Some early autumn outings: birds, herps, leps and odes

 The autumn weather so far has been a boon to birds, and birders alike. I have spent a few outings exploring some of the wetland areas along Lake St. Clair. The skies at sunset can be impressive, especially when there are myriad individuals of waterfowl in the air. This first image was taken from the trail at St. Clair NWA. There were almost always some groups of waterfowl in the air nearby, but I was taken with the larger numbers of them almost continually flying along the shoreline. It was a beautiful sight.

Waterfowl of various species are building in numbers and diversity. On one or more outings to SCNWA, I was treated to the following.

Mallards are by far the most common duck.

A bit of a surprise was a group of three Trumpeter Swans, two of which are shown in the next two images. I first saw them from afar, but as they emerged from an open part of the marsh, circled around and flew by in a good range and in good light.

Trumpeters are not common here in the southwest, although they have been around in slightly increasing numbers in recent years. Given the time of year when the much more likely Tundra Swan is around, a little more careful look shows the broad black area in front of the eye, and no yellow colour on the bill.

Right about the same time, Tundra Swans are showing up, with several dozen being in view during my last outing. Here you can see the narrower black area in front of the eye, and a spot of yellow on the bill.

The next photo shows a family of three Tundras, with a young bird on the left. Being mixed in with Canada Geese, is a good size comparison. There was a good variety of other waterfowl species mixed in and widely scattered amongst the geese and swans.

There are other birds to see while being out and about. American Tree Sparrows, next, are increasing in numbers.

A sub-adult Bald Eagle was soaring high overhead.

A Red-tailed Hawk was also noted flying through.

A few White-crowned Sparrows were observed right along the trail.

There are usually a few non-birdy things to enjoy, especially given the sunny, mild weather. Common Buckeyes are fairly common this year, and always nice to see.

Leopard Frog

Next is a young Northern Water Snake, which was reluctant to move off of the sunny trail.

Up along the Mitchell's Bay North Shore Trail, there are more of the same types of things, but with its own variety. Great Egrets continue, although the numbers are gradually declining.

I came across this Long-billed Dowitcher feeding along the muddy shoreline. It is very similar to its relative the Short-billed Dowitcher, but the gray tertials and the split eye-ring are helpful.

The occasional Monarch is still flying through. Many I have seen look rather worn, but this individual looked quite fresh.

In some of the dead trees not far off the trail, there can be dozens and dozens of Tree Swallow taking a rest in between forays out over the marsh prowling for insects.

This pair of Wilson's Snipe was along the muddy shoreline, but didn't linger before disappearing behind some vegetation.

I have been out to Rondeau on several occasions, but mainly to chat with the park staff, deliver some canvas prints of things relevant to Rondeau and to follow the change in colour of the forest. More on that in a future post. The Visitor Centre is currently open Thursday-Sunday. 

I have managed to photograph a few other things, as follows:

Dragonflies were fairly abundant along the trails, on those bright sunny days. Here a male Autumn Meadowhawk is resting on the boardwalk.

There were a few less brightly coloured females as well. This one is munching on a midge, and allowed me to get fairly close.

Blue-headed Vireos were scattered here and there....

...Brown Creepers were seen on occasion.

Another Common Buckeye!

I have seen a few Eastern Bluebirds. This one was perched in the shade with a bright background. I tried to pull out as much detail as I could in the processing.

Eastern Phoebes, even though it is a flycatcher, will likely be seen into December depending on the weather.

An Eastern Gartersnake was enjoying an open sunny spot along one of the trails.

Ruby-crowned Kinglets are quite plentiful, although challenging to photograph due to their constant, rather frenetic, activity.

Turkey Vultures have been passing through steadily, in some impressive numbers. Many are quite high up...

...but on occasion one will be quite low.

Certainly the most abundant warbler to be seen is the Yellow-rumped Warbler. Some will likely be present all winter.

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Some of those hard to see little critters

 When one is out looking at flowers, especially late in the season, one cannot help but notice a lot of little creatures coming and going. Sometimes very quickly and they are hard to see let alone identify in the field. They don't pause long enough for the use of a magnifying glass! They are busily collecting nectar, all the while pollinating the flowers. A good macro lens and flash are essential, as most are less than one cm in length. Only then can they usually be identified when processed and cropped on a computer.

Tufted Globetail

Doing this is one of the fun things of late summer and early autumn exploration when numerous asters, goldenrods and other late season wildflowers are in relative abundance. Some asters, such as this first one, the Arrow-leaved Aster, is fairly common, but rather with a plain colour.

New England Aster, next, is usually quite abundant, and one of the most colourful of the aster group.

Here are a few of the creatures I've managed to capture with my camera equipment. I have provided a name for all, and many have been confirmed on iNaturalist, but some are still awaiting a second identification to confirm.

