Ode Ausable Channel

On Thursday my dad and I went for a paddle in our canoe in the Old Ausable Channel, in Pinery Provincial Park. There have been some good odonates seen there lately, and I was hoping to see some of them! The channel is quite beautiful.

Upon arrival to the canoe lauch, it sounded as though it was raining. But it was clear! The sound was a result of the Gypsy Moth caterpillars, which were nosily chewing. They were way too common! Gypsy Moths are an invasive and very destructive species. 

There were a few Hagen's Bluets near the canoe launch, as well as some Northern Sunfish. Northern Sunfish are an uncommon species in Ontario, and were somewhat recently split from Longear Sunfish.

Hagen's Bluet

Northern Sunfish

And we were off! My first lifer dragonfly of the trip was a Cyrano Darner, but I couldn't catch or photograph it! We didn't get too far before having to portage up a flight of stairs and over the road, but after that minor glitch, we were back on the water. 

I spotted a couple Lilypad Clubtails, another lifer. Again, no photos could be taken! Soon, we hit a patch of waterlilies. I saw some Skimming Bluets, which are pretty common. Then I spied a larger damsel, that had the tip of its tail pointed down resting on the lilypad. Could it be? It was! Lilypad Forktail! A few individuals of this rare species had been found a few days prior, so it was on my radar. A new one for me, and one I have been wanting to see for awhile.

They ended up being fairly numerous, and while I never caught one, I did get some nice photos.

Male

Female

I was quite pleased. We continued down the channel. We popped into a little marshy "inlet" to see what was there. I caught a Racket-tailed Emerald.

I didn't pay as close attention to plants as I would probably normally have, but still noted a few things. The channel is full of aquatic plants. This is a somewhat difficult group of plants, but I am quite fond of them! I'll have to go back just to look at those!

Flat-stemmed Pondweed
(Potamogeton zosteriformis)

Whorled Water-Milfoil
(Myriophyllum verticillatum)

A couple of sedges that are very similar in appearance, Bristly Sedge (Carex comosa) and Cypress-like Sedge (Carex pseudocyperus), were also found. They differ in the length of the teeth on the perigynia.

Hardstem Bulrush (Schoenoplectus acutus) was fairly abundant along the channel.

Okay, back to odonates.

We hit a little "pocket" of action. There were several Prince Baskettails, Common Green Darners, and even a couple Slaty Skimmers. As with the rest of the channel, Common Baskettails, Dot-tailed Whitefaces, Blue Dashers, and Eastern Pondhawks were common. Also a Cyrano Darner, with its distinctively arched abdomen.

Cyrano Darner

Prince Baskettail

Slaty Skimmer

 There were a couple birds of interest seen, including a Common Raven and a Sandhill Crane. The crane was likely with a colt (baby crane), but we couldn't confirm.

A bit further down the channel, we noticed several Elegant Spreadwings.

After awhile, we reached where the channel meets the river in Port Franks. Here we had considerable luck with clubtails.

Black-shouldered Spinyleg

Lancet Clubtail 

Lilypad Clubtail

Unicorn Clubtail

A few bluets of interest were also seen. I probably could have turned up some more species if I had netted them, but still ended up with Stream, Hagen's, Skimming, Orange, and Rainbow.

Rainbow Bluet

Skimming Bluet

After five hours or so, we tallied 32 species of odonates, which I think is pretty good! 

On our way home, we stopped at Fossil Road in Hungry Hollow. The river was higher than the week prior, which I think is why there were no dragonflies to be seen! I was a bit disappointed, but oh well. Here are a couple neat plants.

Dichanthelium lindheimeri

Three-sqaure Bulrush (Schoenoplectus pugnens)

Troublesome Sedge (Carex molesta)

Lambton Lepidoptera

Last Sunday my dad and I made a trip to Lambton shores with hopes of coming across a number of early flying butterflies.

After a brief stop into Kettle Point, we went to the Ipperwash Dunes and Swales. Some neat plants, but no butterflies. Also of interest was a singing Hooded Warbler.

Gaywings (Polygala paucifolia)

Starflower (Trientalis borealis)

Hairy Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum pubescens)

Royal Fern (Osmunda regalis)

Red Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)

Partridgeberry (Mitchella repens)

Afterwards, we went to the Karner Blue sanctuary in Port Franks. I heard that this is an excellent spot for duskywings (Erynnis sp.), and it was! I saw four species; Juvenal's, Wild Indigo, Columbine, and Sleepy. Sleepy Duskywing is a very rare species in Ontario.

