So Many Things With Wings!

A Dad Bluebird stood watch near his nest. I have not seen the young yet.

I watched a Green Heron catch a fish then fly up to a branch. He waited for 

the fish to stop wiggling before a quick flip, gulp, and breakfast was served!

So...if a Wild Turkey eats mulberries that have fallen from the tree, 

does that forgo the need for cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving??

This delightfully noisy House Wren took what appears to be a wish bone back 

to the nest cavity. He was probably trying to solve an argument between the kids!

A cousin to the House Wren, and equally noisy, is this Carolina Wren 

which we found overlooking the Ausable River Gorge at Hungry Hollow.

Lambton County has been "Cuckoo" for Cuckoos this spring. I can't recall seeing and hearing so many. A Yellow-billed Cuckoo must be nesting not far from my office as I have seen it on several occasions!

The Silly Red-winged Blackbirds were causing chaos again. The Great Blue Heron was not far from the Blackbirds nest, and I imagine if he found it, he would have no trouble plucking a young bird out of the nest!

Fluttering Butterflies

Last weekend at The Pinery, we encountered lots of Red-spotted Purple Butterflies in the parking areas, getting sodium from the ground.

Tiger Swallowtails were in abundance at the park!

Deryl earned a new temporary belt buckle when this Hackberry Emporer landed on him. 

One of my favourite butterflies is the Baltimore Checkerspot found at work this week!

Although mostly brown in colour, the Northern Pearly-eye is another beauty!

The tiny Grape Plume moth, is not a butterfly, but is a new species for me. They rest with their wings in a T-shape. The wingspan is only 16 millimetres wide.

A Black Horsefly stopped for some salt in the mud at the edge of the pond. I love how large his eyes and proboscis are!

To brighter days ahead...

Dinner Time!

Deryl aced this shot of a Virginia Rail with 

what we believe is a dragonfly larva in his beak!

A Mulberry tree on our street kept a Robin very happy!

Another Robin dove into the bushes and came out with a caterpillar prize.

He wanted to add to the dining selection of his young. Without swallowing 

the caterpillar, he added a juicy worm to the menu before returning to his nest.

This photo has been cropped far beyond what should ever be attempted. I watched an Osprey struggle to gain altitude after catching his rather large goldfish dinner. He was constantly being harassed by a Red-winged Blackbird who you will notice has landed on his wing. The brazen little bird was there for only a moment.

Happy Summer Solstice!!

An Egg-citing Wednesday Morning!

In my last blog, I posted a photo of a Snapping Turtle with deer flies on her skin.That same turtle is shown above, digging a hole for her eggs. It was determined that the eggs in the nest she had just laid were in a high traffic, high impact area. As a result, it was unlikely the young turtles would survive. I witnessed the expert excavation of the nest today. Removing eggs from a nest requires training and a permit. These eggs will be incubated in a lab in London and returned to the exact spot once they hatch in 80-90 days. 

A mussel shell was used as an excavation tool. Metal, pointed objects cannot be used as they are likely to pierce the egg shells.The dirt was removed layer by layer until we could start to see the first ping pong ball sized egg.

The slow process eventually revealed many more eggs dug into the side of the hole.

One by one, each egg was placed in a dirt filled container. It is imperative to not rotate or turn them as the embryo can break away from the shell and the turtle will not survive.

We had to be careful that the eggs didn't roll whenever one was removed from the pile.

Room for one more egg in this container. A total of 45 eggs were collected and sent to the lab in London.

Watching the process was a real learning experience for me! Last week a nest was excavated near the parking lot at Wawanosh Wetlands. 84 eggs were extracted! We're not sure, but it could be a record for Ontario. Despite the large number of eggs being laid by this species, only 1, out of the approximately 2500 eggs she may lay in her life time is likely to reach sexual maturity. They should be nesting through June so keep your eyes open and perhaps you will see one of these prehistoric looking turtles laying eggs.

Fuzzy Babies!

I missed seeing any young Screech Owlets last year, but some noisy robins led us to their perch earlier this week! In addition to these 2, a third sibling was sitting on a higher branch. Mom wasn't too far away.

Deryl found a pair of Dickcissels at the Sarnia Landfill - first of the year for him!

And then he saw them mating! We don't often see evidence of them nesting in our area, so it will be exciting to see if there are any young later on in the season!

