I used to, due to the risk of Lyme Disease.

At Clear Creek Forest Prov Park in eastern CK, I caught up to these two orchids. First is Large Twayblade, a provincial rarity.

More widespread but less showy is this Fen Orchid.

 That does it for this post. Hopefully the next one will show up sooner!

 

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Wetlands, shorebirds and a couple of orchids

 There are so many things to see and photograph! I've been out periodically when it hasn't been super hot and humid, and try and pick times of the day when it is most comfortable. This is a good time of year to see shorebirds, especially when the conditions at sewage lagoons are highly attractive for them. A recent visit didn't turn up any American Avocets, like I saw a couple of weeks earlier, but the following ones were fairly typical.

Least Sandpiper

Lesser Yellowlegs

Pectoral Sandpiper

This next one isn't a shorebird, obviously, but a regular inhabitant of the open grassy conditions surrounding the various cells. It is a Savannah Sparrow, and nests here.

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Spotted Sandpiper, still in partial breeding plumage

This next one is also a Spotted Sandpiper, but in a juvenile plumage.

One of the more sought after shorebirds to see at this time of year is this next one. It is a Stilt Sandpiper. Note the slight droop at the end of the bill, and the fairly heavily barring on its flanks.

And when it comes out of the water, its dull yellow legs are visible.

 I stopped by the Erieau Marsh Trail on one occasion, thinking that the mud flats might have attracted some shorebirds. I didn't see any, but came across this photo op.

Tired Turtles

I check out the open wetland areas along Lake St. Clair fairly regularly, as there is always something of interest there. Turkey Vultures are a bit more common these days. It won't be too many more weeks until they are passing through in huge numbers!

Swamp Rose Mallow, a provincial Species At Risk, is fairly common in the best quality wetlands.

American White Water Lily

There are lots of flowering plants along the trail, so butterflies are regularly flitting about.

Black Swallowtail

Monarch butterflies are sometimes quite commonly seen.

Sandhill Cranes continue, but are typically wary of people.

On the other hand, members of the swallow group are quite abundant. They really like the open wetland habitat for feeding on the hordes of insects, as well as for resting opportunities in dead trees. At the moment, I find Purple Martins are the most abundant.

Marsh Wrens continue to occupy the cattail part of the wetlands...

...and Great Egrets have finished breeding, so they frequently hang out in or near the wetlands. At this spot at St. Clair NWA, I counted 14 perched in the broken tree complex.....

...and another dozen in the vicinity of the Mitchell's Bay North Trail.

Eastern Kingbirds have fledged, and are busily feeding their young.

Of course when aren't Canada Geese common! But if they provide a photo op, I will sometimes take it.

Also near open wetland are things like Buttonbush......

...and Bull Thistle.

Meanwhile, American Goldfinches are picking away at the fluffy seedheads of Canada Thistle.

And I usually get out to Rondeau from time to time....no surprise there! First photo is that of an American Green Crab Spider, resting on a boardwalk railing.

Nearby were some flowers of Bittersweet Nightshade hanging over the trail.

A non-native orchid, but an orchid nonetheless, is the Broad-leaved Helleborine.

Along woodland edges is Fringed Loosestrife, with their downward facing flowers.

Last, but certainly not least, is one of my most sought after plants, and one of the most endangered plants in Canada. It is the Nodding Pogonia. I went out specifically looking to see how it was developing in spite of the relatively hot dry weather, which normally does not bode well for it, and was quite pleased to find at least a dozen in flower! I expect to have more to say and show about this orchid in a future post, so will only include one of several photos I took on this occasion.

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