Bicolored Sweat Bee

Black-shouldered Drone Fly

Blue-green Bottle Fly

Bramble Mason Wasp

Brown-winged Striped Sweat Bee

A type of Cluster Fly, species not yet determined

Common Drone Fly

Common Eastern Bumble Bee

Common European Green-bottle Fly

Dark-winged Sweat Bee

Eastern Calligrapher

Eastern Forest Sedgesitter

Sometimes even a single flower can get quite busy!

Golden Sweat Bee

Hornworm Tachinid Fly

Sometimes the names given are longer than the individual, certainly as in this next one.

Long-tailed Aphideater

Margined Calligrapher

Narrow-headed Marsh Fly

North American Tarnished Plant Bug

North American Paper Wasp

Pure Green Sweat Bee

Silky-striped Sweat Bee

Spotted Cucumber Beetle

This next one, a type of Tachinid Fly, looks quite bristly.

Another type of Tachinid Fly

Transverse-banded Flower Fly

Last, but not least, is the same one this post started with: a Tufted Globetail, a species that was fairly common so I got lots of photos.

The shapes, sizes and diversity of these creatures is amazing, and so much fun to try and capture digitally. The season for this is virtually over for this year, but I will be on the lookout for any late season hangers-on.

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Late summer orchids

 This post has been in the works for a few weeks, since there have been a few orchid species typical of the late summer, and several are rather rare. Currently there are 19 species of orchids known from Rondeau, 18 if which are native. I have seen all but one species, so far. Of course one of the highlight orchids is that endangered species, Nodding Pogonia a.k.a. Three-Bird's Orchid, which is currently only known in Canada at Rondeau.

It used to be known from a private woodlot in eastern Essex County, but hasn't been seen there for several decades. Forest changes and activities in the forest have undoubtedly resulted in its demise there, but it is still possible. Access to privately owned properties have become increasingly challenging, since the presence of an endangered species might result in restrictions to what the landowner has planned for their property.

Regardless, this species has been known from Rondeau since about the mid 1960s, and their are several locations in the park. Fortunately for the species, these locations are mostly away from existing trails and roadways, although on rare occasion one or more can pop up within view of a trail. I have been following/surveying this orchid since 1973, when I encountered it during my first year of working on the naturalist staff of Rondeau.

It may begin flowering in very late July and even flower into the middle of September, but its peak flowering time is about the third week in August. What makes this orchid so intriguing is that it is very small, and flowering is very weather dependent. All of the potential buds develop to a certain stage, and then stop. It is only after a significant drop in the overnight temperature, that all of those buds at this stage will open. And then they will only remain open for a day, and it may be a week or so before the next set of buds will open, depending on the temperature triggers.

This is what a developing orchid looks like before flowering. You can see by its size relative to last year's fallen leaves it is emerging through, it is anything but showy.

 Its scientific name, Triphora trianthophoros, as well as the Three-Bird's Orchid name, is based on the fact that usually a plant will produce three buds, and on rare occasions, all three will open on the same day! This next photo shows a single plant, with all three flowers open at once. I don't see this every year, but this photo was taken in 2024.

 

 This photo of the three flowers is located in the extreme upper left of this next photo.

I was quite pleased to come across this concentration of the orchid. Normally they will occur in small groups of three or four, or sometimes just be singles scattered on the forest floor. This was one of the largest concentrations I have seen in recent years. They are so photogenic, I have many dozens of photos from over the years. Certainly a macro lens and flash is required for the best photos.

Sometimes one gets a bit of a surprise along with the photo. This next photo is an example. At first I thought it was just another, typical flower.....

...but when I got a closer look at it on the computer, I noticed something peeking out.

I am not sure exactly what it is, but it is possibly a pollinator. When I was studying this orchid in the 1980s in preparation for writing the official status report, I collected some pollinator insects found on the plants, and it turned out they were mostly of the Halictid group which are types of sweat bees. This individual isn't fully shown, so it is not conclusive, but it has a strong resemblance to members of that group of insects.

A full frontal look at a plant with a single flower, may show the single, small roundish leaf, as in the following photo.

I particularly like the ones that have a tinge of magenta in the flower. Some are almost pure white, but it seems that later flowering ones are more likely to have the magenta tinge. I don't know what causes this, and some years they are almost all white ones.

Moving on to other late summer orchids, I have seen this next one called the Sphinx Ladies'-tresses.

Fairly similar, but flowering a bit later, usually about the middle of September, is this next one, which is called Great Plains Ladies'-tresses. It is a bit larger than the Sphinx and has a slightly yellowish tinge to it, especially when you look down the 'throat' of the flower. It also has a more fragrant scent to it.

The last orchid to flower at Rondeau is this next one, the Autumn Coralroot. And yes, this photo shows it in flower! There are two varieties of this orchid, and one will look like this, with a very small flower that hardly opens and droops downward, but the seed capsule forms anyway. This orchid is fairly rare throughout its range, and although I didn't look intensively for it this year, I only came across this single plant. However being as small as it is, and it isn't exactly showy, it likely occurs in places scattered throughout the pine-oak forest of Rondeau.

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