A Monarch caterpillar was busy chewing on Milkweed leaves today! It was in the same Milkweed patch where I saw my first adult several weeks ago. This larva will be making its chrysalis soon!

The Viceroy, which mimics the monarch, but has an additional black line across the hind wings was nectaring on Oxeye Daisy in the sunshine!

Another raccoon family met the lens of my camera during my lunch break today. Mom had taken the kids to the water for a drink.

A Snapping Turtle spent a couple of hours digging a nesting hole and laying her eggs this morning. When she was done, I placed a cover over the nest to protect it from predators such as skunks, weasels and raccoons. It's important to monitor the nest as the young turtles can become trapped if the cover isn't removed before they hatch. I watched a number of deer flies land on her head as she walked back to the pond and wondered if her thick reptilian skin would protect her from their bites.

Surprise!

While walking a trail in Strathroy C.A., I looked up to see a doe watching me. I took a few pictures then continued on my way. I wondered why she didn't flee so I went back, had a clearer view of her and snapped a few more pictures. It wasn't until after I had taken this photo that I realized she had a fawn with her. Look closely to the left of Mom. You can see an ear, 2 eyes and perhaps a nose. I never did get a good photo of the fawn, but I was lucky enough to watch the 2 of them leap across the path in front of me a few minutes later. That fawn sure could jump!

(Sorry Dave, but I need to stick with ungulates a bit longer. We'll get to "Things with Wings" in the next pic. 😏)  On a circuitous route home from Strathroy, we drove past the farm with the zebras and were fortunate to see one in the front field. It was such an unexpected discovery the first time we found them!!

The male and female Red-bellied Woodpecker are regularly bringing food to the nest cavity to feed the hungry young.  The male, shown here, makes a surprising amount of noise considering there is a Coopers Hawk nest only 15 metres to the south!

A Red-headed Metal Pecker! I didn't actually hear any pecking sounds on the metal, but the bird collected many insects from under the light to feed his babies!

Although these House Sparrows are invasive, I photographed Dad, Mom and one juvenile all in the same shot! Lunch is looking a little green today!

Red-winged Blackbirds often nest in cattail stands, but when cattails are lacking they will find some other secure vegetation source on which to build their nests. Mom's head and tail are both visible as she sits on the eggs.

Many Common Ringlets were nectaring in the meadow this morning.

I have been looking for many years for a Spiny Softshell Turtle. 

Although I have seen captive ones, this was my first one in the wild!

Watch out for young toads and frogs! There was a mass emergence of American Toads and Wood Frogs this past week. It was difficult to walk the trails without stepping on them. The Wood Frog shown, is the tiniest one I have ever seen. It is the black blob sitting to the left of the ring for size comparison.

Little Stinkers in the Neighbourhood! 

We are occasionally greeted in the early morning by a local skunk that we believe resides 2 doors down. There must be some cute "little stinkers" somewhere in the neighbourhood!

It has been several years since I last found a Killdeer nest. The parents 

weren't far away and we quickly left the area after a brief picture.

The Mute Swan family is growing at Peers Wetland.

Each goose has his own plant to snack on!

A tiny Painted Turtle walked along a trail in the woods at Henderson Conservation Area. I'm sure he had a destination in mind so I left him alone. It was a quiet day and there was little fear of him being stepped on. I placed a ring on the ground for size comparison.

Wednesday morning I watched a Snapping Turtle digging a nest hole in a potentially busy location. Luckily it was early morning and there weren't a lot of people on the trails yet. I was very worried that a cyclist would run into her as she had chosen a hair pin turn for her nest laying activity. I had to leave for work but many thanks to Awesome Carol and Ruth who kept a distant eye on her for an hour and a half until she was done and wandered back to the wooded swamp from where she came!

This fellow was one of 3 young groundhogs we encountered on a trail.  His 

siblings were not so brave and hid in the underbrush before we could get very close.

Fungus is more often found in the fall, but recent wet weather provided good growing conditions. Two days later, this fungus had disappeared from the dry, hot conditions.

The owner of this web will dine well tonight!

I enjoy finding Spittle on plants and telling students that the bug inside is living in his own poop! They often think it is "snake spit". By digesting plant material, it creates the spittle that protects its body from the hot sun. The insect is at the larval stage and will no long require the moist protection once it reaches adulthood.