Rondeau, then and now

 Things are a little quieter out in the field these days, so I will take the opportunity to interject a post that readers might find interesting, especially if there has been any history with Rondeau. It will attempt to show some of the changes that have taken place, mostly within the last four or five decades.

Rondeau has long been known as a great spot for birding.

There are many species which, either for a short time or a much longer time, show up at Rondeau. The current list is slightly more than 360 species. One of the lwell-known high priority species that birders come to see is the endangered Prothonotary Warbler. It was first discovered breeding in Canada at Rondeau, back in the early 1930s, and the park remains a hot spot for it even now.

Woodland sloughs are the prime habitat for this species, and Rondeau has several kilometres of good quality habitat of this type. This next photo shows Phil, a former staff member of mine while I was at Rondeau, looking in a slough as he scanned for birds. The presence of water that was a metre or more deep in places, numerous dead trees in various stages of decay and the extensive openness were all important for Prothonotaries.

They like a bit more canopy cover than what these photos show, but will make use of fairly open habitat. As do other birds. I photographed this Northern Flicker at its nest in a dead tree right close by where the previous photo was taken, and also a Brown Creeper nest under some bark on the same tree, a fairly rare breeding species at Rondeau.

Anyone of a certain age who had an interest in nature might recall the TV series To the Wild Country, filmed by John and Janet Foster, and partially narrated by Lorne Greene. One of the episodes was entitled Wild Corners of the Great Lakes, and it featured a bit of Rondeau, and in particular the Prothonotary and its nesting habitat. If you are interested, you can see this episode here. The Rondeau segment starts at about minute 17. It is interesting that when it was filmed, back in 1974, the water levels of Lake Erie were at almost record high. Part of the segment shows a former Rondeau colleague of mine, Howard Coneybeare, canoeing through a slough, and discovering a nest of a Prothonotary. With the high water levels, and the openness of some of the sloughs, canoeing was quite possible. Some sloughs were extremely open, as the first photo shows. It was taken in about 1974.

This next photo shows a fairly typical large slough, as in about 1985. Canoeing was quite possible, with a little care.

But since then, conditions have changed. Water levels have had their ups and downs both seasonally and annually. These next few photos were taken in just the last few days, and while the overall lake levels have dropped a bit, they are still above average. However the local drought conditions have caused the sloughs to look quite different, especially with the aggressiveness of the non-native Phragmites. This next photo was taken at almost the same vantage point as the ones showing Phil the birder above.

And from about the same vantage point, but looking south towards the lake, is what the scene looked like in August, 1985.

There were always lots of turtles sunning here, along with a few snakes, and it was good habitat for nesting birds as well, such as Eastern Kingbird. But fast forward to 37 years later, and this is what the same area looks like, taken from about the same vantage point.

There is no water in what remains of this slough, no logs other than what has washed up along the beach, just sand and grasses, as the erosion of the southern part of Rondeau has caused movement of the shoreline inland more than 50 metres. And just a 100 metres or so east of this spot, used to be a fairly large picnic area, with parking and a large picnic shelter. All that is gone now, and has been for several decades. This next photo shows where it would have been, but now well out in the lake.

And these next few photos show what a wet slough looks like in early 2023. It would be impossible to canoe in them!

Here are a few more items, illustrating some changes over the last 50 plus years. Some readers may well remember the days when there was a beautiful campground at the south end of the park. It was generally well-wooded, unlike the very open campground that remains at the north end of the park. It was established back in the 1950s, I believe, and when I was growing up, I remember our family camping there back in about 1963. There were four or five substantial washroom facilities to service the campground as well as the picnic area mentioned above.

South Point campground washroom

There also was a campground office, to service requests for camping. It was located on the left hand side of what is now the South Point Trail, formerly a road to and from the campground, right at the corner of the sharp S-bend.

 The campground closed for good, in about 1973 due to the very high water which flooded the campgroun, other than for a couple of months in late summer and early fall of 1985. The building gradually deteriorated and I remember quite a few Barn Swallows nesting in the open structure that remained.

In 2023, this is all that is left.....what I presume is the septic tank of the campground office.

More on some other historical changes in a future post!

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Looking back.....looking ahead

 Looking back......

It was four years ago, in early March 2014, that with some trepidation, I joined the blogging world. The time has flown by, and it has been a rewarding experience. Thanks to all of you readers for making it worthwhile!

I've posted over 340 times in that span. The topics as initially expected, varied widely on subjects about the natural world, with an emphasis on southwestern Ontario and especially Chatham-Kent. The most frequently read post by far, with almost 5500 views to date, has been one of several I wrote about Lyme Disease. That in itself has made this blog worthwhile in my opinion, as Lyme Disease continues to be a poorly understood thing that can affect so many people who spend time out doors, or who have pets that do. Fortunately the risks, identification and treatment options are becoming a lot better known but there are still many conflicting ideas put forth as authoritative.

The country with the most page views of my entire blog is the USA with almost half the total views. Next comes China, followed by Canada, Russia, France, Portugal, Germany, Brazil, United Kingdom and Ukraine. I'm not sure what this means, but I found it interesting.

As you know, I really enjoy photographing the natural world, especially if 'a picture is worth a thousand words' so that I don't have to write out as much! So far I have included more than 4200 photos. Here are some of my favourites that I have used.

Forests, although few and far between in this part of the province, are a favourite site to explore and photograph, whether it be spring wildflowers or overall landscapes.

