Orchid delights

 With so much happening in spring, it is hard to keep up with everything. But it is always a highlight of the season to search for and enjoy native orchids. Some are colourful, some are not, but they are always a delight to see. They are not abundant, which makes finding them all the more rewarding.

 Some places have a good variety of orchids, such as Rondeau Provincial Park, which has had 19 species found within its boundaries. Many other woodlands in the area have never had any found.  Sandy soils seem to make a difference.

The first species to appear in flower in Rondeau, one that has been considered a species at risk but hasn't quite made it yet, is Showy Orchis, which typically flowers during the last third of May. It isn't very tall, and it can be easily missed in spite of its colourful flowers.

Here is one that likely everyone has seen, at least in photos: the Small Yellow Lady's-slipper. It is widespread in Ontario, and in places on the Bruce Peninsula, can be very abundant. At Rondeau I have seen it in three locations and likely occurs in a few more. One small population seldom flowers anymore, and the larger population is well away from any easy access, so I don't get to track it down every year.

Closely related is the Small White Lady's Slipper. It is a real rarity, and in fact is legally endangered in Ontario. There are a few spots for it on Walpole Island First Nation, but none are very accessible, and even then only with landowner's permission. I haven't been to see them for several years, so this one is from my archives. Other than being at Walpole, there is only one, or maybe two, other locations for it in all of Ontario.

Purple Twayblade, shown next, is also a legislated Species At Risk. It grows in a few scattered locations, but never seems to be very plentiful even where it is found. This one was in the Windsor area, in the greater Ojibway Prairie complex. There are all sorts of rare, threatened and endangered plant species there, which isn't surprising since the entire habitat is endangered in Canada. A population that I had known about for several decades, seemed to have disappeared, likely due to the invasion of Phragmites. However some fellow orchid enthusiasts had access to some coordinates for a single plant in another section of the complex, and after a bit of a search, Marie and I were fortunate to be able to see and photograph it. Thanks John, Peter, Jeremy and Natalya!
 

One that is visible all year round is this next one: Puttyroot. However for most of the year, only its somewhat distinctive leaves are showing, especially from November through May.

By very late May and into early June, a few flower spikes appear. However in the main population I have counted almost 60 sets of leaves in the early spring, but have never seen more than 15-20 flower spikes, and usually less than 10.

It isn't showy, but it is distinctive.

This next species may still grow at Rondeau, although I haven't seen one in flower in decades. It is Hooker's Orchid. It isn't very colourful either, so one has to look a little more intensively to find it. For getting these photos, I had to travel to a sandy site in north Lambton County where I found a few plants.

 While I was there, I took the opportunity to track down a spot nearby which usually has a few Pink Lady's-slippers, also known as Moccasin Flower.

One of my goals on this trip to north Lambton was to find a tiny, but somewhat showy orchid called Ram's Head Lady's-slipper, which I have seen here before on several occasions. However on this trip, I did not see anything but leaves, so maybe next year it will be in flower. This photo was taken in 2019. A close-up looks impressive, but in reality this whole plant was no more than about 10 cm high. This location is believed to be the most southerly in all of Canada.

The flush of orchids will taper off somewhat now, at least locally. But later in the season there are a few others that I hope to find and feature on a future post.

Atlassing explorations

 Now that the peak of bird migration is well behind us, there is time to look for other things. That doesn't mean unusual birds won't appear. This White-faced Ibis showed up a few days ago at the Keith McLean Conservation Area. It isn't the first time one or more has put in an appearance here. There were two a year or so ago, but I couldn't make it. This individual represents the first one I have seen in Ontario.

They aren't the best shots, but the bird was a long way off and not approachable. These first two photos are at an equivalent of about 100X or more.

I had seen a small number out in southern Manitoba almost three years ago, and although they were much closer, the lighting was a challenge.

While I was at the KMCL, I got some photos of the nesting Osprey. This adult was keeping an eye on things while its mate was incubating.

There were quite a few Marsh Wrens chattering and scolding amongst the cattails.

 Atlassing is now the main birding priority, so I've been out to various places. The Acadian Flycatchers and Prothonotary Warblers at Rondeau have continued to be cooperative for viewing and even photographing. This Acadian Flycatcher individual is nesting in a Sugar Maple, one of the few times I have ever found a nest in anything other than an American Beech tree. Perhaps the ongoing effects of Beech Leaf Disease is the cause.

