Phalaropes and Orchids

I realize that Phalaropes and Orchids may seem like an odd combination, but sometimes the events just go that way.

Some readers may recall an earlier blog post, describing an unsuccessful attempt in predicting the appearance of one of Canada's rarest orchids, Nodding Pogonia, to be in flower at Rondeau Provincial Park. I was determined to see this species in flower, and on August 13, the overnight temperature dipped lower than it had been for several days, down to about 11C. With that bit of information in mind, I figured that August 15 might be the day to see these amazing little flowers fully open.

It so happened that at about the same time, there was an appearance of up to 8 Wilson's Phalaropes at the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons. This species has nested at the lagoons on very rare occasion, but in recent years even seeing them on migration has been a challenge. So on my way to Rondeau to check out the orchids, I made a stop at the sewage lagoons.

There was, as expected, a lot of shorebirds scattered along the gradually expanding muddy edges of the ponds. And there in one corner, were three of the aforementioned phalaropes, spinning around as phalaropes do.

 On occasion, one or two would come up to the very muddy edge and preen.

After viewing these phalaropes, I continued to Rondeau. Putting on my boots and gathering my equipment, I struck off, hoping that this would be the day. Some years I don't ever see them in flower. The mosquitoes were present but tolerable. Sometimes they are a formidable presence, making this foray very uncomfortable. On this occasion, putting up with the mosquitoes was worth the effort, as I came across a few orchids in flower!

 At best, these little plants are small, typically no more than 12-15 cm in height. However some are extremely diminutive, as the one in this last image was no more than about 5 cm!

Since I might not have a chance to see them in flower again this year, and who knows what the next year or so might result in, I took lots of photos. This declining orchid, in Canada, grows only at a remote place or two at Rondeau, and some years not a single plant will flower.

An unpredictable orchid, and other Rondeau stuff

August is the time when one of the rarest orchids in Canada is to be looked for. As it turns out, the only known location for it in the entire country is Rondeau. There are some historic records for it in the southern Essex County area, where it was first discovered in Canada back in about 1950. However that woodlot is small, heavily grazed, and the orchid has not been seen there in over 25 years.

The orchid I refer to is Nodding Pogonia (Triphora trianthophora), and it is a provincially and federally endangered species. While numbers of this orchid have, on occasion, been more than 1000 plants, in recent years the numbers are considerably lower. Unfortunately there has been more than one year recently where flowering was minimal and there was no successful seed production at all.

The other day, I ventured to Rondeau in the morning to check on the orchid. I have been monitoring it via some study plots for over 30 years, and for more than a decade before that, I searched for it regularly with varying degrees of success. One of its peculiarities is that the flower buds of the entire population develop to a certain stage, then on the second morning following a significant night-time drop in temperature, all of the blooms will open up....but just for the one day. It may be several days, or more than a week before the process repeats itself. Timing is everything, and one of the things we don't know is just how much of a temperature drop is required to trigger the buds to open up.

When I arrived at the spot where there were a few plants, I saw this:

The buds were developing nicely but seemed like they had a way to go before being ready to open. So I waited for a couple of days, and this is what I found upon my return:

They had opened the morning before, and were now closing up!

This is what I was hoping to find (photos from previous, more successful times):

But it wasn't to be on this day. Perhaps later in August.........

To get a fuller appreciation of the unusual nature and complexity of this endangered orchid, check out my earlier blog post here.

Even though I was not successful on this trip to capture the Nodding Pogonia in good flower, I did manage to see a few other things. On the walk to the orchid site, I noted these seed pods developing. This is an uncommon woodland milkweed, known as Poke Milkweed (Asclepias exaltata). The seed pods are smoother and considerably slimmer than the more abundant and widespread Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca).

There were some flowering grasses along the way. Grasses do have flowers, and they are wind-pollinated. These are the flowers of Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), a typical prairie and savanna species. This photo shows the male parts--the anthers--dangling down, as well as the smaller purplish female flowers sitting tightly to the stem.

 Sometimes the flowers are distinctly yellowish rather than purplish.

On a part of the walk along the Tuliptree Trail, I came across this little critter.

 It is the nymphal stage of a Leaf-footed Bug. It is less than 10 mm in total length, and being an active little critter, was difficult to get in focus all the time.

A much larger invertebrate critter was this meadowhawk, probably a Ruby Meadowhawk, but sometimes the several meadowhawk species found in the area are difficult to tell unless you examine genitalia.

Along the beach dunes, there is a profusion of Cylindrical Blazing-star (Liatris cylindracea) coming nicely into flower. It is not a common species, but restricted to sand prairies and the sandy beach dunes of Rondeau's east beach area are perfect for it.

