Life at the Pinery in October!

We headed to Pinery Provincial Park in hopes of seeing some winter finches such as Crossbills, Grosbeaks and Bohemian Waxwings. Late October/early November is traditionally a good time to see these species, but they are hard to find when the weather is warm enough for butterflies to be flying!! A beautiful Eastern Comma posed nicely along a trail. Eastern Commas will overwinter under tree bark or other sheltered area for the winter, emerging in March when the weather begins to warm up.

Autumn Meadowhawks are still finding mates this late in the season!

Boardwalk on Riverside Trail.

When we reached Beach #3, we found a large raft of ducks. Over 500 Red-breasted Mergansers were in the group along with a few Common Mergansers. Fly-bys included White-winged Scoter, Red-throated Loons, Common Loon, and Bonaparte's Gulls that were trying to steal food from the mergansers. 

Lots of interesting patterns on the beach! Receding water dragged sand past some pebbles.

An interesting set of tracks! A dime is beside the tracks in the lower photo to provide some scale. No sign of the actual critter, but possibly a spider? The critter left several linear tracks in one square cubic metre.

Beach art! This stump was attached to a tree trunk which was buried under the sand. The shape at the centre top seemed to resemble either an owl or otter, looking over its shoulder!

Feather trapped in the sand.

After moving away from the beach, we spotted 2 Golden Eagles soaring down the Ausable Cut. It was a good day for hawk movement as we also saw 6 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 6 Bald Eagles, and 4 Red-tailed Hawks!

Juniper berries were a big attraction for the Cedar Waxwings. We tried hard, but couldn't find a Bohemian Waxwing in the crowd. Cedar Waxwings are highly social, often seen in large flocks, especially when foraging. They are known for their cooperative feeding behaviour, passing berries beak to beak, down a row of birds!

https://www.birdfact.com/birds/cedar-waxwing

American Goldfinch, still sporting some of his yellow colour which will fade in the winter.

American Herring Gulls are one of the most familiar gulls of the East Coast and many people just call them "seagulls". Approximately 2 dozen different species of gulls live in North America, and not one of them has the species name of Seagull.

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

Morning fog on the Ausable Cut.

Green Frog, resting in the sun on the Ausable Cut.

New stairs providing protection to the fragile dune, leading to Lake Huron in the Dune's Campground.

 6 Legs in Autumn!

Common Checkered Skipper resting on a Swamp Milkweed Seed pod in our garden. The wings contain numerous white or pale spots arranged against a darker gray or black background, creating the checkered pattern. 

https://butterflyn.com/common-checkered-skipper/

A migrating Monarch was found on October 30th along the south shore of Lake Huron. Many Monarchs have already reached Mexico. She has a long trip ahead of her and is going to be needing suitable flying weather!

Viceroy, the Monarch mimic with the extra lateral black line crossing the hindwings.

Clouded Sulphur

Common Checkered Skipper found on October 30th. I typically find this species on sunny days in late October.

Common Buckeye seem to prefer sunny areas close to the ground. I often find them on bare ground, soaking up the sun.

Praying Mantis, "praying" for a meal to land nearby.

Wild Indigo Duskywing. They will overwinter at the caterpillar stage.

A tiny Sweat Bee on Wild Chicory

Chickweed Geometer Moth is a day flyer that prefers prairie grassland, fields, meadows, lawns and gardens.

https://minnesotaseasons.com/Insects/chickweed_geometer.html

A North American Spur Grasshopper species, sheltered in the plants.

Common Whitetail, female

Common Looper Moth, a day flying moth.

This member of the Blister Beetle family doesn't have a common name. Scientific name is: Meloe campanicollis. Touching a blister beetle can cause painful blisters on the skin.

On cool fall evenings, insects search for a place to shelter during the overnight hours. Once morning arrives, they will remain in the shelter until the weather warms up enough for them to start moving.

Bumble bee protected by a flower "umbrella"!

Bald Faced Yellowjacket nest. (previously called Bald Faced Hornets).The dark entrance hole is visible on the lower right. These insects make paper from combining saliva with chewed wood and using the resulting paste to make paper walls and cells for raising the brood. Nests are started by overwintering mated queens. Once the queen has raised a few workers, they take over the task of building and feeding while the queen focuses on egg-laying.

https://cals.cornell.edu/integrated-pest-management/outreach-education/whats-bugging-you/bees-and-wasps/identifying-bees-and-wasps/yellowjackets-and-baldfaced-hornets

 Fall Birds & Some Turtles!

A Little Blue Heron was the "star" of the show this week when it was discovered in Lambton County! They rarely venture north of the Great Lakes. It has likely been 30 years since one was found in our area. Although adults are a bluish/purple mix, our visitor was an immature bird. First year birds are white in colour. Mingling in mixed flocks of white herons in the southern U.S., immature Little Blue Herons blend in with mixed species groups, gaining extra protection against predators.

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

Greater Yellowlegs - The top of the yellow legs are barely visible in this photo and they have a noticeably long bill! Greater Yellowlegs are seen mostly during migration as they pass between nesting grounds in the mosquito-ridden bogs of boreal Canada and wintering territories on marshes across the southern U.S.

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

3 well camouflaged Greater Yellowlegs, feeding in the Thames River in London, ON.

10 Greater Yellowlegs flying over Lake Huron. The long bills are visible in the silhouette.

Mourning Dove feeding along a trail in London.

Pileated Woodpecker taking a break on a Hydro Pole.

Purple Finch populations have been decreasing since the more aggressive House Finches were introduced in New York City in the 1950's, spreading across eastern North America. Purple Finches have large, seed-cracking beaks, and they seem to have a preference for black oil sunflower seeds. 

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

Every once in awhile, a Red-shouldered Hawk will grace the skies above us!

Rusty Blackbirds are easier to identify in their fall plumage when the feather tips show a rusty colour. In the breeding season, adult Rusty Blackbirds are a glossy black colour with a light coloured eye. 

Turkey vultures swirling in a thermal. In a few weeks, these birds will have migrated south for the winter.

On some of the milder days, turtles such as this Northern Map Turtle can be found basking in the sun. The sun's warmth helps them to digest their food more quickly, allowing them to eat even more calories. Fat stored on their bodies helps them to survive the winter buried while in mud under the water.

A Snapping Turtle "lurked" slowly through the shallow water in Canatara Park this week. Nearby, a Mallard Hen was keeping a close eye on the predator. A clump of mud is visible on the top of the turtle's shell.

As I watched, the Painted Turtle on the left (top picture) turned around and rested his head on the shell of the other Painted Turtle (bottom picture), while a Pond Slider looked on!