More on a couple of endangered species, plus a new species for Rondeau, etc.

 Earlier this month, I went to Rondeau to try and get some impressive shots of the super moon. I spent a bit of time ahead of the moon rise, exploring other areas, including the Marsh Trail. One of the first things I was able to get photos of was this Merlin keeping an eye on me.

On the trail itself, I encountered a Short-tailed Shrew. It was dead, and that is the most likely way to encounter one. 

A few more living things were noted, and photographed, including Blue Jays, which are migrating through in large numbers....

Eastern Phoebe

Northern Flicker

A flock of ducks flew high, overhead. Most of these are scaup, but hard to tell whether Greater or Lesser from this photo.

White-crowned Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

As the evening progressed, I went out to the east side of the park in anticipation of a large, orange super moon at the horizon. There was a bit of haze at the horizon, so I waited and got this one as it rose a bit.

I went back a couple of days later, with a different camera\lens combination, as the horizon appeared to be clearer. Unfortunately it was quite windy, and I couldn't hold the camera still enough in such dark conditions especially with such a slow shutter speed, and when there is often more atmospheric interference right at the horizon. So the quality of photo I was hoping for wasn't what I got. 
 

Later in the evening, I got this:

It is sharper, of course, but it doesn't look a lot different than a normal full moon. Oh well, I guess I will have to work on my moon rise photography technique and keep trying!

In other park explorations, I managed to see these things:

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers are more plentiful, as they are in migration mode. The occasional one may stay the winter at Rondeau.

As the human crowds thin out a bit, deer are more likely to be out and about.

Wild Turkey

Next is a fruiting capsule of the endangered Nodding Pogonia. It wasn't a great year for this species, as the dryness at a critical time of the summer likely had an impact, as did other factors. For those that did flower and produce a seed capsule, this is what one will find. It is a very small plant to begin with, as one can tell in comparing it to the fallen leaves beside it, and so even extra care had to be made as I searched for evidence of seed production. As the capsule develops, it sits upright, and starts to split along some of the lines, enabling the tiny seeds to disperse with a bit of breeze.

Something I was surprised to encounter was this next little critter. It doesn't have a common name, but is a member of the Tree Hopper family, and its scientific name is Stictocephala basalis. According to iNaturalist, it is the first record for Rondeau and although generally widespread across southern Ontario, is not common at all. When I came across this little rascal, I only had my 100-500mm lens, so had to be creative in getting even a few record shots. Fortunately the lens will focus down to 1 metre at 500mm, so that helped.

Next is a member of the Trametes fungal group, commonly known as the Turkey-tail group.

In spite of the fairly sunny and warm temperatures, butterflies have really dropped off, most likely to that stretch of cold overnight temperatures not long ago.

Fruiting bodies of Fringed Brome grass

Eastern Garter Snake

Downy Woodpecker

Next is a photo of a fungus called Destructive Pholiota. The first photo shows it a week later than the following photo, indicating that these fruiting bodies don't last very long.

Dekay's Snake

Lots of Common Grackles are migrating these days!

Seed pods of Bristly Sedge

Salamanders are fairly common across the damper areas of the park, but are seldom seen, especially considering how dry the sloughs are now. This one is likely a Blue-spotted Salamander, but with the genetic research taking place by researchers amongst the salamander group, it might be a hybrid.

Mid to late October is one of my favourite times to search for another endangered species, Red Mulberry. This species occurs in very few places in extreme southern Ontario, being limited primarily to Pelee Island, Point Pelee and in the extreme eastern Niagara Peninsula. Rondeau has a fairly good population, but that may be changing as the forest conditions have changed a little more dramatically in the last few years. I intend to discuss that topic in more detail in a future post. In the meantime, in the last week or so, I have been looking for this species to determine its continued presence at known locations, as well as keeping an eye open for new locations. As a result, I believe I have found at least two, possibly three, new locations. The leaves are much fresher looking this late in the season compared to most other trees. The leaves are quite large, round and have obvious 'drip tips'. These drip tips are helpful in that due to the slight hairiness of the leaves, which can hold moisture, the drip tips allow for a greater falling off of the moisture droplets. The leaves have a fairly symmetrical base, unlike those leaves of somewhat similar looking Basswood leaves.

As mentioned, they retain the green colour later in the season than most other species. All of these Red Mulberry photos were taken in the last week. There are numerous non-biting midges present lately throughout the park, and they often take refuge on the underside of the leaf which this next photo shows.

This species never grows as tall as most of the other species it associates with, so if you see a relatively short tree with a trunk only a few centimetres in diameter, and with lots of large green leaves as described above, it may be a Red Mulberry. A species it can be confused with includes Basswood, a native species, and Northern Catalpa which is often planted in built up areas but can be distributed into forests, so be aware!

 

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Bird influx continues in southern Chatham-Kent

 The Birds of Chatham-Kent, then and now, series, will continue eventually, but right now, spring birding is heating up nicely. My previous post discussed this somewhat, based on a couple of really good days last weekend. While there hasn't been any major weather changes to bring huge numbers, that may happen over the next few days. In the meantime, there has been a very pleasing variety of birds to be found, if one is willing to cover a fair bit of habitat and area.

