Thursday 30 June 2016

Feeding on Roadkill can be hazardous to one's health!

Eastern Chipmunks are quite plentiful in many natural areas. This one is up in a small tree, gathering some freshly developing leaves for sustenance.

But you often see them at the side of the road, trying to decide if it is worth tempting fate by running across in front of the car. Many are successful, but it seem like far too many end up like this.
This chipmunk isn't looking so chipper any more.

It is not uncommon to see half a dozen or more types of flattened fauna on the roads in some of our busier parks on an average day. Chipmunks, frogs, toads, snakes, birds, etc are all victims of the damage that vehicles, even bicycles, can do. Of course dead animals tend to attract scavengers, whether it is a Turkey Vulture or something as small as flies. We are fortunate that there are lots of scavengers, or the roads would be awash in dead things!

I watched the action around this dead chipmunk not too long ago. There were dozens of flies on it, and seemed to be a member of the Blow Fly group. They weren't eating the remains as vultures would be doing, but laying eggs in the flesh. In just a matter of hours, those eggs would hatch and the larvae, a.k.a. maggots, would begin their work of devouring the flesh. The larvae would go through several growth cycles, and in just a few days, emerge as adults and continue their life cycle.

But wait.....all those dark spots aren't living flies waiting to lay eggs. Upon another look, most of those black spots on the pavement were dead flies!
As I watched this life and death drama unfold, I saw a truck coming, along...not too fast, mind you but fast enough. Some of the flies escaped, but others, perhaps too busy laying eggs, were slower, and were struck by the truck, and now their carcasses were lying scattered about the initial dead chipmunk. Undoubtedly any developing larvae in this carcass would be killed as well...hence the title of this post.

This is a time of year when there will be many types of young wildlife starting to venture out in their world. Turtles that have been busy laying eggs, will soon have those eggs hatch if the raccoons don't get them first, and as they venture from their hatching site to the wetland areas, may be crossing roads. Snakes may be basking on the warm pavement.....snakes that lay eggs will have completed egg-laying by now or in short order.  Other species of snakes that give birth to live young, will need to bask a lot more to allow the young to develop inside them before giving birth, so they will seek out good basking sites. Young birds are leaving the nests, and may be on the roads at least temporarily until they become adept in flight.

So please, as you head out on the summer vacation, be mindful of the smaller members of wildlife that are just getting started in life. Watch the roads so that our native wildlife doesn't end up like this!





Have a great summer, and Happy Canada Day!







Sunday 26 June 2016

Summer wetlands

World Wetlands Day is in early February but in this part of the world, wetlands are entrenched in their winter solitude at that time. This post will highlight some of wetland values at the current, more active time of year.

Wetlands are hugely important to a healthy landscape. For example they help contain runoff from rainfall so there is less soil erosion and degradation of our lakes, rivers and streams. They recharge the ground water table which keeps water wells supplied and forests healthy. Unfortunately their benefits have been ignored by many, so the majority of them have been drained for various kinds of development. Based on soils and early surveys, it is estimated that at the time of settlement more than 66% of what is now Chatham-Kent was one type of wetland or another (marsh or swamp). By 1982 less than 4% of the municipality was in wetland. That has since dwindled further, as currently only about 4% of the entire municipality is in any kind of natural cover.


Wetlands are a fun place to explore, but the best time is in the early morning or evening, unless you like the heat! There is an abundance of plant and animal life out there, although some of it takes more than a bit of effort to find.

June is prime egg-laying month for many turtles.
Midland Painted Turtle
Sometimes you see them up laying, but more often than not, the first hint of turtle egg-laying activity is this, where the buried eggs have been dug out of the hole and only fragments of egg shells remain.
The culprit? Raccoons are probably the most likely one, although skunks, foxes and opossums will take advantage of these fresh eggs as well. I remember on one occasion watching a snapping turtle laying eggs, and a raccoon was sitting right behind it, pulling each egg out of the nest hole as it was laid. It doesn't get any fresher than that!
Turtles are long-lived, so in order to keep turtle populations healthy, they only need to have a small number of eggs successfully hatch and the young reaching maturity to eventually replace the adults in the population. So even though the majority of turtle eggs are eaten, it may not do any significant damage to the overall turtle population.

