Waterbirds and other winged things

I haven't wandered too far lately, but that doesn't mean there hasn't been a lot to see nearby. I had to check out something near Mitchell's Bay not that long ago, and while on my travels, I swung by St. Clair NWA. It was a great day for seeing Eastern Phoebes, along the wires and the trees lining the NWA. They were busily soaring out and catching some flying insects on this sunny day,

 A flock of about 14 Sandhill Cranes were in a field across from the NWA, but seemed nervous when I stopped the vehicle and stuck my camera out the window.

Most of my outdoor wanderings were spent at the southern extreme of Chatham-Kent, however. The Keith McLean Conservation Lands is often an inviting place, especially with the continued wetlands My hope was to get photos of the recently arrived Nelson's Sparrows, but although I saw at least a couple from time to time, they were very furtive and did not linger in the open for more than half a second, it seemed, so no photos.

As usual, there was a good variety of other birds to see, both the shorebird type and others. At the larger end of the size scale were these first three species.

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Mute Swan, an invasive species

 Shorebirds are declining, but a half dozen species or so are still lingering. The current cool down of weather may change that.

Dunlin

Long-billed Dowitcher

Solitary Sandpiper

Wilson's Snipe

 Although the Nelson's Sparrows were not cooperative for my camera on this day, I did manage to get these next two.

Swamp Sparrow

Marsh Wren

Marsh Wrens are often more likely to hide back in amongst the cattails, making photographs difficult. This one flushed up and sat relatively out in the open for a few seconds, and enabled me to get one photo in the classic pose shown at the top.

Other things with wings varied a bit, and included:

Corn Earworm, a moth

European Yellowjacket

Painted Lady

Large Milkweed Beetles, with developing wings

 If this next critter successfully develops it, too, will have wings. It is the caterpillar of a Hickory Tussock Moth.

 And a few things that didn't have wings, but were worthy of note and a photograph. This first one shows the berries of Winterberry, and things with wings (i.e. migrating birds) will feast on them.

 Most goldenrods are about finished flowering. There are a few of these Zig-zag Goldenrod plants still in flower, but won't last much longer.

 A bit of a surprise was this nice flower head of Red-osier Dogwood. It normally flowers in June, but on occasion, if they go into a senescent period later in the season, a subsequent cooler and wet period can cause a very late flush of fresh flowers. And if you look closely, there are some winged things, syrphid flies I think, on the flowers

 This next item attracts winged things. It is a Dog Stinkhorn, a type of fungus. It doesn't create light-weight spores to be dispersed by wind, as most fungi do. Instead it has a very smelly tip, which attracts flies, and as the flies walk around the sticky surface, the spores get stuck to the flies' feet, and are transferred to another location where the flies go later.

Honey Locust to Stinkhorn.....native plant highlights

A couple of posts ago, I gave a summary of some of the interesting species of fauna I came across while conducting a flora and fauna survey of a decommissioned railroad in Chatham-Kent. This post will focus on some of the highlights of the native flora. A future post may describe some of the many non-native species of plants.

Such railroad corridors are largely unexplored, since they frequently have 'No Trespassing' signs at the typical access points. When the railroads are in operation, if you are not paying attention trains can sneak up on you in a hurry! (Don't ask...... :-).

Typical scene along one section of this rail corridor

 Obviously there isn't much, if any, pristine natural area habitat along these corridors, but it is surprising how much native flora and fauna use what habitat there sometimes is. For example when doing a survey on a corridor in 2012, I discovered a provincially rare plant that had never before been seen in Chatham-Kent and a butterfly that had very limited records in C-K.

In such wide open sections as shown in the image above, there is always the hope that some prairie vegetation may be found, maybe even a patch of prairie. Such was the case in 2012.

Most obvious prairie vegetation becomes more visible from mid-summer to late summer. I'm hoping that my future visits to this corridor in the next few weeks will enable me to find more prairie species along here. Historically areas not far from this corridor had some of the largest extent and best quality tallgrass prairie in Ontario!

Some of the prairie associates that I have found so far, include:

Canada Anemone

 Canada Anemone (Anemone canadensis) is certainly not limited to prairies, as it is frequently found along the sunny edges of woodlands. Prairie is where this plant really does well.

Prairie Milkweed

 Prairie Milkweed (Asclepias sullivantii) is rare in Ontario, limited mainly to the extreme southwest. It is just coming into peak flowering condition now, slightly later than the similar looking Common Milkweed. Butterflies and other pollinators love it!

