A mix of regular and lingering birds and an adventurous butterfly

 The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) season is upon us, and the Blenheim/Rondeau count is on Dec 17. As the weather can be a big factor in the number of birds seen, there is a three day period before as well as after the actual count day, where birds can be included in the overall count database. However birds seen during the count period but not on the count day, will not be included on the count itself. Therefore there is a bit of effort to scout around during the count period to see what might be seen on the day, or could have been seen.

With this in mind, I try to get out a bit more prior to or during the count period, and with the unseasonably mild weather of late, who know what is still out there? Recently there have been things such as Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and White-eyed Vireo seen. Just before the count period, I encountered a Great Egret at the Keith McLean Conservation Lands. It moved around a lot, probably because it was likely wondering just what it should do with itself this late in the season, but probably also because I tried to get a bit closer at times. While there is no hunting taking place at this location, it may have encountered hunters elsewhere, which made it extra cautious when humans were in sight. It was sometimes sitting right out in the open....

...and at other times, moved to a more secluded and out of the wind location. If it is still around, and I have no doubt that it is, it would be a first for this count. However there are more than enough places where it could be that are inaccessible for birders to see it.

A Great Blue Heron was also quite close by, with its feathers being rustled around in the wind.

With all of the mudflats being available and temperatures sometimes getting well above freezing, it is inevitable that there may be a few lingering shorebirds. There has been the occasional Dunlin around, as well as Killdeer. I came across a scattered group of 10 Killdeer at the Erieau Marsh Trail recently, which gave me some quite good photo ops.

It was fairly windy, and a cold wind was coming off the lake nearby. This individual came quite close to me, and hunkered down behind a raised clump of mud, to get some protection from the wind, I presume. Even at this spot the breeze was blowing its feathers as you can see.

Others seemed to be okay with just standing out in the open at the water's edge, facing into the wind.

The south beach of Rondeau can be very good for lingering shorebirds under the present conditions. Last year on the CBC we had Killdeer, Dunlin, Spotted Sandpiper and Western Sandpiper. I will not be covering that area this year, others will, and the weather looks less than ideal for being out in such exposed conditions. However some shorebirds may still be out there nonetheless. Stay tuned...

Meandering around Rondeau has had a variety of results. I've not only encountered, but photographed Pileated Woodpecker on a couple of occasions. The sky background can play a huge part in the satisfaction of the photos.

Cedar Waxwings are declining in abundance, but are still around. This one spent all of its time in a fairly dense stand of shrubs.

Dark-eyed Juncos are fairly plentiful, and widely scattered.

House Finches are year-round residents, so not all that surprising to see.

female

male

White-breasted Nuthatches are also permanent residents, but seemingly not all that common.

White-throated Sparrows are often the most numerous sparrow species at this time of year.

There are a few lingering Yellow-rumped Warblers, most likely to be encountered in the semi-open north campground where there are lots of red cedars.

On the lake front, diversity of waterfowl varies, but at this time of year large numbers of Ruddy Ducks are often seen. There were at least 450 of them within my view, but out quite a way, so this photo shows a greatly cropped view of a few of them that were a little closer, so I didn't have to crop the photo as much.

Tundra Swans are either out in the lake or bay, or feeding in fields.

Due to the milder than normal weather, I came across this Eastern Comma on December 15, which I believe is the latest in the year I have ever seen this species. Presumably as the weather cools down, it will find a safe place to over winter.

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A Long-tail, lingering shorebirds, snow geese, and puttyroot

 More about fungi in a future post, but for now, there is a bit of catching up to do mostly regarding birds. With the weather being above normal, there is lots of open water, including muddy edges for lingering shorebirds. I was at the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons a few days ago, and was treated to some good photo ops. Certainly a highlight was to get a pair of cooperative Long-tailed Ducks fairly close to the edge of the middle pond, and they didn't seem to mind my presence all that much.

Long-tails are not seen all that often in southern Chatham-Kent, although they do occur on Lake Erie, but usually seen only from a distance. The southern end of Lake Huron at Point Edward can be a good spot in the winter, so seeing them so handily at the lagoons these last few days was a real treat. They swam back and forth, dove under at times,

...and got up to fly around. They didn't go far, staying at this middle pond all the time I was there.

Some shorebirds were there to be found as well. Three Dunlin, which also stayed close enough to be photographed were there. Again, with the weather being what it has been, it wasn't a bit surprise, but nice to see just the same.

