You win some, you lose some.....

So the other day, I got a text from Steve Charbonneau indicating that the brightly coloured Eurasian Wigeon was really close to shore off of an access point at Erieau, and great for photo ops. Trouble is, I didn't have my cell phone on at the time, and so I didn't see the message for about an hour and a half. I eventually acknowledged his message. He had also texted Garry Sadler, who was on top of his game and got the message and headed right out. Garry saw the bird, and got some fabulous shots (read on).

By the time I arrived, it was almost deja vu all over again (to quote Yogi Berra). There wasn't a duck in sight, at least not like it had been a short time earlier. There were ducks well out in 'scope range, but nothing close, and definitely no Eurasian Wigeon in sight. So I moved on a bit elsewhere to where there were a few ducks and satisfied my photographic urges with subjects like American Wigeon, Ruddy Duck and even Double-crested Cormorant.

American Wigeon female

Ruddy Duck female

Ruddy Duck male in dispute with another male

I even saw the McArthurs out for a late season boat ride, presumably looking for things to add to Ric's blog.

The reason it was deja vu, is because the day before another, but less brightly coloured male Eurasian Wigeon had been seen along the park side of Rondeau Bay close to shore near the yacht club. I was busily scanning the thousands of waterfowl there in mid-morning. And as I was scanning, I heard a major whoosh of wings from the head of the bay, and the thousands of birds I hadn't yet scoped, came tearing by. I had only looked through about 10% of the birds, when this mass exodus occurred and the ducks all headed out towards the middle of the bay towards Shrewsbury.

Birding is often about being at the right place and at the right time. Fortunately I had seen a Eurasian Wigeon in the spring, so I didn't need it for my year list, but to miss a couple of opportunities to get some decent shots of this colourful bird was frustrating.

There are, fortunately, many other things to enjoy. And on the weekend I was back at Rondeau again. This time there were only a few ducks along the park side, and it didn't take long to determine that the Eurasian Wigeon was not in sight.

I went down the Marsh Trail. Birds were not plentiful, but all this warm weather has resulted in a fair number of butterflies continuing to do what they do. I saw at least 8 Eastern Commas and a Fiery Skipper, plus the usual Cabbage Whites, Orange Suphurs and Clouded Sulphurs.

Eastern Comma

Fiery Skipper...I just got one shot before it left

Pollinators were glad of the warmth, and also of the small number of flowers that were hanging on. Sowthistles (Sonchus spp) were the most abundant flower, and many had one or more pollinators crowding the inflorescence.

Pollinator gathering

An unexpected bonus for my hiking around Rondeau this day was to come across a never before documented location of the endangered Red Mulberry. It was in fine shape, a mature tree that was about 20 cm in diameter and likely 15-18 metres tall. The leaves are distinctive and quite visible at this time of year.

Rondeau has one of the best populations of this species in Canada. It only occurs in a handful of locations, and while a couple of them (Lighthouse Point Provincial Nature Reserve and Point Pelee National Park) have decent numbers of them, many are affected by the hybridization with the non-native and quite aggressive White Mulberry and are anything but good examples of pure Reds.





Today I went back to Erieau. A Red-necked Grebe had been reported there yesterday afternoon, and I hadn't seen one of those for awhile. I scanned the lake from the pier, and although I saw numerous Horned Grebes, I could not find any evidence of a Red-neck.

I did see another butterfly on my return to the car: this time it was a Common Buckeye, and it was looking quite fresh.

Steve Charbonneau came along just as I was getting ready to leave, and after a bit of a chat, we decided to look at the waterfowl on the bay again. Steve got there first while I checked out the empty fish tug harbour, hoping that the lack of boats and sheltered water would have attracted something of interest. And then a text from Steve arrived, indicating that the Eurasian Wigeon was indeed in view, albeit a fair way out. Needless to say I didn't spend any more time than necessary getting there. And there it was, a bit too far for a photo of any type, so I moved to the vantage point behind the fire hall. I got a better view, and a record photo.

Barely a record photo, as you can see.....it is the second bird on the left. It is a far cry from the fabulous photo that Garry got a few days earlier. To enjoy that one check out this link. 

Congratulations, Garry! Maybe next time I will be at the right place at the right time, or at least have my cell phone on to get the message in time.......


