Homeward Bound

I don't really have a snazzy title for this post...

This past weekend I was down in Kingsville for a bioblitz (perhaps more on that later). On Sunday, after waking up from some much needed rest after mothing until the wee hours of the morning, I began my drive back home to London. Since the weather was quite nice, I decided to make a few stops along the way. 

My first destination was near Tilbury. I knew that were were some rare sedges found here, and I wanted to see if I could find them. I needed my sedge fix! I was sort of disappointed by the lack of sedge diversity on the bioblitz. 

Almost immediately, I found a nice little "honey hole" by a pond. One of the species that first caught my eye was Muskingum Sedge (Carex muskingumensis). This is a somewhat rare sedge in Ontario, ranked S3, although it is listed as common in Essex County. It is a member of Carex section Ovales, which can be a pain to identify. Thankfully, this one is quite distinctive, as its spikes are elongated. 

Another species I was extremely pleased to see was Ravenfoot Sedge (Carex crus-corvi). In Ontario, it is only found in Essex and Lambton counties, and it ranked S1, the rarest of the rare. This is a species I have long wanted to see in the flesh. It is a member of Carex section Vulpinae, and is told from the others by its crazy long-beaked perigynia. There are four species from this section in Ontario, all of which I have now seen! 

There were a few other more common species of sedges growing in the same area as well.

Swan's Sedge (Carex swanii) is typically fairly rare,
but common in the area!

Hop Sedge (Carex lupulina)

Greater Straw Sedge (Carex normalis)

Necklace Sedge (Carex projecta)

Blunt Broom Sedge (Carex tribuloides)

Another species of sedge restricted to the Carolinian zone is Shoreline Sedge (Carex hyalinolepis). This is another species that is actually common in Essex County, despite its rarity everywhere else. Although I didn't stop to look for myself, my understanding is that is grows in the roadside ditches with frequency! It is similar to Lake Sedge (Carex lacustris), which is quite common. Both of these species of sedges are host plants for the Dukes' Skipper, although it seems most of Ontario's Dukes' Skippers (that I know of) are found where there is Shoreline Sedge present. 

This is Bracted Sedge (Carex radiata). It is quite similar to Rosy Sedge (Carex rosea), but has thinner leaves, and the stigmas are coiled differently when present. There is a rare similar species known from Essex, Reflexed Sedge (Carex retroflexa), but the beak of its perigynia isn't toothed, as you can see is the case here. I am not sure the last time Reflexed Sedge has been seen in Ontario, but I am hoping to one day come across it for myself! 

One last interesting sedge I found was this one. It gave me a bit of trouble, but I eventually settled on Bronze Sedge (Carex foenea), although that still remains a bit tentative. Bronze Sedge is a bit of a weird one in that it is a native species further north in Ontario, but is introduced in the Carolinian zone. This would be a new record for Essex County if my identification is correct. 

I spotted a Racket-tailed Emerald at one point, which certainly seemed odd for this far south in the province. I am not sure of their status in Essex County.

After I was done there, I went up to Reid CA north of Wallaceburg. Here I was in search of Oak Hairstreak butterflies, a rare species in Ontario. I knew it was getting to the end of their flight period, but thought I would give it a try.

There were tons of hairstreaks. Most were Banded, but a couple Striped were mixed in. I would estimate there to have been easily over 100 in total.

Finally I managed to find a couple Oak Hairstreaks, looking a bit worse for wear.

I walked around a bit more. I spotted a few interesting species of dragonflies.

Four-spotted Skimmer

Royal River Cruiser

Racket-tailed Emerald

I also saw a Slaty Skimmer and a Spot-winged Glider near the entrance, but I didn't get any photos. As I was walking back, I had a dragonfly go over I am fairly sure was a Somatochlora emerald, likely Mocha, but I lost it. I still need Mocha Emerald, so file this under "disappointing misses". 