There is a lot of mudflat along the Erieau Marsh Trail, and a Pectoral Sandpiper has been seen from time to time. It is much less likely to be seen this late in the season than the Dunlin, so I was pleased to get this photo, even though it was at the far side of the mudflat and the photo is greatly cropped.

There were three Lesser Scaup in the more open area of the mudflat, where there was open water, but they were far less tolerant of me aiming my lens at them. I guess it being hunting season, with a couple of hunter's duck blinds not all that far away, it wasn't too surprising.

While I was at Erieau, I checked the waterfront, hoping that there might be a Purple Sandpiper or some other shorebird hanging out along the shoreline, or even at the pier, but it wasn't to be on this day. I did manage to get a reasonable photo of a Snow Goose along the shoreline, as it was with a large flock of Canada Geese....

...and when I took a drive by St. Clair NWA, in amongst the gazillion Canada Geese were at least eight Snow Geese....

...including several blue phase Snows.

In meandering around the former Dover Twp.,  I knew that a particular Wood Duck box was often used by an Eastern Screech Owl. It was there on this visit, nicely peering out at me.

I went out to the Jeannette's Creek boat launch, hoping to catch sight of a lingering Great Egret, which happens this late in the season from time to time. In fact it was just a few short years ago when up to three hung around for the SCNWA Christmas Bird Count, and even stayed well into January! But there were none to be seen on this day, although there is lots of area for one or more to still be around. So instead, I satisfied my birder/photographer's urge by shooting this Belted Kingfisher. It was on the far side of the Thames River, so is greatly cropped. I doubt it even knew I was there.

There were up to 6 Great Blue Herons that I saw, or at least partly saw. They were usually obscured by something or other.

I usually make it out to Rondeau on one or more occasions each week. I haven't been out at the right time to catch up to the Western Flycatcher of a few days ago, or even the adult male King Eider that was a flyby for a few hours one day. The Western Flycatcher would definitely have been a new species, but the King Eider is something I have seen before. It was on the Rondeau CBC back in about 2000 when one that had been seen in the Erieau area off and on. It was present when I got to the west end of the south beach of my territory, so already had that species on my Chatham-Kent list. But there is no question that an adult male would have been great to see. But in my various wanderings through the park, I was able to digitally capture a few of the more expected species, as follows.

American Tree Sparrows are fairly commonly seen....

...as are Dark-eyed Juncos.

House Finches are resident, although not abundant.

White-crowned Sparrows, such as this immature one shown next, seem to be declining this late in the season....

...but White-throated Sparrows are plentiful.

At one point this accipiter type of falcon showed itself briefly, but I only got a look at it from the backside. Based on the overall size, and the length of its tail beyond the wing tips, as well as the slightly pale back and side of the head, I felt it fit Cooper's Hawk most closely. It certainly is a relatively common accipiter type.

On one of my trail jaunts, I checked the leaves of a rare orchid: Puttyroot. The leaves are most visible from about November through April, as long as they aren't covered with snow. While this known population only had two flowering stems this past June, on this visit I counted a total of 146 leaves, one of the highest totals I have ever had in all the years I have been watching this population! It will be interesting to see how many flowering stems appear this next June.

Since it is getting close to Christmas, I will put in a plug for my first book, Life on a Sandspit, which I published last spring. 

 It is still available at several locations in Chatham-Kent, including:

Bayview Market, Rondeau

Mindful Market and Eco Hub, Blenheim

Mitton's Jewelers and Gifts, Ridgetown

Five-Eau, Erieau

Book Brothers, Chatham

Sydenham Field Naturalists, through their web site sydenhamfn@hotmail.com

Friend's of Rondeau Bookstore at the Rondeau Visitor Centre, although the centre is only open on weekends and the bookstore is not always open. The centre will be open more frequently during the Christmas break.

And just so you know, I have a second nature book at the printer, titled Natural Treasures of Chatham-Kent. I am not sure when it will be available for purchase, so stay tuned for a future blog in the very near future describing it in some detail, as well as where it would be available, price, etc.

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Fruit on the forest floor, Part 1

 No, I am not talking about walnuts, or acorns or something like that scattered on the forest floor. I am referring to fungi.

There are many, many types of fungi, and the part that we see growing on the forest floor, or a rotting log, is the fruit of the fungus plant. The main part of the fungus is underground, or in the rotting log, in the form of extensive mycelial threads that act to decompose the rotting log. But more than that, the threads cover extensive areas and travel for huge distances underground. These mycelial threads are actually known to 'communicate' with each other, and share energy, and they are critical components of what makes a forest healthy.