The Blenheim Sewage Lagoons are always a treat to stop by. It isn't very crowded, as you might guess.....the only folks who go there are birders!

A Cattle Egret persists.....up to four have been seen at a time in recent weeks, but in the last few days, only one is sticking around.

A Greater Yellowlegs was there, looking quite lonesome. It was the only shorebird that I encountered, and the first time all year that I haven't come across at least a Killdeer.

Hooded Mergansers are around, mixed in with hundreds of other waterfowl (mostly Ruddy Ducks).

And some butterflies are as well. Aside from the usual Cabbage Whites, Orange Sulphurs and Clouded Sulphurs (although their numbers are diminishing), I came across Eastern Comma, Common Buckeye and Common Checkered Skipper.

Common Buckeye

Common Checkered Skipper

One final photo and thought: take a look at this photo and what does it remind you of? The late day sun rays bouncing across the gentle waves of the lake?

Would you believe that all of those lines are spider webs? This is a scene that Marie brought to my attention shortly after I returned home late in the afternoon this past weekend. It is the grassy park behind our place, and the number of spider webs captured by the late day sun is absolutely amazing! The world of nature is so abundant with photo ops, even in places where you wouldn't think to look. And thanks, Marie, for bringing this to my attention!

Salamander Snippets

I've recently had several people send me photos of salamanders they've come across, wondering what kind they were. Some are quite easy to tell, but others not so much. What are salamanders doing out so late in the season, you ask? Well it has been warmer than usual, and in reality, salamanders can tolerate quite cold temperatures, even though they are cold-blooded. In fact in the spring, they will emerge from their over-wintering sites and be found mating in woodland pools even while there is still snow on the ground and ice on the water!

One of the most easily identified salamanders in southwestern Ontario is the aptly named Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum). It is a small type of salamander, but the bright yellow spots are unmistakable.

Another one that is quite easily identified and also small, is the Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus).

A colour variation of the Red-backed is known as the 'Lead-backed' Salamander, as the back is more grayish than reddish in colour.

Another spotted type of salamander fairly common in southwestern Ontario is the Blue-spotted Salamander (Ambystoma laterale). It is also a small salamander normally ranging between 10-14 cm as an adult. The amount of blue spotting can vary a bit, as the following two images show.

This next image shows both of the latter two species, which I found under the same piece of woody material on the ground.

There are other salamander species that occur, or historically occurred, in southern Ontario but are quite rare. These include species such as Small-mouthed Salamander (Ambystoma texanum) found only in some areas of Pelee Island and Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum) which is a much larger salamander that historically occurred in portions of Essex County. I have never seen a Tiger, unfortunately. Others are restricted to the Niagara Gorge such as the Allegheny Mountain Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus ochrophaeus) and Northern Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus fuscus) neither of which I have seen, either. Still others are more often found in eastern Ontario: Four-toed Salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum) and Northern Two-lined Salamander (Eurycea bislineata). Rounding out the line-up of Ontario salamanders are the Mudpuppy (Necturus maculosus), an aquatic species, and Central Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens louisianensis). You can read more about all of these salamanders via the Ontario Nature link provided below.

And that leads me to discussing one of the most challenging and confusing salamanders of southern Ontario: Jefferson's Salamander (Ambystoma jeffersonianum). The Jeff's is largely restricted to south central Ontario, although ongoing research has had it turn up slightly beyond that area. It is a large salamander, with adults reaching 18-20 cm in total length. It is dark bluish black, with a few lighter whitish-bluish flecks, but not as large or as brightly marked as the Blue-spotted Salamander. What makes things especially challenging in identifying these salamanders in the field is a result of the unusual reproductive process and ultimate genetics of these two species. They hybridize, and there is a broad zone of hybridization. One can really only tell what kind one is by doing DNA analysis, which for these salamanders requires snipping a small tip of the tail, running it through a blender of sorts, and then examining the DNA. There are many variations of the genetic make-up of these hybrids, as there are crosses and back-crosses through many generations. It is by far one of the most bizarre and complicated reproductive systems of any organism, which is still puzzling biologists and researchers. For more information you can check out this link.