Since I was in the area I popped up to McKeough CA and looked for Pronghorn Clubtails. I found one right away. 

Still too early for Flag-tailed Spinyleg I imagine! 

On my way north, I made a quick stop into Moore WMA to check on a population of Davis' Sedge (Carex davisii), another rare (S2) sedge in Ontario. This species seems to be mature and finish up quickly! 

One last stop before going home was to check on some Dickcissels. I went to the field at the corner of Winter Drive and Sexton Drive, and found a couple of singing males, as well as a third bird that I was unable to sex. They were singing from a wheat field, so who knows how long they'll last.

Great way to cap off the weekend!

Sedge Surprise

Yesterday afternoon I decided to go for a quick walk at the Kelly Stanton Environmental Significant Area in London. The plan was to look for plants, something that I am finding I quite enjoy!

I found a couple of my "target" species pretty quickly.

Nodding Bulrush (Scirpus pendulus)

Robin's-plantain (Erigeron pulchellus)

As well as a couple butterflies.

Common Ringlet

Little Wood Saytr

At one point, I felt as though I was going the wrong way, so I decided to try and double back and reorientate myself. I found a trail which I thought may have been the right one, and began to make my way on it, through a nice meadow. As I was walking, all of a sudden I heard a song which was familiar, but I couldn't place it. It sung again, and I knew it would be something good. It sung again, and it clicked...could it be? Yes it was!

It my surprise, I came across two singing Sedge Wrens! Its a species that I've been on the lookout for in the county for awhile, but today was not the day I was expecting to come across one (or two!). Both were quite vocal, and the habitat is suitable (and in no danger of being cut...I hope), so it seems likely that they will stick around for at least a little bit, and perhaps breed if a female shows up, or perhaps there is already a female hiding somewhere in the long grass.

As I was looking for plants, I had an inadequate lens, but at least you can tell what it is. It was singing at my feet at one point, but the grass is so dense, no pics of that one!

As it turned out, the way I had gone originally was in fact the correct way. Good thing I had gotten "lost"!

After that excitement, I went on to see what else I could find.  I believe this is Lake Sedge (Carex lacustris).

Other than the wren, my favourite find was these Yellow Lady's Slippers (Cypripedium parviflorum)

I found a dead Wild Turkey, and on it were several carrion beetles, such as these American Carrion Beetles.

All in all, I'd say it was a very nice outing, especially with that completed unexpected surprise find!

Let this be your reminder to check yourself after walking through long grass...

2018: A Year in Review

It has been quite the year.

Highlights were very numerous this year, I barely know where to start! I guess I'll go through a few in chronological order...

There was some great birding on the Thames River this January. Lots of interesting ducks, including this American Wigeon.

Later in the month I went to Hamilton, where I saw some great ducks like King Eider, Tufted Duck, and this female Harlequin Duck.

Blackbirds came back in mid-February, which is always a highlight. Spring was coming!

A bit later in the month, and we went down to Chatham-Kent in search of some migrants. This Snowy Owl posed perfectly.

I saw my first ever blue morph of the Snow Goose at Aylmer in March.

A highlight for many was a Barnacle Goose during March Break.

In late March I joined some fellow young birders and we spent a weekend birding in Algonquin Park. Tons of finches, and an American Marten was a welcome treat.

White-winged Crossbill

This American Bittern was a cool find in my local patch. I had been just thinking about the possibility of finding a bittern in the marsh, and when I turned the corner, there it was standing in the pathway!

WOOHOO!!!! After many attempts spanning four years, I finally caught up with the White-winged Dove in Rondeau!

A Prothonotary Warbler in London was a great bird for the county, and was strangely my only Prothonotary Warbler this year!

 Highlights from my big day on May 5th, where I spent the day birding in London, Rondeau, and Point Pelee (it was a long day!) I saw four birds I had never seen prior!