White Baneberry

Clear Creek Forest Provincial Park

 This next one was featured in a Canadian Geographic calendar.

Fish Point Provincial Nature Reserve

 Many of my photographic attempts are pre-planned, but some are more serendipitous. I wanted to get photos of my sweetheart admiring these three individuals of Tuliptree along the trail of that name at Rondeau. She struck a tree-hugger pose, and I got this one. It turned out to be the best of that event!

Marie amongst Tuliptrees

Huge Tuliptree along a Skunk's Misery trail

Photographing in foggy conditions can be fun.

The sloughs of Rondeau are often worthwhile to check out. Prothonotary Warblers are endangered and declining residents in a handful of swamp settings in southwestern Ontario.

Prothonotary Warbler

 Being at the right spot at the right time enabled me to capture this Mink when it paused briefly while scampering across a rotting log.

 Shallow sloughs may eventually get fairly dry over the season, enabling lush greenery to emerge. This is one of the sloughs I need to cross in a relatively remote part of Rondeau to check on one of the rarest orchids in Canada, shown in the following photo. The only known place for it in the entire country is at Rondeau.

Nodding Pogonia (Triphora trianthophora)

Macro photography is fun. 

American Rubyspots along the Thames River

Boogie-woogie aphids on an American Beech

Mitrewort

Red-banded Leafhopper

 This next one features a White-faced Meadowhawk dragonfly, chowing down on some sort of midge.

 At the other end of the scale is the very large Bald Eagle, with a recently caught fish.

 Forest birds can be quite colourful.

Scarlet Tanager

Red-headed Woodpecker

In more open landscapes, which is much of southwestern Ontario and especially Chatham-Kent, are some lone trees. This American Elm, featured next, is one of the largest of its kind, surviving on a road allowance and has escaped (so far) the ravages of Dutch Elm disease.

There are lots of open spaces to choose from. Some include wetlands.

Lake St. Clair wetland, near Mitchell's Bay

This next one is of a rare Marbled Godwit feeding in the shallows at Mitchell's Bay along Lake St. Clair. I was able to get out in my kayak and get quite close.

 A Great Egret often gets some attention. Having one soar overhead against a bright blue sky is always a treat. Being backlit shows the delicate nature of such a large bird, with the almost translucent white wings and the limited amount of bones supporting all of those flight feathers.

 A small colony of the more western Yellow-headed Blackbird was fun to observe at relatively close range for several breeding seasons. They were nesting close to the road near Mitchell's Bay and entertained many people, some of whom came from quite a distance.

 Willets are another relatively rare species, and the three shown below were part of a group of about a dozen that were found at Shrewsbury, on Rondeau Bay.

Lake front sites give lots of opportunity for photography. The lake can be quite placid....

Erieau harbour

 ....or quite riled up, and it is on these occasions when the dynamic shorelines can undergo change.

Erieau harbour

 Sunrise can be an inspiring time to capture scenes along the water front.

Erieau looking across Rondeau Bay

Sunrise along Lake Erie shoreline at Erieau

Tallgrass prairies are a favourite open space I explore as much as possible, both in Ontario where it is quite limited.....

Walpole Island First Nation

 ......and in the mid-west, where there are many more to explore.

Sky Prairie, Missouri

 Various bird species are more apt to be found on prairies and prairie like areas than in other habitats.

Short-eared Owl

While the Short-eared Owl is currently found locally only as a wintering resident, it formerly nested when larger prairies and wetlands occurred in southwestern Ontario. Of course Snowy Owls are here only as a wintering species, although some may show up in late fall and linger into early spring.

It is no secret that I like waterfalls as well. There aren't many close to home, but I enjoy seeking them out in my travels. Some favourites are:

Hogg's Falls, along the Niagara Escarpment near Flesherton

Rock Glen in the conservation area near Arkona

Brooks Falls, north of Huntsville

 In the far north of Ontario, is the huge Hudson Bay Lowland, which I was fortunate to camp on and explore for almost a month in total over two successive years.

At the other extreme, in southeastern Arizona is the Sonoran Desert, with the iconic huge Saguaro Cactus dotting the arid landscape. I've been to this area half a dozen times, and can never get enough.

 

A typical breeding bird of southern Arizona and adjacent states is one that has shown up on two occasions in Chatham-Kent, of all places, and both times in the late fall/early winter period. The one shown below stayed around long enough to be on the Christmas Bird Count!

Vermilion Flycatcher, just north of Wallaceburg

Looking ahead......

I expect there will be more of the same types of blog posts. Of course none of us know exactly what the future holds for us, but my intentions are as follows:
-complete the series on Natural Areas of Chatham-Kent (there are about three more parts to go);
-tidbits highlighting my regular exploratory forays across Chatham-Kent and beyond;

Some tentative blog post topics include, in no particular order:
-How old is that tree?
-Tips on forest photography
-Will all those cute little bunnies, birds and other newly born/hatched wildlife survive to adulthood?
-Prescribed burns in Ontario: has the pendulum swung too far?
-One drink too many (I'll keep you guessing on that one!);
-Old growth forest;
-Bison birds;
-A conundrum in science;
-How an ecologist views the landscape;
-Changes in the birds of Kent County, comparing a 1940s era unpublished manuscript to today;
-Invasive species: the elephant in the room;
-etc.

So stay tuned if you like! Hopefully you are getting as much enjoyment out of checking out my blog as I am in sharing it!

Sunset over Lake Erie, taken from the ferry Pelee Islander