Strathroy Lagoons!

Black-necked Stilts have been expanding their nesting range and have actually nested at the Strathroy lagoons in recent years. Typically they are considered a west coast species, but populations exist along the eastern Seaboard. They spend much of the day wading in shallow waters to capture aquatic invertebrates, small crustaceans, amphibians, snails and tiny fish. They swing the bill side to side in the water to skim invertebrates from the surface. To capture small fish, they sometimes chase them into the shallows where the fish become trapped.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-necked_Stilt/lifehistory

Mama Wood Duck has her "hands full", escorting 28 fluffy ducklings across the water. Wood Ducks will sometimes lay their eggs in the nests of other Wood Ducks.

There were 4 families of Wood Ducks in total. This Mom had a more manageable number of ducklings.

The alarm was sounded as we turned the corner on the trail. Mama Wood Duck ushered her family further away from land.

A pair of noisy Killdeer...we didn't see a performance of their "broken wing trick" so we must not have been too close to the young or nest.

Back to Canatara:

Common Yellowthroat - a cute looking bandit!

Noisy Cooper's Hawk

Cooper's Hawk smorgasbord! - Look closely at the branch, if you dare!

It might look cute, but this Gosling is going to be a menace as an adult! When I was standing at the edge of the pond, the small family swam through the channel, climbed out of the water and the youngster made a bee line towards me, hissing all the way!! I had witnessed its temperament and thought I could hold my ground. When it bit the back of my shoe I quickly departed!

Red-headed Woodpecker eating sumac berries. Always exciting to see this species in Canatara! They nested in the park 2 years in a row, a few years back.

As I walked past a grove of trees, an American Robin made an exceptional amount of noise, considering it had it's mouth fall. I assumed that there were young  nearby and Dad was warning the kids about my presence.

However, after passing by and looking back, I saw the subject of the distress. The young Red-tailed Hawk flew down from a tree branch to ground level. Blue Jays began harassing it and it soon flew away.

Flies in airplane formation!

Although Raccoons are considered to be mostly nocturnal, in the spring time with hungry babies to feed, adult raccoons are often found hunting during daylight hours.

Smart Spider! Something caught my attention on this group of flowers. When I zoomed in with my binoculars, I noticed the spider, so well hidden, in the creases of the flower petals!

 Ojibway Prairie Reserve, Windsor:

We traveled to Windsor on May 25th. The weather was great and we luckily had time to visit the Ojibway Prairie Reserve. We walked the trails along the nature centre and the old rail trail.

A small Boardwalk provided nice viewing of the aquatic life below.

One of 2 Common Snapping Turtles swimming through the pond.

The much larger Snapping Turtle!

Midland Painted Turtle

Blue Gill prefer warmer lakes and ponds with slow-moving water and some weed growth.

https://www.ontario.ca/page/bluegill

Common Green Darner pair laying eggs: The female uses a scythe-like ovipositor to inject her elongated eggs into plant stems. (We could actually see the tip of her abdomen penetrating the underwater stem.) Eggs are also injected into leaves, rotten wood or debris that is at or near the surface of the water. Occasionally the eggs are injected directly into the stream or pond sediment.

https://dragonflywebsite.com/dragonfly-life-cycle.cfm

Eastern Forktail, resting on a lily pad. This is the first of many Forktails that will be seen this summer.

Tadpoles in the pond - likely American Toad Tadpoles.

Shapes in Nature! - curled underside of aquatic vegetation forming an almost perfect equilateral triangle!

Silvery Checkerspot caterpillar

A tattered female Eastern-tailed Blue

It's still early in the season for flowering plants. This Fleabane (sp) was covered in hungry insects.

First Hobomok Skipper of the year! Many Hobomoks were flying, but most of them speedily zoomed past us.

Rattlesnakes have been reintroduced at the Ojibway Prairie.

We chatted with a couple who had been doing a butterfly survey. The discussion turned to snakes and we were given a view of the scar that the male received after being bitten by a Massausaga Rattlesnake that he had picked up when he was a kid. He mistakenly thought it was a Fox Snake which are not venomous.

We didn't encounter any Rattlesnakes but did find a couple of other species. Common Garter Snake above.

Eastern Milk Snake

 A Nesting Wood Thrush, Herons, Butterflies and Warblers!

It was an unexpected surprise to find a Wood Thrush sitting on a nest! These secretive birds are heard more often than seen. They have a beautiful flute-like song that rings through deciduous forests in the spring and summer. The easiest place to see them is on the forest floor when they dig through leaf litter for insects.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wood_Thrush/overview

A Great Blue Heron was recently spotted wearing his handsome breeding plumage! (Notice the extra feathers!)  The herons are back at Canatara and hunting in the lake!

Green Herons have also made an appearance! He walked along the edge of the island, often disappearing into the foliage before becoming visible further down the shore.

Although not normally associated closely with water, a White-crowned Sparrow posed nicely at the edge of a pond!

On the warmer days, we've had some success in finding butterflies including this Brown Elfin. These fragile insects must be hoping that the warmer weather is here to stay!!

First Clouded Sulphur of the year!

Eastern Carpenter Bee, hovering so I could take its photo!

Olympia Marble

Northern Yellow Warbler hunting for food in the trees.

American Redstart

Cape May Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Savanah Sparrow sitting in a tree near a pond in Canatara. This was an unexpected location for this bird that typically is found in fields and meadows.

Juvenile Red-winged Blackbird with a fuzzy head and short tail, hiding in the cattails just 2 feet from its nest!