Hawks on the move, Baird's Sandpiper and a late season orchid

 When I haven't been out with the black light, there are always lots of other things to enjoy. Just a few days ago, Marie called my attention to a large group of birds swirling overhead in the back yard. Given the time of year, I immediately thought of Broad-winged Hawks on the move, so I grabbed my camera and headed out. 

Broad-winged Hawks, indeed. One could see them arising from a woodlot east of home, likely Paxton's Bush or another one even farther east at the edge of town. They weren't in full kettle mode, so they were just lifting off from their overnight accommodations.

This first image just captures a part of a group. I counted 158 birds in this one, but there were many more beyond what I captured. There were  probably 200-250 birds in this single group. Over about a 30 minute period, there were quite a few groups of various sizes, some at least as large as this one, along with numerous smaller groups and even a few singles.

Quite a few flew directly overhead as I stood in the back yard, or just outside the fence to get a less obstructed view.

Of course there was a mix of birds, including adults, shown next....

....and sub-adults, like this one.

Overall, I estimated there were at least 2000 birds that flew over the yard, or within sight of it. It was certainly the largest number of Broad-wings I had seen from the yard in many years. There was an occasional Turkey Vulture and Red-tailed Hawk mixed in with them, and likely others.

Broad-winged Hawks in these numbers are not typical in this immediate area. Usually they make their way to the north shore of Lake Erie, using the thermals of rising air to soar and glide. But the lake doesn't produce these thermals, so they use northwesterly winds to carry them along the lake shore to where they can cross at the narrowest point, which is at the Detroit River, before continuing southwards to their wintering grounds. However when they are on the move and the winds are predominantly easterly, they may travel farther inland, resulting in the occasional soaring over places like our yard, before continuing west and southwest.

Sticking with bird highlights, I have been to Rondeau on occasion, but sometimes more for some exercise and botanizing, although always keeping an eye open for birds. There have been various warblers, but they were most often seen darting across the trails from one dense stand of shrubbery to another, so getting a photo was next to impossible. I did manage to get a quick, back lit shot of a Blackpoll Warbler, which seemed to be the most common species when I was around, so not surprising that it was one I managed to photograph.

There were a few vireos around as well, including this Red-eyed Vireo.

Rose-breasted Grosbeaks were scattered here and there, and occasionally sat on an open branch long enough for a photo.

There are other things to see as well, including this Tall Bellflower, which has normally finished flowering weeks ago....

...and this White Snakeroot, which is in more or less peak flowering condition these days.

Another one that is usually fairly common these days is White Rattlesnake Root.

 

I was in the vicinity of a known population of the endangered Red Mulberry, so grabbed some photos of its characteristic large, pie-plate sized leaves, with long drip tips.

In some of the recently mowed areas, there were a few of these Great Plain's Ladies' Tresses in various stages of flowering. It is not officially rare, but is not common either. It is widely scattered across southern Ontario, and can be fairly abundant if the conditions are right (open sandy grassy areas, that have not been mowed for several weeks).

It has a characteristic strong fragrance, reminding me of a particular type of hot plastic. Another feature is to see the humped shape of the individual flower and the yellowish centre of the down turned lip.

A visit to the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons can be worthwhile, although sometimes it is anything but. However on one of my returns from Rondeau I stopped here and found it worthwhile. There were quite a few gulls hawking over some of the ponds, mostly Ring-billed Gulls. There must have been a large number of insects flying about to get their attention. As expected, both adults and sub-adults were in the mix of a couple of hundred gulls.

I saw this Red-necked Phalarope from quite a distance. The light was better for this photo, but due to the distance it was greatly cropped.

I did manage to get to a closer spot, but the bird was back lit, so even with a bit of extra processing, this is the best I could do.

A dozen of more Northern Shovelers were swimming back and forth with their characteristic 'bill in the water'  style as they swam around, their wide bills scooping or filtering small items to gobble down. Again, most of the time they were back lit.

Some of the local Ruddy Ducks were at a distance, but this one was trying to keep a low profile in a build-up of floating vegetation.

It eventually must have realized that it wasn't as well hidden as it thought, so sat up a little more and swam away.