In the immediate Rondeau area, there are no known pure Jefferson's Salamanders. However there are individuals that have some Jefferson's genes, and are larger than typical Blue-spotted Salamanders. A few years ago there was some sampling of salamanders in the park. There is a tremendous amount of habitat for salamanders with dozens of kilometres of linear slough habitat interspersed with ridges of woodland habitat. Some of the individuals caught were quite large. This one in the next photo is almost 15 cm, certainly long for a Blue-spotted.

It doesn't have the typical well defined and numerous bluish-white markings that a typical Blue-spotted would have, especially on the body. This one, although it has characteristics of Jefferson's, turned out to be predominantly a Blue-spotted hybrid.

Salamanders are most often found under objects on the forest floor when they are not under ground. Even though they are seldom seen, they are a valuable part of the forest ecosystem, both as predators of worms and grubs as well as being food themselves for larger predators.

Salamanders are just one part of the reptiles and amphibian group known as herptiles. There is an ongoing effort to document the reptiles and amphibians of Ontario through the Ontario Reptile and Amphibian Atlas, coordinated by Ontario Nature. For more information on this worthwhile project, and to contribute sightings if you can, please visit this link.

Sun worshippers at the beach and mid-autumn stuff

It has been that kind of week.....some days being quite cool and others much warmer than usual. With the abundance of Turkey Vultures passing through, some have been noted enjoying the sun while resting on the beach. They aren't the normal sun worshippers, but about the only ones out there this time of year.

Beach dunes are good places to find other animal life. While checking the east beach of Rondeau recently to see if any rare geese were mingling with the hundreds of Canadas resting along the water's edge (there wasn't), I came across a life-and-death struggle. A large Chinese Mantid had found a Woolly Bear caterpillar and was proceeding to chow down on it.

Normally the mantid would not allow me to get this close with my macro lens (I was a mere 8 cm away for a couple of these shots), but she was more interested in the meal than escaping me. It was interesting that the caterpillar was still attempting to escape even though the mantid had a very firm grasp, but this is one Woolly Bear that will not have to wait to see what the winter might bring.

While I was on the sand photographing this mantid in action, a type of Ground-hunting Spider came by.

There wasn't much bird activity at the beach that day, so I ventured into the woods. There weren't many birds there either, so I guess it is clear that the fall migration has passed.

Even though the birds weren't very plentiful, there were other things to see and photograph. Earlier this year I had posted about the Boogie Woogie Aphids which are found on American Beech trees. There are still some around doing their thing.

The change in leaf colour is delayed this year compared with most years. According to visitors to central Ontario, even there the leaves are not as far along as they normally are. These next few shots are images taken at Rondeau in the last day or two. While it appears that there are lots of leaves already on the ground, the predominantly green of the trees indicates that the vast majority of them are still holding on quite successfully.

Bennett Ave

Bennett Ave

Rondeau Road

Spicebush Trail

Spicebush Trail

Amidst the leaves on one of the paths of the Spicebush Trail was this large female Eastern Garter Snake. It was in the shade and the ground was cool. The only thing that moved was its tongue as it flicked it in and out trying to determine if I was a threat or not.

Did you see it? Maybe this next photo will make it a bit more obvious.

A year ago, on October 26, some of the same vantage points looked like this:

Bennett Ave

Rondeau Road

This Hawaiian Beet Webworm moth was spotted on my van's door which was parked at the head of one of the trails. It is apparently an uncommon migrant to this area, the northern part of its range.

 
Autumn is a great time for seeing the fruiting bodies of fungi on the decomposing logs and stumps.

Pholiota sp.

Turkey Tail

A stop at one of the local sewage lagoons can add to the day's interest, and one time I stopped at the Ridgetown lagoons. As expected there were several hundred Canada Geese, and after a careful examination, I came across these two blue phase Snow Geese on the water.

They weren't on the water when I first saw them, but at one point something stirred up many of the geese. It turns out that this young Bald Eagle was drifting along right over head, and not all that high up, putting the geese in a bit of a panic. I presume that the geese thought it was safer in the water, so that in case the eagle swooped down, the geese could try and escape by diving under.

There were a few other ducks around, including a couple of dozen Northern Shovelers, most of which which were going through their moult and looking a bit drab.