Ausable Gorge and Ipperwash Trails!

A Vernal pool, home to Salamanders, ducks and many other species! Vernal pools are wetlands and like all wetlands, they provide critical habitat for many species including frogs, salamanders, and invertebrates. Because they dry out in the summer, vernal pools don't support fish which might otherwise eat the eggs or young of these species. Vernal pools are like "predator-reduced" nurseries.

https://ontarionature.org/top-4-reasons-why-vernal-pools-merit-our-attention-on-world-wetlands-day-blog/

Skunk Cabbage grows in wet areas such as marshy woods, wetlands, stream banks, bogs and vernal pools. The flowers have an unpleasant odour that is sometimes described as smelling like skunk, garlic, cabbage or mustard. The flowers are pollinated primarily by flies, gnats, and beetles, which are attracted to the smell.

https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/good-growing/2026-02-06-skunk-cabbage-springs-earliest-and-hottest-native-plant

Hepatica Flowers can not be properly identified to species until the leaves grow. The flowers always bloom ahead of the leaves. Hepatica can be an important early food source for many pollinators, including butterflies, bees, flies and beetles that visit the flowers during the month-long bloom period. (April to May)

https://www.fernsfeathers.ca/main-blog/how-to-grow-and-care-for-native-hepatica-in-your-woodland-garden

These Sharp-lobed Hepatica leaves grew last year and stayed protected over winter under the snow.

A highlight of our adventure was finding Salamanders, including this Spotted Salamander

Mole Salamanders refer to a group of nocturnal salamanders that spend the day in leaf litter or in burrows on the forest floor. They can range in length from 4-12 inches, have flattened tails, small eyes, stout bodies, smooth skin and short, rounded heads. Some species have bright spots. They eat insects and invertebrates.

In the early spring, some species of mole salamanders migrate in large groups to ponds or streams to breed. They lay their eggs in clumps on submerged material in the water. Young mole salamanders live in the water and have external gills. Most species eventually lose their gills and move onto land, but some species spend their entire life in the water.

https://nhpbs.org/wild/Ambystomatidae.asp

Blue-spotted Salamander

Eastern Red-backed Salamander

Snuggle Buddies - 2 salamanders in the photo!

Salamander eggs

Trees in a vernal pool.

Black-legged Tick, first of the year. Although they are not pleasant to find, regular tick checks on clothes greatly reduces the chances of being bitten. It was crawling across my sleeve. Tucking pants into socks and wearing light coloured clothes (so they are easier to see) are good rules to follow to stay "tick safe".

Although we saw few insects, some beetle larva are bark borers and make their own "highway systems" as they chew through the wood. The chew patterns can help to determine the species of beetle!

Dunes and Swales, North Lambton

The Infant! That is the actual name given to this uncommon adult moth. (It seems an odd choice of names, considering an "infant" typically refers to a youngster, which in this case would be a caterpillar.) Thanks to a friend for corralling it so we could see it upon our arrival. We found 2 more, but they did not land. They have a beautiful red underwing.

My first Eastern Comma of the year! I'm glad it stayed still for a photo!

 Local Birds of the week!

When all the ducks take to the air, there's either an Eagle or Freighter in the area. Hundreds of Red-breasted Mergansers flew over Lake Huron when a freighter emerged from the St. Clair River.

A Red-tailed Hawk with lunch, possibly a European Starling.

Sleepy Mourning Dove: Mourning Doves eat roughly 12-20 percent of their body weight each day, averaging 71 calories daily. This one likely just had a good feed.

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

A winter source of food for American Robins is Staghorn Sumac berries. Although Robins are considered harbingers of spring, many American Robins spend the whole winter in their breeding range. Because they spend more time roosting in trees in the winter and less time in the yard, they are much less likely seen. The number of robins present in the northern parts of the range varies each year with the local weather conditions.

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

The Robin spit out this berry. (It is visible on the left side of the photo.) I watched another Robin have a "tug of war" with a worm, but somehow the worm got away. Perhaps, spring loaded back into the ground?

Golden-crowned Kinglets have returned. On some of the cooler days, they hop and fly very quickly from branch to branch in their quest for food. It can be hard to keep the camera moving fast enough to capture their movements!!

The report of a Common Loon at the Sarnia Bay inspired me to go for another walk in the afternoon. The Loon stayed fairly central in the Bay so I didn't get a great photo. It was my first view of the species in 2026.

A walk around the nearby wetland found many noisy Common Grackles.

The sign has been broken but the City has again marked off an area for Killdeer to nest at the Point Lands. Thanks to an astute citizen a few years ago, lawn mowing is restricted in the area until after the young Killdeer babies have hatched. Killdeer young are precocial, meaning newly hatched birds are able to run and feed on their own shortly after hatching, usually within 24 hours.