Lesser Yellowlegs were, as usual, the most abundant shorebird.

But the highlight for me on this visit was to get a fairly cooperative Baird's Sandpiper in view, and I was able to get a few shots. The somewhat brownish colour of this 'peep' along with the longer wingtips that extend beyond the tail, are key features for identification. It is not a common species at any time, but typically show up in ones or twos in the autumn migration. The greenish colour in the water is a result of some kind of chemical that is used for the sewage lagoon water treatment process. I do not know what it is, and I hope it is not detrimental to any birds there.

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Early Autumn at Rondeau

The crowds have left, and the park is quieter, at least from a human activity perspective. But even as the season winds down, there is a diversity of things to enjoy.

Spicebush Trail

The woodland trails are still mostly showing their greenery, but the autumn colours are starting to appear. Perhaps the most obvious signs of the season are some of the plants. I'm sure some hikers notice these, but they are so small and don't show a lot of colour, they can be easily overlooked. They are called Beechdrops (Epifagus virginiana). They don't have the normally green colour of most plants, because they don't need to acquire energy from the sunlight via chlorophyll the way that most plants do. These are parasitic plants, getting their energy by tapping into the roots of other plants. They are closely associated with American Beech; hence the 'fagus' part of their scientific name, which is the genus for American Beech.

Beechdrops

Beechdrops flowers

Another common plant along woodland trails is a goldenrod called Blue-stemmed Goldenrod (Solidago caesia). Instead of a series of flowers near the top of the plant as some of the more well-known goldenrods have, they are arranged in small clusters very tightly against the main stem which is more angled than upright.

Blue-stemmed Goldenrod

Also, there is an abundance of White Snakeroot.

White Snakeroot

Less obvious than these flowering plants are some shy critters, the salamanders. Blue-spotted salamanders are fairly common and widespread, but spend most of their time well hidden under something. Before long these cold-blooded creatures will be underground, below the frost line, for the winter.

Blue-spotted Salamander

 A slightly smaller salamander is the Red-backed Salamander. The stripe on the back isn't really red, but certainly is an orangey colour. There is a different colour form sometimes seen, known as the 'Lead-backed' Salamander which has a duller grey coloured stripe on the back.

Red-backed Salamander

In more open parts of the forest one will find numerous spiders in the shrubbery, and one of the more common ones is the colourful Marbled Orb Weaver.

Marbled Orb Weaver

A few dragonflies are still around, but their numbers are diminishing. Here is a Black Saddlebags, one of the most common ones late in the season.

Black Saddlebags

A beautiful, common and widespread wildflower found along roadsides and all sorts of open areas is the New England Aster (Aster novae-angliae). It is a favourite of many insects which are still present at this time of year.

New England Aster

The woodlands have changed over the past few years, with the arrival of the Emerald Ash Borer. Consequently many ash trees have died, opening up the forest canopy. Other plant species are quick to take advantage of this openness and resulting availability of sunlight. Vines in particular are well known for their ability to spend much of their energy climbing quickly over other plants. By using these dead trees to support them as they climb to reach the sunlight, they avoid having to invest large amounts of their own energy to grow a massive trunk.

This image shows a dead White Ash tree covered with Virginia Creeper. This vine is abundant, as are Wild Grape and Poison Ivy. Most vines produce berries that will benefit the numerous warblers and thrushes that are migrating through at this time of year. And the maturing Virginia Creeper is turning an attractive deep red right now, which is attractive in combination with their deep bluish purple berries.

Even though many ash trees have succumbed to the ravages of the Emerald Ash Borer, there are lots of young ash trees sprouting up. Whether they have a chance to mature and produce seed to help keep the species around remains to be seen.

This final image is of a young Black Ash leaf, photographed in a slough along Spicebush Trail. Black Ash isn't abundant this far south; it is normally more abundant a little farther north. It is easily identified by the individual leaflets growing tightly to the stem, with virtually no petiole (leaf stem). All other ash species have petioles which are at least 5 mm in length, or are slightly winged. Black Ash grows in very wet areas, unlike some of the other ash species.

Black Ash leaflet