Summer Tanager

Long-billed Dowitcher

Louisiana Waterthrush 

Kentucky Warbler

Another fun find in my neighborhood was a White-eyed Vireo. Quite unexpected, and I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw it!

I did another big day in Point Pelee with some friends of mine a week later.

Chestnut-sided Warbler

I headed up to the Bruce Peninsula in late May with Nature London. I am now realizing I never actually got around to doing a blog post on that weekend, I was just too busy with school!

Sora

Soon, June rolled around, which is when I started to seriously use iNaturalist. iNat has made me a way better all around naturalist than I was before. The reason for me taking up iNat (again) was for a little competition with some friends to see who could tally the most non-bird species in Ontario. I was expecting to maybe hit 500 between the ~10 of us. Amazingly, in virtually only half a year, we managed to hit over 2200 species! We had so much fun, we are going to be doing it again in the coming year (this time with birds). Looking forward to scrutinizing some more moss and lichens...

You can view the 2018 project here, and the 2019 project here.

I saw some cool butterflies during June and early July.

Hackberry Emperor

Bog Copper

Common Sootywing

 A trip down to Windsor in July proved successful for Dukes' Skipper.

Probably one of my biggest undertakings as a naturalist this year was mothing. Very daunting at first, but the struggle is totally worth it. I did the majority of it in my yard, and ended up with around 260 species in my yard over the summer! You can view the list here...I was a bit of a newbie so likely some misidentifications!

Twin-spotted Sphinx

For the first time ever, I planned a trip specifically for odes in early August, and was rewarded with some goodies, probably my favourite being Comet Darner.

Dusky Dancer

Zebra Clubtail

 This Little Blue Heron showed up not to far from home, so I went and saw it.

My wildest adventure of the year took up the bulk of August, when I went with the James Bay Shorebird Project to survey shorebirds on the James Bay coast. Honestly a life changing experience.

American Toad

LeConte's Sparrow

White-rumped Sandpiper

A Swallow-tailed Kite in Ontario, how can that NOT be a highlight? And to think, the previous morning I had been watching LeConte's Sparrows on their breeding grounds...

My first of three Ontario first records I saw (not found ☹️) this year was the Reddish Egret in Oliphant on the Bruce Peninsula in early September. Also seen on this trip were numerous darners, including a Green-striped Darner.

A two-for-one kinda day. The day after the Reddish Egret, we went down to see the Purple Gallinule in Kingsville, stopping into Keith McLean's near Rondeau for the Snowy Egret.

Snowy Egret

Purple Gallinule

This Yellow-crowned Night-Heron in Haldimand county came a day after the gallinule, a very busy weekend!

For me, the best bird of the year was the Great Kiskadee in Rondeau, a first record for Ontario and Canada. My 300th Ontario bird! I hitched a ride with some friends on the day it was found, and we arrived after dark. We camped that night in the park, and got to the stakeout before sunrise the next day. After a long hour, it came out from its roost. The bird entertained hundreds, maybe even thousands, of birders over the next few months. I wasn't entirely sure if I was in Texas or Ontario for about a week there in September, as within a seven day span I had seen Reddish Egret, Snowy Egret, Purple Gallinule, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, and Great Kiskadee!

 In mid-November, I caught up with the Western Grebe in Bright's Grove near Sarnia.

A couple days later, I saw a Common Eider in Toronto and a Black-throated Grey Warbler in Burlington.

Common Eider

Black-throated Grey Warbler

Yet another Ontario first was the famous Calliope Hummingbird in Goderich. I had to wait a very long five days before I could go see it. Miraculously, it appears the bird fueled up and migrated!

And there you go, a small selection of the many, many highlights and stories from the year.

Thanks to all who made my adventures this year possible, especially my family, who despite not always wanting to, was there to drive me around. They also let me go off on my own (with others of course) to a very remote part of Ontario for a couple weeks, so that was pretty cool too :)

All the best in the new year. 2019 is going to be a great year!!!