Ring-billed Gulls taking a break at Sarnia Bay.

Lying down in the middle of the photo is a Blue-phase Snow Goose. It was difficult to locate amongst the 400+ Canada Geese, but the smaller size helped to narrow down the search area. It was found in the middle of the horse track at Hiawatha.

While driving away, I skirted around a Killdeer who had adopted the Hiawatha parking lot for the day.

....and a side trip to Easter Island!

 Shouting from the Roof Top!

Monday's continual mini blizzards were interrupted by 20 minutes of sunshine and the Canada Geese wanted to shout the news to everyone!

I love the camouflage on this little Brown Creeper. It disappears into the tree bark in the top photo, but is more visible in the lower one. The naturalist W.M. Tyler, writing in 1948, captured this species' energy and fragility in a memorable description, "The Brown Creeper, as he hitches along the bole of a tree, looks like a fragment of detached bark that is defying the law of gravitation by moving upward over the trunk, and as he flies off to another tree, he resembles a little dry leaf blown about by the wind."

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

 

Red-winged Blackbird marching on a mission!

A Visit to Strathroy C.A.

I enjoyed a recent walk through the Strathroy Conservation Area. Many birds were heard, few were seen, but there were a few surprises! The Sydenham River is the only major watershed in Canada that lies entirely within the Carolinian Life Zone and is home to many plants and animals that are found nowhere else in Canada.

An unexpected find in the Sydenham River was a Horned Grebe. It was moulting into breeding plumage. Horned Grebes regularly eat some of their own feathers, enough that the stomach usually contains a matted plug of feathers. This plug may function as a filter or may hold fish bones in the stomach until they can be digested.

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

Passersby asked me if the Horned Grebe was a baby Canada Goose. From a distance with no binoculars, I could see how a non-birder might come to that conclusion. I showed them a "close up" picture on my camera to point out the differences.

American Red Squirrels are among the most aggressive of North America's tree squirrels. They are territorial, vocal, and fiercely protective of food caches. Despite weighing less than a pound, they will actively chase away larger gray squirrels and defend a personal range of 2-5 acres.

https://www.wild-bird-watching.com/Red-Squirrels.html

A picnic table for the squirrels, 20 feet up a tree!

Many Song Sparrows were singing, but few were seen.

An extensive trail system is dotted with boardwalks for easier walking in wetter seasons.

https://www.scrca.on.ca/portfolio/strathroy-conservation-area/

Owls, Songbirds and a Flying Monkey!

We missed them in the fall, but found a Northern Saw-whet Owl during it's spring migration heading north. They are slightly heavier (but more compact) than a Hairy Woodpecker and smaller than an Eastern Screech-Owl.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Saw-whet_Owl/lifehistory

As I approached a known Eastern Screech Owl roosting area in Canatara, I heard a raucous of scolding birds. Blue Jays, Nuthatches and Chickadees were swooping at the tree so I didn't expect to see the owl. I did however find several birds peeking into the cavity. The Black-capped Chickadees appeared to be the bravest!

Long-eared Owls hunt on the wing, coursing back and forth, just above open ground. They will sometimes hover over prey or hunt from perches if winds are strong.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Long-eared_Owl/lifehistory

I recently heard our weather being described as a "whiplash" of temperature changes. Lake Chipican has been going through regular freezes and thaws in recent weeks. In an effort to break the ice by paddling his feet, this Canada Goose was making ice cubes at the surface! (The goose successfully made it to open water.)

Another Canada Goose was "parked" on the BMX track. It will be moving on once the temperatures warm and the track starts to get use.

A Tufted Titmouse was calling high in a tree when it suddenly dove into the underbrush close to where I was standing. I was happy to be able to locate and photograph it as the Canatara Park Titmice are very wary of humans when compared to the ones living at Pinery Provincial Park.

White-breasted Nuthatch looking for hidden food caches.

An American Robin found a rare patch of melting ice for a drink of water on a cold day.

Sometimes, Lake Huron has actually been calm!

Snow fencing between Canatara beach and the parking lot is doing its job of keeping eroding sand out of the parking lot during north winds.

Mallard Pair: She was busily preening and checked out a feather that she had just plucked from her body.

Soon after taking a photo of the resident immature Red-tailed Hawk, it made a dive for some food.  It flew too far away to know if he had success. Its fascinating to watch it manoeuver through the trees in its quest for food!

In keeping with the "Things With Wings" theme, I photographed a Flying Monkey at the Oz in Bloomland Display hosted by the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington this week!