Maybe on my next trip to Rondeau, I will have had some success in photographing Nodding Pogonia, but if not, there is always lots of other things to focus on!

Orchids, birds, contaminants, etc

Some mornings it has been great to get up early. One morning recently, I headed to Erieau hoping for some colourful skies to capture. I got to the waterfront well before sunrise. At first things didn't look too promising, but I got momentarily distracted with this sailboat that anchored just off the fishing boat harbour. It was attractive in the pre-dawn gloom, so I attempted to use my long telephoto lens on it. Keep in mind the focal length was the equivalent of 800mm, and I handheld the camera and telephoto and took it at 1/40th of a second. This was taken 15 minutes before official sunrise, and on a cloudy morning at that. I really didn't think it would be very sharp, but was surprised at how well it turned out. There was no wind to speak of, so the boat was quite still. I guess I was also.

Oh yes.....there was some colour in the sky after the sun came up.

I've had some recent requests about late season orchids. And now that autumn is not that far away, it is appropriate that Autumn Coralroot is being sought after by some botanists.

Autumn Coralroot (Corallorhiza odontorhiza) is a diminutive little orchid that not that long ago, was considered rare in Ontario. Its perceived rarity was likely due to its rather nondescript stature. As more and more people developed an eye for it, it has been discovered farther afield than it once was, even north to the lower Bruce Peninsula.

This first image shows it in all of its splendour, from a distance of merely one metre. Can you see it?

Maybe this will help. Note the mosquito for scale resting on one of the flowers....better there than on me!

 Even closer.....

This is about as large and colourful as this orchid gets. It can self-pollinate.....on occasion, the flowers won't even open so there is even less to see!

This colourful and distinctive Hedgehog Gall was on a White Oak leaf. One or more wasp larvae of the Cynipidae family are developing inside.

While walking the forested trails to see this orchid, I noted lots of spider webs criss-crossing the path. Most of them belonged to the Marbled Orb Weaver, a colourful medium to large spider that is most frequently encountered in the late summer.

Another spider that one frequently sees this time of year, especially in areas of old field vegetation or prairie vegetation, or even along shrubby edges of the woods, is the Black-and-yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantiaca). Normally you see the females which are full of developing young, and looking much fatter than this one.

After my little foray along the woodland paths, I decided to check out the southeast beach where large numbers of gulls frequently rest. With the moderate southwest winds, this day was no exception, and there were several hundred gulls, with increasing numbers of terns arriving as they prepare for migration. A few Caspian Terns were present, still giving their raucous calls.....

Caspian Tern

Caspian Terns

.....as were a few Common Terns, making things a bit more interesting than just the usual Ring-billed and Herring Gull mix.

Common Tern

Two immature Little Gulls were part of the larger group, but did not come close enough to even attempt a photo of. Maybe next time.

After leaving Rondeau, I often stop in at the Blenheim Sewage Lagoon, where the fall migration of shorebirds and waterfowl is picking up. On the way, I noted this small family group of Wild Turkeys. This seems kind of late in the season for the young to be so small. Presumably the first nesting attempt of the adult was unsuccessful, and this smaller group of small young is the result of a second attempt.

A Great Egret flew over. I particularly liked the backlit conditions. One can really see the detail in the individual wing feathers. The dark area on the leading edge of the wing indicates the flesh and skeletal structure of the wing from which the feathers emanate.

There are tons of Killdeer around the lagoons these days, particularly in the mostly dry sprinkler cell. But they make a racket, and when they flush, most everything else does as well. There have been some good birds present, even a Willet in recent days, but not on the days that I was there.

One doesn't normally see an American Goldfinch pretending to be a shorebird.

 This Lesser Yellowlegs is to be expected. This was a day when the water in this sprinkler cell  just covered one of the pipes which the yellowlegs was walking on.

In the centre, to the left of the rear end of the Lesser Yellowlegs below, is a young Solitary Sandpiper, easily distinguishable at this time of year with its dark 'wrist' area.

A few Wilson's Snipe have been around. This one sat tight after all the other shorebirds flushed.

Wilson's Snipe

 One can't help but notice the bright blue/green sludge around the perimeter of some of the lagoon ponds, as well as a buildup of green algae. I don't recall it being this vivid in previous years. Is it some new kind of chemical treatment to attack the undesirable organic matter? Or something more insidious?