The openness of the wetland landscape is great for seeing a multitude of birds. Waterbirds, including herons, egrets and terns are frequently seen.
Black-crowned Night-Heron

Green Heron

Forster's Tern
Unfortunately there is an expanding population of Mute Swans in our wetlands. While they are attractive birds in their own way, this non-native species is very aggressive and chases out our native waterfowl.

Mute Swan and cygnets

Much smaller things with wings are common, especially dragonflies. The Calico Pennant is one of the more striking dragonflies, in my opinion.
Calico Pennant
 Blue Dashers are much more abundant.
Blue Dasher male
Blue Dasher female
Twelve-spotted Skimmer

The Black Horsefly is a huge fly, with the body length up to 28mm. Fortunately it seldom bites humans, but it can be a nuisance to livestock.
This Black Horsefly was low down on a dead stalk of Phragmites, just a bit above the water. It might have ended up as a snack for a Bullfrog, which is by far the largest frog in Ontario. Bullfrogs are easily identified by their resonant 'jug-o-rum' call that you can hear from quite a distance. When you get to see one, you can tell it from the somewhat similar, but smaller, Green Frog, since the Bullfrog does not have ridges that go from behind the eye down the back almost to the hind legs. Bullfrogs are quite the vicious predator, in the sense that they will eat fish, other frogs, small snakes and even small birds.
Bullfrog

Plants are numerous in a healthy wetland, with a constantly changing array in flower. Right now, things like Fragrant Water Lilies (Nymphaea odorata) dot the surface of wetlands, poking up through the covering of lily pads.



Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata) is not a weed at all, but an attractive flower which pollinators such as bees like.


Arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia) is a common plant in shallower water.


A less obvious wetland plant is Giant Bur-reed (Sparganium eurycarpum).
Giant Bur-reed, male flowers

Giant Bur-reed, female flowers

Tufted Loosestrife (Lysimachia thrysifolia) is found along wetland edges.

There are many, many more things to get your attention.....I encourage you to get out and enjoy a wetland!










Thursday 23 June 2016

Bobolinks on the prairie and lifer lep

Earlier this month, I posted that National Prairie Day, at least in the USA, was on June 4. I did get to Ojibway Prairie in Windsor a couple of weeks ago, but today I got to a prairie that I had never been to before. It is a planted prairie, as a few years ago a former colleague of mine, Rob, had planted 20+ acres of the family farm in northeastern Chatham-Kent into a prairie mix. It is maturing nicely. Today it was mostly grasses that were visible, as the wildflowers are not yet that far along, but I'm told that in another month or so it will be quite impressive, and the butterflies love it. I plan to get there again.

Rob had invited me to see the site before, when we were still working out of the same office, but for some reason I just never got around to it. That was my loss. I'm glad I didn't put it off any longer!

One of the target species today was Bobolink. A small group of them has been using this prairie site for several years now. I saw at least 8 birds, including a group of 5 males and 1 female. I saw other males a little farther off, and presumably those males had mates on a nest, so it is quite possible that there are 12-20 birds using this patch of prairie.
None of them came very close, so these images are heavily cropped, and unfortunately the bland sky wasn't what I was hoping for.....guess I will have to go back again!


While I was watching and waiting for the Bobolinks to come around, I was entertained by a few other birds, including many Song Sparrows.

A Willow Flycatcher was seen occasionally in the brushy shrubs nearby.
A Field Sparrow was in residence as well and responded quickly to my pishing. I had the camera set on a high speed frame rate, and these next two were taken less than a second apart.


Common Yellowthroats were nearby, and one male came close enough to get its picture taken.

One of the less expected bird species was this next one....an Orchard Oriole. I had heard, then briefly seen, a second year male, and a possible female off in the distance. But then this mature male came by and started poking around in the grasses. Most of the shots had grasses messing up the auto focus, but this one turned out okay.



After a few hours on this prairie, I decided to call it a day, as the mid-day is not the greatest for bird action, even though it was not a hot day. The breeze was picking up as well, making it difficult to keep the birds in focus with grasses frequently interfering. But I do intend to go back, to capture more Bobolink images while they are still in their prime breeding finery.