I have put my energy of recent days checking out places like Rondeau Provincial Park and Keith McLean Conservation Lands. It has been well worthwhile. I haven't had a 100 species day yet, but I did get an 85 species day.

Birds are scattered, with the very south end of the park being more or less the most productive, but the narrower north end of the park can be good as well. As the saying goes, birds are where you find them! It is a bonus when the photo ops occur at times, and so what follows features some of those photo ops.

There was the occasional White-throated Sparrow which over wintered, but very few. It is always a treat to see some nice fresh looking ones, and hearing them singing on occasion. It is one of the most abundant land birds in the park at the moment, with seeing several dozen quite easily as they scurry throughout the forest and edges.

White-crowned Sparrows are just starting to arrive. I have yet to see more than a handful even after several hours of birding.

Hermit Thrush is the first of the Catharus thrush species to show. It is the most common of this genus right now, but Swainson's Thrush, which follows, is running a close second, and will very soon be the most common one.

Brown Thrashers are rather skulky birds. There are a few around, although undoubtedly much more common than what any daily bird checklist will show.

Closely related to the Brown Thrasher is the Northern Mockingbird. There has been one or two lurking around the maintenance area for a couple of weeks, or in the nearby picnic area. I have seen it, or another one, on several occasions, and they usually can be somewhat cooperative for the camera.

One of the real highlights for me in the last few days was to see not one, but probably two, Sedge Wrens. Another birder reported three of this species in the same area. Given that they are very furtive, scurrying around dense grass mats and shrubby areas, there could be quite a few of this elusive species. In all of my birding/photographing years, this is the first time I have been able to successfully photograph one.

Members of the Wood Warbler group are what many birders equate with highlights of spring migration. There has been a moderate influx of species diversity considering the relative early aspect of the season. At least 16 of the ~40 species on the park checklist have been reported at Rondeau as of yesterday. I've only seen about 10 species in the last week or so. However the major part of their migration has yet to come, so there is lots of time over the next few weeks to see most of them. Will there be any new species added to the checklist? Only time will tell.

Palm Warblers are one of the early species.....

....as are Black-and-white Warblers.

Another highlight was to see a fairly cooperative male Hooded Warbler scurrying around a brush pile at the north end of the park. This species used to be quite a rarity in Ontario, but in the last couple of decades, has gradually expanded its breeding area so that while it is still uncommon, it isn't quite the rarity it used to be.

White-breasted Nuthatch is a permanent resident of the southern Ontario woodlands. Now that the breeding season is here, it is more common to hear their 'yank-yank-yank' calls along the trails.

Of course there are other things to see along the trails as well, including butterflies such as this American Lady....

...and sometimes a dead critter. This is a Short-tailed Shrew. It didn't show any overt signs of trauma, so why it died is a mystery. They are secretive creatures that spend most of their lives in the leaf litter or underground.

Eastern Gray Squirrels are abundant, of course.....

...and Spicebush is dominant throughout the wetter areas of the woodlands. It is about in peak flowering right now.

At one point I spotted this Red Fox crossing over the road from the campground, and heading south into a shrubby thicket. It wasn't apparent whether it was just on the hunt, or heading to or from a den. It is one of the few times I have seen a fox in the park, and the first time I have photographed one in the park. Their numbers have dwindled due to the high numbers of Eastern Coyotes in the park, which will prey on things like fox and feral cats etc.

As mentioned, I have also been checking out the Keith McLean Conservation Lands. There is lots of shorebird habitat, as has been the case for the last few years. There have been some rather rare shorebird types over the last few days, such as American Avocet, Willet and Marbled Godwit, but none of them have stayed for long, in some cases just a few hours at most. I didn't see any of them. Much more common are shorebirds such as Dunlin.....

....and Least Sandpiper, although it is a bit early for this species.

Lesser Yellowlegs, next, and Greater Yellowlegs, are around in small numbers.

In the cattail edges there are lots of sparrows, including an occasional American Tree Sparrow, most of which have moved farther north.

Brown-headed Cowbirds are seldom appreciated by birders, but when a good photo op shows up such as this female, I will try and make the best of it!

Cedar Waxwings have not been all that common lately, but I saw a small flock of about 8 feeding on some berries.

The nesting platform seems to be holding the interest from a pair of Osprey.

Tree Swallows are by far the most abundant swallow species right now. Hopefully they can survive any future cold spells that sometimes occur in early May!

The main highlight for me at KMCL was this Grasshopper Sparrow. It had been hanging out in the same vicinity as an even rarer Lark Sparrow. I have not caught up to the Lark Sparrow, but did manage to see the Grasshopper Sparrow on a recent visit. It was somewhat back lit, so I had to do a bit more processing than normal to get this result. It is the first time I have photographed this species, so was glad for the opportunity!

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