Sleepy Duskywing

Wild Indigo Duskywing

Columbine Duskywing

Juvenal's Duskywing

I also saw an Eastern Pine Elfin at the sanctuary.

Next up was the Pinery. We went straight out to the beaches, where I quickly found both of my targets, Brown Elfin and Hoary Elfin.

Brown Elfin

Hoary Elfin

I also heard a Prairie Warbler singing at P4, which is just a bit down the beach from where I saw them last year at P9.

There were a couple neat tiger beetles along the beach as well, Big Sand and LeConte's (a subspecies of Festive Tiger Beetle).

Big Sand Tiger Beetle

LeConte's Tiger Beetle

Last stop was Cedar trail. I was hoping for Dusted Skipper, but turns out that the skipper spot was down the trail extension, which I didn't bother to go down! Arrgh, next time.

Eastern Tent Caterpillars 

All in all, a nice outing, and despite my misses of Olympia Marble, Dusted Skipper, and Dreamy Duskywing, I saw five new-to-me species of butterflies!

Pinery Prairies

Long time, no post, I know. I have been very busy as of late. Every moment I am not doing school work, I am spending outside looking at nature!

I hope to get a few posts out regarding spring migration, but in the meantime, I thought I'd write a quick post about my lifer Prairie Warblers I saw in the Pinery last week.

So...here they are! A beautiful adult male and female (I also heard a second male singing). The female appeared to be building a nest, so hopefully soon we can expect some baby Prairies!

After the warblers, we took a little detour and saw my long overdue first of year Vesper Sparrow. What a great little after school outing!

Kettle Point Produces

Today I went on the annual Nature London trip to the Kettle Point area. I didn't go last year, but in 2015 it was very successful...and this year it was no different!

We stopped in at the Forest Sewage Lagoons first. This spot often yields numerous ducks that are hard to get on the lake. We had numerous Green-winged Teal, Ruddy Ducks, American Wigeon, Gadwall, Bufflehead, Mallard, Northern Shoveler, and Long-tailed Duck.

One of the highlights was a White-winged Scoter.

Ruddy Ducks and White-winged Scoter (2nd from R)

Many gulls, mostly Ring-billed and Bonaparte's, were present.

We managed to hear a late Common Gallinule in the reeds along the side of the cell.

Kettle Point was next. We immediately were off to a great start with a few dozen ducks, including Surf Scoter, Black Scoter, Bufflehead, Greater Scaup, Ring-necked Duck, Redhead, and Red-breasted Merganser.

Surf Scoter

There were a few Pied-billed and Horned Grebes as well. At one point, I thought I spotted a Red-necked Grebe way off in the distance, but I couldn't rule out it being a merganser.

At one point, a Great Blue Heron flew in.

Many blackbirds were present, including these Rusties.

There were also a couple Double-crested Cormorants and Mute Swans.

Near the point, at the little park with the gazebo, we managed to find a nice group of Common Mergansers some Bonaparte's Gulls.

There was also a single Long-tailed Duck.

We drove along the beach, which resulted in a few additions to the day list, including the first Turkey Vultures I've seen in a few days. We couldn't find anything within the dozens of Canada Geese, but the Bonaparte's Gulls kept us happy.

Moving toward the Pinery, we finally found a couple Bald Eagles. They didn't care to be photographed, so my only picture is quite bad!

The feeders at the Pinery VC were quite active. Tufted Titmice (Titmouses?) were quite regular, which was nice to see. American Goldfinches, Dark-eyed Juncos, Black-capped Chickadees, and White-breasted Nuthatches were present as well.

The lighting was very bad, and the camera didn't want to cooperate!

Tufted Titmouse

American Goldfinch

We walked Riverside Trail, where we found a number of Cedar Waxwings, robins, nuthatches, and a Tufted Titmouse.

The highlight of the trip was found soon after...a pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers!

Although Red-headed Woodpeckers are expected, they are definitely are very uncommon. The pair seen here are my first for Lambton county.

After Riverside, we drove out of the park, but not before checking out the beaches. Nothing much except a large-ish raft of Greater Scaup.

The real excitement was on the opposite side of the road, on the forest side. After a little bit of scanning, we were able to find dozens of Cedar Waxwings, American Robins, and even a pair of Purple Finches!

After this, we decided to call it a day and head back home.

Huge thanks to Paul for driving me around (and sharing your lunch!) Sorry we couldn't find you a Cackling Goose (or Pine Siskins!)