Yarrow

 Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is often found in disturbed old field, but is definitely a prairie associate, and numerous pollinators can be found using it.

Climbing Prairie Rose

Climbing Prairie Rose (Rosa setigera) is rare in Ontario, being officially designated as "Special Concern', and is largely limited to Essex, Chatham-Kent and Lambton, although small populations do occur beyond those areas.

Some sections of this corridor are adjacent to bits of woodland, and there the diversity of flora changes.

Some species occurring there are likely remnants of the forest habitat that was there prior to the railroad being constructed.

Honey-Locust

Honey-Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos) is unofficially rare in Ontario, being most common in the extreme southwest.

Wild Yam

Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa) is a climbing vine which is uncommon in Ontario. It doesn't have showy flowers......they don't get much showier than those tiny little balls on the slender branches shown here, but their leaves are distinctively heart-shaped.

Michigan Lily

Michigan Lily (Lilium michiganense) is a tall, brightly coloured flowering plant. It is widespread in southern Ontario but never seems to be abundant. It often occurs in woodland openings, and its bright orange flowers are pleasing to the eye.

Along the sides of the corridor are wet areas, prime habitat for plants such as this Southern Blue Flag (Iris virginica).

Southern Blue Flag

Another 'plant' that I came across, although not everyone would initially identify it as being a plant, is this unusual fungus:

Dog Stinkhorn

Dog Stinkhorn (Mutinus ravenelii) is, as its name suggests, a stinky fungus. I usually encounter them in the late summer or early fall, but for some reason, this one was evident in late June. One can usually smell them before seeing them, depending on which way the wind is blowing. It is this feature than enables them to spread their spores. Flies are attracted to the odour thinking it is a rotting bit of flesh and are looking for a place to lay their eggs, which fly larvae (maggots) will hatch out from and consume the rotting material. The flies crawl over the gelatinous tip of the fungus from where the odour emanates, searching for a place to lay their eggs, and this is where the spores are located. The spores then stick to the flies feet and are transferred to the next place the fly is inspecting. Just another one of the many wonders of nature!

The colours, they are a-changing

That isn't really news, if one takes even a casual look around the landscape these days. Even after a short time, the changes can be dramatic.

I have been to Rondeau a couple of times over the last week, and this is what looking north on Rondeau Road just north of Gardiner Ave looked like the first time.

Four days later, it looked like this.

Bennett Avenue showed a similar trend.

Not a lot of difference in the four days compared to the previous set from a couple of kilometres south at Gardiner Ave.

Here is a dry slough south of Bennett Ave. The very large tree on the right is a Silver Maple and is just a bit more than a metre in diameter.

The roads can still be a magnet for reptiles and amphibians, as they soak up the sun beating down on the pavement. I've seen a few dead ones in the last couple of weeks. Fortunately this Northern Ribbon Snake was crossing on a less travelled portion of the road system, and on a rainy day when there was less traffic and the pavement wasn't warm to hold it on the pavement.

I came across this large cluster of a bracket type of fungus known as Chicken of the Woods. It is present all year around, but the fruiting bodies on rotting logs are most noticeable in the late summer and early fall.

Rotting logs are great for other things as well. Salamanders love them.

Red-backed Salamander

I noted this attractive,, small, grayish white spider clinging to the underside of a piece of rotting wood. I haven't determined what kind it is yet.

Harrison Trail is fun to explore, sometimes for the scenery....

 ...and sometimes there are other things!

This is a stinkhorn fungus. It is something you often will smell before you see it. In fact I smell them regularly in the late summer and early fall, but I seldom see them. The breezes can carry their odour for a ways, and one can't always follow the wind currents upwind to find the offending fungus. I didn't actually find the stinkhorn that I was smelling on this trip....this photo was taken a couple of years ago. Some stinkhorns are orange, other species are more muted in colour.

The stinkhorn doesn't produce spores that are dispersed by wind currents as most fungi do. Instead, the tips of the fungus produce a distinctive, with the emphasis on 'stinct', odour that attracts flies that are normally attracted to decomposing things. When the flies walk around on the smelly tip of the fungus, the spores are transferred to their feet and delivered to the next thing that they walk around on.

Much more attractive are the berries of this Maple-leaved Viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium). The maple like leaves are obvious, and the blue-black berries are notable at this time of year. This shrub is not common, but regular in a few places along Harrison Trail and elsewhere in the park. It seldom grows more than 2 metres high.

Maple-leaved Viburnum