I can never get enough of a Prothonotary, especially a cooperative one! And along the way, one might come across this breeding adult Common Five-lined Skink, a species at risk....

....or a much more common Eastern Chipmunk....

...or on the much smaller scale of things, a Six-spotted Tiger Beetle, which may have more, or fewer, than six spots. I didn't name it!

I was out to the Dealtown Crown Land Prairie site a few days ago. It is off the beaten path, which makes it quite infrequently visited by anyone, but all the more rewarding when one finally gets to it. Unfortunately it is becoming extremely shrubby in places and is in desperate need of a prescribed burn, but I doubt it will happen any time soon. Grassland birds are less common than they used to be, but shrub land type birds are definitely on the increase.

 Yellow Warblers are abundant.

Willow Flycatchers are present in small numbers.

It is slightly early for Cedar Waxwings to be in full nesting mode, but it won't be long. They are likely to be staking out a territory, or at least feeding on the abundant fruit of Red Cedar.

There were several Brown Thrashers. They do a lot of 'chukking' to let you know they don't appreciate your presence, but seldom come into view. They typically skulk in the thicker tangles, but periodically pop up into partial view....

...and on occasion don't seem adverse to being in full view, but at a safe distance. A good telephoto lens is definitely handy.

Yesterday I spent some time in northwestern Chatham-Kent, including some time at a private property I have landowner permission to access.

This sub-adult Bald Eagle flew over, but it is too young to be breeding, so it didn't get counted as a breeding individual. Not to worry, however, as there is an active eagle nest already known for this square.

While I was scanning the patches of cattail vegetation out on the lake, this Black-crowned Night Heron flew almost right overhead.

I also saw three adult Yellow-headed Blackbirds, two males and a female, but they were skittish and I didn't try too hard to get a photo.

I also had permission to access the Mitchell's Bay Sewage Lagoons. During the last atlas, from 2001-2005, they were quite good, but this time around two of the ponds are completely vegetation free even around the edges, except for some grassy/weedy stuff, and the third pond is chock full of Phragmites. Even the area beyond the ponds had been recently mowed. Overall the birding there was poor at best. I did get a couple of Spotted Sandpipers among a handful of species, including the one in this next photo.

Today I went to the municipally owned McKerrall Woods, a few kilometres north east of Chatham. The section of property as one approaches the woodlot is a grassy hayfield, and on a previous visit a few weeks ago, had things like several Bobolink and Savannah Sparrows. I was hoping that maybe a Dickcissel might be there today. Had I been there a week ago, I may have encountered one, but alas, the hay had been cut and more than half of it was now baled. There were no grassland birds other than a couple of Savannah Sparrows that looked out of place given the severe change of habitat quality. 

There was a Turkey Vulture roosting on one of the bales.

The walk in the woods was pleasant, but not overly 'birdy'. Just a handful of the expected species in and around the wooded area. This vulture came by and sat in a tree; I wondered whether it was checking on a nest site, but I couldn't find any evidence of it, and after I moved a bit, it decided to leave the area.

Next up....more atlassing, or a post on spring orchids, or black lighting adventures!

National Prairie Day

 Tomorrow, June 5, is National Prairie Day. At least it is if you reside in the USA. Canada has not included this in any way, which is unfortunate since prairie in Canada is very important in the natural scheme of things. Think of the prairie provinces, for example. But even here in Ontario prairie, and in particular tallgrass prairie, has been an important part of the Ontario landscape. It still is to a much smaller extent, since most of the original tallgrass prairie in the province has been converted to agriculture. There are still a few small pieces left, including parts of Essex Co in the Windsor area (Ojibway Prairie complex), some very small pieces in Chatham-Kent, surviving as remnants along railways, wetlands and the like, and in Lambton where some of the finest tallgrass prairie in the province occurs within the Walpole Island First Nation. Farther east there are remnants in the Dutton area, the Brantford area and the Rice Lake Plains area at the Alderville First Nation. 