So the actual fungus is just the fruit which bears the seeds or more correctly, the spores, which are dispersed by the breezes. The names and shapes of such fungus are highly varied.

Aborted Entoloma

I have spent a fair bit of my time roaming about forests in the late summer and fall, on the lookout for fungi. They are busy doing their thing under ground, or in a log, for a good part of the year, and seem to be the most visible during the more humid periods of the season when they get to the fruiting stage, although some fruit even in spring. Sometimes I consider my outing to be part of a fun, fall, foray for fungi!

They aren't all colourful, like many warblers or wildflowers, but are fun to find and photograph regardless.

These 'fruits' release their spores, through their gills. Gills are often shown like this following fungus, known as member of the Agaricomycetes group of fungi. The type of gills aren't always visible from the top. In looking at the first photo above, the gills are not noticable unless you break off or look underneath the fungus. Given that most fungi grow quite low and on the ground, looking underneath is challenging, so some mycologists, the name for persons who study fungi, break off the fungus to see the type of gill.

Other fungi have hidden types of gills, such as this next one, known as the Bear's Head Tooth fungus.

This next one, illustrated by the next three photos, is fairly common, at least in forests where American Beech are common. It is known as the Beech Rooter fungus.

Note to the reader: while I have attempted to put a name to the fungi that are in this post, and I believe many of them are correct, I am anything but a specialist when it comes to fungi. I rely fairly heavily on the Computer Visualization capabilities of the database on iNaturalist, where there are thousands of examples of various species which it will compare to, in order to come up with a strong possibility. Over time, specialists in the mycological field will take a look and either confirm or correct its name. So while I believe most identifications here are fairly accurate, there is no guarantee that 100% of them are at this point.

Back to some fungi.

Some are small, looking like a small parasol. This next one is a member of the Bonnet's group.

They can be quite colourful, such as this Chantarelle Waxcap, next.....

...or are typically less colourful as these next ones demonstrate,

Deer Mushroom

Deer-colored Mushroom

Closeup of Deer-colored Mushroom

Most of the fungi shown above, were growing out of the ground, or a moss covered log. One fungus that I came across was growing out of the end of a Tulip Tree log which had been cut to clear a path. It was a bit larger than normal and quite distinctive. I got a couple of photos with the camera I had in hand. It is known as the Destructive Pholiota.

I went back to the fungus a couple of days later with a different camera/lens combination. The fungus had changed a bit...

....a closer look at the underside showed the gills as well as the brownish ring at the upper side of the stem. It didn't last long, however. The fruits of fungi seldom last in good condition for any more than a few short days. As soon as the spores are released, the fruit head deteriorates quickly.

I don't know who comes up with the names of fungi. This next one is called the Dog Vomit Slime Mold. While some fungi are edible, just the name of this one is enough to turn one off! I have no idea of whether it is edible or not......

Not all fungi grow out of the ground. This next one is known as Dryad's Saddle, and typically grows out of the side of a dead tree trunk.

A fungus that is fairly widespread and visible is this next one, the Chicken-of-the-woods.

A lot less colourful is Hen-of-the-woods, shown next.

As mentioned, looking underneath the 'cap' shows the gills, as this Honey Waxcap shows.

This next one is a member of the Hygrophoraceae group. Yellow ones like this do not seem to be all that common.

This next one is the Lion's Mane Mushroom.....

....and this next, colourful one is one of my favourites, the Mycena leaiana, or Orange Mycena.

As mentioned at the beginning, these fungi are exceedingly important in the transfer of energy not only to other fungi. Trees and non-woody plants obtain significant amounts of energy from the mycelial threads that are extensive underground. It is what helps to keep a forest healthy. When one part of a forest is disturbed, that disturbance can be communicated to other parts of the forest via these mycelial threads and end up causing problems. And that is why forests that are logged or otherwise have the soil disturbed decline in health. Their connection to the multitude of other plants is severely disrupted. It is also why attempts to establish a plantation on a previously worked up agricultural field is seldom very healthy, at least not for many, many years. The constant work-up of the soil through cropping, as well as the application of so many chemicals to benefit the agricultural crop, has destroyed the mycelial threads and severely limits the trees growth and development. It may take many decades for the soil to become more natural with mycelial threads for the transfer of energy to the multitude of the forest inhabitants.

That's it for this post, but I expect to feature more fungi in a future post!

 

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