In between black lighting for moths, I do get out to a few of my regular haunts during the daylight hours. The Keith McLean Conservation Lands, across the road from where Marie and I lived for several years when Keith was still farming, is definitely a worthwhile place to check out especially with the high water that affords great habitat for waterbirds. As shorebirds are steadily heading back south from their arctic breeding grounds these days, there is often a good diversity of them.
Aside from the abundant Killdeer, there are a few of their smaller relatives showing up in small numbers, as in this Semipalmated Plover.
Least Sandpiper is present in small numbers.
Solitary Sandpipers are usually, solitary, although on occasion more than one of this species can be seen.
Lesser Yellowlegs are typically far more abundant than their larger relative, the Greater Yellowlegs, shown next.
Wilson's Snipe may be present, but more often than not, just one or two.
Short-billed Dowitchers are currently around in small numbers, with usually 1-4 seen on an average day. It won't be long before Long-Billed Dowitchers show up, I expect.
A shorebird that is usually found along the shoreline of larger lakes is the Sanderling, shown next. I was a little surprised to see it here on the mudflats. It is possible that the brisk east wind made even less shoreline available along Lake Erie than usual, so it stopped by here instead.
The usual herons and egrets are around, such as these two Great Egrets. Will something more unusual such as a Snowy Egret or Little Blue Heron show up soon? It is time!
I was at Rondeau to do some monitoring of an endangered orchid after one of my stops at KMCL, but those details will have to wait for a future post. However I did manage to stop for a short while at a couple of interesting spots in the park.
The southeast beach dunes are an uncommon and significant habitat in Ontario. Right now there is an abundance of the Cylindrical Blazing-star in flower.
Much rarer, but still the same species, is this white colour form of the blazing-star shown above.
The Marsh Trail has always been one of my favourite parts of Rondeau, but unfortunately due to the high water levels, access is very limited. I did venture a short way down the currently closed trail to see what I could find.
A trio of Eastern Tiger Swallowtails were 'puddling' along the wet sandy edge of the trail.
Arrowhead is a common wetland plant.
The non-native and invasive Purple Loosestrife is, unfortunately, fairly common as well.
Swamp Milkweed is widely scattered, and provide a good source of nectar as well as a breeding source plant, for the endangered Monarch butterfly.
This is Swamp Loosestrife, common where there is a bit of standing water.
A plant that can be abundant, but is an annual and depends on declining water levels later in the season, is Wild Rice. It is considered a rare species in Ontario.
On the subject of rarity, this Blanding's Turtle fits. It was in shallow water at the edge of a pond and when I appeared it ducked its head under water, so all I got a photo of was its back.
A wetland prairie grass is this next one, called Prairie Cord Grass. It is not common at Rondeau.
Swamp Rose Mallow is widely scattered in the Rondeau Bay wetlands, and its large pink flowers are very showy. It is a Species At Risk in Ontario, as it is primarily restricted to the larger wetlands of Essex, Chatham-Kent and Lambton.
Another pink flower occurring in wetland edges, although much smaller than the Swamp Rose Mallow, is this Hairy Willow-herb.
On the way back, I met these two Viceroys.
I stopped briefly at Sinclair's Bush on the way back, as I wanted to check out the possibilities for black lighting for moths. I had not done any black lighting here yet, but was able to do some a few days ago. That will have to wait for a future post. But I did see a fruit on one of the Pawpaw, a large shrub/small tree that is known from this site. This cluster has lots of flowers in May, but seldom do I see any fruit. This one, and the only one I saw, was fairly high up, so a telephoto lens was necessary.
Another time I went out in the evening to St. Clair National Wildlife Area. On the way there, I came across several groups of from 2-21 Sandhill Cranes way out in some recently harvested grain fields. This next photo was greatly cropped.
I was going to go out to the observation tower, to watch and listen. The wind was fairly calm. Along the way I noted quite a bit of Missouri Ironweed, a tallgrass prairie wildflower that is appropriate for the site considering that much of the immediate area was historically tallgrass prairie or wetland, depending on the water levels of adjacent Lake St. Clair.
There were lots of swallows freewheeling over the marsh in their quest for insects. Occasionally one, such as this Tree Swallow, would take a rest on a Phragmites stem.
A couple of small groups of Sandhill Cranes flew by.
A Great Blue Heron was settling in to its night time roost.
As the sun set, since there were no clouds in that part of the sky, the sky turned a brilliant hue of orange and yellow close by the sun itself.
The telephoto lens I had enabled me to hone in on the most colourful part of the sky.
A short while after the sun went below the horizon, the brilliant colours began to fade.....
.....but not before a few little clouds on the other side of the sky were able to reflect a bit of pinkish colour.
It was a great evening, and hardly a mosquito at all.