Alderville FN prairie

Closely associated with tallgrass prairie is oak savanna, occurring in various places such as Rondeau Provincial Park and Turkey Point Provincial Park. Some may note that I don't include Pinery Provincial Park in the oak savanna mix. Although what is there now is quite like oak savanna, it is largely artificially created and maintained, a result of major changes to the original Pine-Oak forest that were there up until about the mid 1800s when large scale logging took place. If you want to read more about that history check out a blog post I did in 2019.

One of the prairie plants I always looked forward to seeing at Rondeau was this one, Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja coccinea), also called Scarlet Painted Cup. For years I used to see a small patch of it near the intersection of Bennett Avenue and Harrison Trail. However gradually the site became more and more shaded, and I haven't seen it there for more than two decades. But this spring, a fellow birder saw a clump of it at the edge of a wet dune towards the southeast part of the park. I was elated to see it!

Even at a bit of distance, the brilliant orange colour stood out.

Most of the orange is not on the flower part per se. The actual flower is this smaller tubular feature shown in this next photo. While this is only a single clump of about 5 stems, it was heartening to see.

Just to give an idea of what it can look like on a high quality prairie, note this next photo. This is Diamond Grove Prairie, in southwestern Missouri. The site had been burned and there was lots of fresh greenery appearing, which caused the brilliant orange of Scarlet Painted Cup to stand out across the acres and acres of this impressive prairie. I took this in May of 2008 while I was on a two week exploration trip of Missouri's fabulous prairies.

The Missouri Prairie Foundation is certainly a leader when it comes to identifying, protecting and educating about tallgrass prairie, and is responsible for establishing National Prairie Day.

I have spent several weeks over several years in the past, exploring the Missouri prairies. I have been to well over 100 different tallgrass prairie sites in the USA, about half of which were in Missouri. Fortunately having been an active participant in several North American Prairie Conferences has enabled me to see some of the best examples in the US. Here are just a few. The first one is Coyne Prairie, showing the Scarlet Paintbrush mixed in with Wood Betony.

This next one is Golden Prairie, a National Natural Landmark where you can stand in certain spots and not see anything but prairie for 360 degrees.

Sky Prairie, shown next, is smaller but has a wonderful diversity of colour.

Ontario's prairies are just as important in their own way. They are at the edge of the broader tallgrass prairie range, so have a slightly different mix of flora and fauna. This first one is in the Windsor area, and while about 15 years ago it supported undoubtedly the largest population of a species at risk called Colic-root, those white flowered plants, it is now even more at risk as it no longer exists. Unfortunately it was sacrificed to make way for the new highway system as one enters the city via 401.

Fortunately some of the best parts of the Ojibway Prairie Complex remain, although parts of it are in serious need of further management such as prescribed burns. This next photo shows part of the Ojibway Prairie Prov Nature Reserve featuring an impressive stand of Dense Blazing-star, designated as a Threatened species at risk.

Dense-Blazing-star is also well represented at some of the finest parts of tallgrass prairie at Walpole Island.

Earlier in the season the same site had a showing of orange flowers, but not the Scarlet Painted Cup. It is Butterfly Milkweed.

At Rondeau, at a recently burned site, the Butterfly Milkweed can be impressive as well.

At the end of the season, this next photo show what the Black Oak savanna at Rondeau can look like, where tallgrass prairie grasses dominate.

Of course tallgrass prairie is important for more than just vegetation. There are more than a few bird species that do best on the open prairie. Some are fairly common, such as Savannah Sparrow.

Less common is Eastern Meadowlark.

Even less common, and a species at risk is Bobolink, with the distinctively coloured male, shown first...

....and the more subtly coloured female.

An Endangered species is Northern Bobwhite, which is almost certainly gone from Ontario although there are occasional reports of birds away from their former tallgrass prairie range. They are probably the result of wildlife releases. This next photo was taken in Missouri.

Another Endangered species, and also likely gone from Ontario, is Henslow's Sparrow. I digiscoped this at a prairie restoration site about 20 years ago.

Not in any specific 'at-risk' category is Dickcissel, a species which over the last couple of decades has begun to breed in Ontario somewhat regularly in very small numbers and has periodically shown some surges in those numbers from time to time.

Tallgrass prairies are certainly wonderful and fascinating parts of the Ontario, Canadian and North American landscape. Unfortunately they are too easily converted to other uses, so need a strong appeal to people to ensure they survive in a healthy condition.