I recently had a link to an article sent to me (thanks, Brett!), which described the results of some tests on bats which had spent a fair bit of time feeding on insects emerging from sewage treatment plants in the northeastern US. It was surprising to find out what was in the tissue of these bats: PBDE (flame retardant), salicyclic acid, ibuprofen, caffeine, DEET, triclosan, etc. You can read about it in this link. Although many things are removed during the normal treatment of water at such facilities (most of them I believe, are the organic elements, not the inorganic ones) it makes one wonder what is not being taken out. Consider all the things that end up being flushed down the toilet....old prescriptions, as well as the current prescriptions and drugs that so many people ingest, and eventually get excreted out and flushed into the system. Most of those chemicals, hormones, drugs, etc end up remaining in the system that ends up in coming back into our homes when you turn on the taps. Think about that next time you fill your water glass, coffee-maker or whatever.....yuk!

I digressed.......blame the blue and green sludge!

Amongst the typical waterfowl showing up at the lagoons, including Ruddy Duck, Mallard, both teal, American Wigeon, Northern Shoveler and Wood Duck, was this lingering Tundra Swan. It is usually near the edge of the water of one of the ponds. I don't think anyone has seen it fly since the spring, so presumably it can't. It will likely be fine until freeze-up and after that, its remaining days are probably in short supply.

 As one approaches it, it quickly heads towards the nearest pond.

The weedy edges of the pathways along the lagoons are good places to find Bobolink towards the end of August and into early September. Both males and females look alike at this time of year.

 A few days ago, Blake Mann and Josh Vandermeulen had seen a couple of Common Checkered-Skippers. I was there later that same day but didn't see any. But I will be looking next time I go. They are quite small, but colourful. This next image is of one I saw about three years ago, along an abandoned railway not all that far away from the lagoons. In real life, it is about 2.2 cm across.

Next time I get to the lagoons, you can be sure I will be on the lookout for this rare, little lep!

North Lambton and southern Chatham-Kent combination

I'm playing a bit of catch-up here. I've been up to a private site in north Lambton County a few times lately, doing some inventory and enjoying some terrific forest landscapes. The most recent time was a couple of days ago. Even late in the season, the woods are interesting, and the solitude is worth the effort. The rolling topography of Hemlock-American Beech-Sugar Maple forest, with lots of Tuliptree, is quite impressive. And once on the unofficial trail, there is often no other sound but that of a woodland.

Woodland birds are relatively few at this time of year. But sometimes you can see evidence of them, and be able to identify what was there. The following image is a case in point.

This is the typical workings of a Pileated Woodpecker, which has a massive bill for tearing into tree trunks to go after carpenter ants and such. The deep, oblong holes are very characteristic.

An unexpected highlight during this trip was to find evidence of a fairly rare orchid. It is S2 in Ontario. It may come as a surprise, given the time of year, but this orchid, unless it is flowering, is more obvious from late fall through the winter (if the snow is not covering the leaf litter) and into the early spring. It is known as Puttyroot (Aplectrum hyemale).

The leaves are quite distinctive, with their green colour complete with a hint of gray, especially on the underside. And the leaf veins go the length of the leaf, which is typical of Monocots (includes orchids and lilies). Most other plant families, known as Dicots, have different leaf venation.

There are very few individuals in a population that send up flowering stems....usually less than 10%. So when there is lots of greenery in June, the period when it flowers, and there aren't any flowering stems, it is almost impossible to see this plant. But the leaves at this time of year are quite perky and upright, making them more visible when most everything else has dried and fallen. This plant was historically known from Lambton, but the official database indicates the last record was before the 1920s, so it was quite an important discovery. I plan to look for other populations in Lambton and elsewhere at this time of year. There is lots of forest to look through!

Today, I spent a bit of time checking out the Erieau area. My previous post showed some of the unusual gull and tern observations that I had, and I wanted to see what else there was a few days later.

As it turned out, the gulls were relatively few. There were several hundred gulls feeding off the south beach area, mostly Bonapartes. There were a few in the main channel and next to the marina. Even though they are quite common, I always enjoy watching and photographing them and listening to their calls.

And there were dozens of Horned Grebes. I saw at least 65, but I heard a higher number from another birder (Steve) who was there a bit before me.

I was just ready to leave the marina area, when a Spotted Sandpiper flew into view and landed on the edge of the pier. It was rather skittish, and I had to photograph it through a chain link fence as it darted amongst some of the pipes and other things along the edge of the slip.

This is quite late for Spotted Sandpipers. They are normally gone by late September or early October. A few may linger well into October. This is the first November record for the Rondeau area that I am aware of. It is interesting that there was an individual counted on the local Christmas Bird Count on December 22, 1952, by far the latest record for the Rondeau checklist area. Perhaps it was injured, or there was a really mild spell?

Will this one linger for a December record, or better yet, another record for the CBC? Time will tell.

I also had three Sanderling on the big pier sticking out into the lake. I didn't get any photos of them, as when the gulls were flushed up, the Sanderling left also. We've had them on the CBC on at least 3 occasions.