While I was in the northern part of the municipality I decided to check on some butterflies. I read on one of Blake's recent posts that a Southern (Northern) Hairstreak had made an appearance at the Reid Conservation Area in southern Lambton, a population that Blake discovered several years ago. In order to minimize confusion on the name of this hairstreak, since there is a southern subspecies and a northern one, apparently some authorities are using the name Oak Hairstreak for this one. I tried looking for it a couple of times last year, without success, so I thought it was worth a try today.

The dogbane there was coming on nicely, and there were lots of butterflies....mostly Northern Crescents and Silver-spotted Skippers. In just a short time I noted a hairstreak and immediately zeroed in on it. It wasn't an Oak Hairstreak but a Banded Hairstreak. It was in great shape, and cooperated nicely for the camera.
But I couldn't find an Oak Hairstreak. I was beginning to think that it was more myth than reality. So I continued down the trail. At one point I noted something bounding towards me fairly directly. It was a Red Fox. I immediately froze, hoping that I wouldn't startle it. It acted like it wasn't used to two-legged critters in its territory, and actually came much closer than I would have expected, perhaps due to its innate curiosity. Since I just had my 100mm macro lens on the camera, these images are not all that large, even with cropping. But certainly a lot better than no camera at all.
After a few seconds, its cautionary nature took over and it retreated, not without stopping from time to time to check on me.

I eventually returned to the big patch of dogbane, and this time I saw a different hairstreak. And there it was, the not-so-mythical Oak Hairstreak!
I got this one photo before it decided to try another flower head. And I only saw it on one more occasion, but was not able to photograph it again that time. By now the clouds were getting heavier, and the wind was picking up more, so presumably this fellow decided to take refuge somewhere else. But not to worry....I will be back again!












Sunday 19 June 2016

Butterflies, butterflies.....

Butterflies are becoming quite abundant, which is a good thing since butterfly counts are not far off. Recent hikes to woodlands as well as more open areas, especially on the steady stream of warm, sunny days, has resulted in a good variety. Not all are willing to stop and pose for the camera....some are flitting past very quickly. But a few of the ones I have encountered in southern Chatham-Kent are as follows:

Spicebush Swallowtails have been out for a few weeks.
Spicebush Swallowtail

A superficially similar looking one, of which I saw my first of season individuals just recently, is the Red-spotted Purple.  It lacks the tails and has a different array of coloured markings.
Red-spotted Purple
Red-spotted Purple

Swallowtails are some of the most recognizable butterflies. The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is fairly numerous right now.
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

The even larger, but darker, Giant Swallowtail is not nearly as abundant, but a few are out in many southwestern Ontario locales. They are particularly dependent on Common Hop-tree, which is greatly restricted to a few spots in southwestern Ontario (e.g. Pelee Island, Point Pelee, Rondeau), and Prickly Ash, which is a lot more widespread.
Giant Swallowtail

I've only seen a few Monarchs so far, but more than I did last year to this date.
Monarch


Northern Crescents are probably the most abundant butterfly I've seen in the last few days. A good walk along open trails may turn up dozens.
Northern Crescent

Little Wood-Satyr is a smallish butterfly, seldom seen perched, but bouncing around in the shrubby edges of the woods.
Little Wood-Satyr

Summer Azures are small, but fairly commonly seen. A recently published paper by Schmidt and Layberry was sent to me. It has given some clarity to the Celastrina genus in Canada, although I haven't spent a lot of time digesting all the details yet. Check it out at this link.
Summer Azure

Skippers are becoming more abundant, including this Hobomok Skipper. They may be more abundant, but don't often allow for the kind of photo one wants as they are very active.
Hobomok Skipper

Yesterday, I saw my first of the season Common Buckeye. It is a southern species that does not overwinter in Ontario, but arrives from south of the border and will breed, using Plantain, Agalinis, etc. The south and westerly winds of late have likely pushed them here.
Common Buckeye
Common Buckeye
With numerous milkweeds, dogbanes, and other preferred species just beginning to flower, the butterflies will be relishing the floral banquet available to them! And they will be great spots for the butterfly photographer to check out.