May Life in Canatara!

Magnolia Warbler, male, in spring breeding colours!

Baltimore Oriole nest construction: The female weaves the nest, usually 3 to 4 inches deep with a small opening, 2 to 3 inches wide on top and a bulging bottom chamber, 3 to 4 inches across where her eggs will rest. She anchors her nest high in a tree, first hanging long fibers over a small branch, then poking and darting her bill in and out to tangle the hank. While no knots are deliberately tied, the random poking makes knots and tangles. Construction materials can include grass, strips of grapevine bark, wool, and horsehair. Females often recycle fibers from an old nest to build a new one. Males occasionally bring nesting material, but don't help with the weaving. Building the nest takes about a week, but windy or rainy weather may push this as long as 15 days.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Baltimore_Oriole//lifehistory

Busy Mom to be, hard at work!

Sleepy time for some new Goslings!

Indigo Bunting eating seeds and insects on the trail.

M

Eastern Kingbirds have quite a reputation for chasing other species, especially during nesting season! Their scientific name is Tyrannus tyrannus!

Eastern Chipmunks spend much of their time on the ground, but are also accomplished climbers! They enjoy fruits, berries and nuts which make up the majority of their diet. Insects, fungi, grasses, bird eggs and frogs are also eaten. They play an important role in seed dispersal of many tree and shrub species as well as spores for beneficial fungus growth. In addition, they are an important source of food for predators such as birds, snakes, weasels, foxes and other carnivores! 

https://factanimal.com/chipmunk/

 Pinery Part II:

Walking the perimeter of the beach parking lots can be a great way to find butterflies. Butterflies were scarce that day, but as we pulled into Beach #3, a Prairie Warbler could be heard singing! It sat high in a tree and took a while to locate. Luckily it continued to sing as we scanned the tree tops.

New boardwalk route through the dunes at Beach Parking #3.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak eating bugs found in the tree flowers along the Riverside Trail.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak - female

The male Rose-breasted Grosbeak on the left slowly snuck up to the bird on the right. It didn't take long for the Grosbeak on the right to chase away the intruder from his prized "cafeteria".

Eastern Towhee - the songs of this bird species could be heard throughout the park!

A quiet Blue Jay stopped on a trail.

Gray Catbird

Canada Goose nest on stump - visible from Riverside Trail. Canada Geese will lay all eggs before incubation begins so that the goslings hatch at the same time. Two adults were stationed nearby.

A Common Grackle flipped leaves, looking for invertebrates to eat.

Groundhog! - possibly the first one I have ever seen at Pinery.

Morel species - with the classic honeycomb ridges on the cap.

 A Visit to Pinery Provincial Park!

May 16th was a beautiful day to spend at the Pinery! The sun was shining, it wasn't too hot, and the "annoying" bugs weren't out yet. As soon as we exited the car, we could hear Tree Frogs singing! Although we occasionally stumble upon them by accident, this is the first Gray Treefrog we have been able to locate by following the sound!

We could hear more than one Treefrog in the area. I tried, and tried, but was not able to turn this knot of wood on the branch into a second Treefrog!

Springtime Darner - a new species for me!!

Dot-tailed Whiteface, drying its wings in the sun.

Common Carp - 11 of them were traveling together.

Rustic Quaker - moth visible to right of stick

Eastern Pine Elfin - first of the year!

A pair of Juvenal Duskywings walked circles around each other in what I assume was a type of courtship behaviour.

We were happy to find a few Mottled Duskywings! This species had been extirpated from Pinery Provincial Park. Ontario's first butterfly reintroduction program has been deemed a success with the species surviving since 2020! This includes overwintering  at the larva stage!

https://wildlifepreservation.ca/blog/ontarios-first-butterfly-reintroduction-a-conservation-success-story-2/

 Rondeau Provincial Park!

The "star" of the Tulip Trail made an appearance for us! A male Prothonotary Warbler, with his brilliant "orange-yolk" colour landed not too far from us. Most warblers nest either on the ground, in shrubs, or in trees, but the Prothonotary Warbler is one of the few warblers that build their nests in standing dead trees. They may also use nest boxes when available and like to be close to water.

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

While standing on the Tulip Trail boardwalk, we observed a researcher monitoring the nesting boxes. He was wearing hip waders and eventually walked straight to the board walk and climbed the railing right beside me. I learned that one of the two boxes visible in the area was being used by a pair of Prothonotary Warblers. The other nesting box was being used by House Wrens.

Sporting a different shade of yellow, a Yellow Warbler searched for insects hiding on leaves.

Another Yellow Warbler rested in a bush.

The tiny Blue-gray Gnatcatcher has a long tail, for the size of bird. A nest was being built in the 'V' of the tree, making it easy to see! Pairs will use spiderweb and lichens to build small, neat nests, which sit on top of branches and look like tree knots!

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Blue-gray_Gnatcatcher/overview

Lake Erie Beach view near end of South Point Trail.

A Pileated Woodpecker drummed right above my head! It sounded like the loose piece of wood continued to vibrate even after the drumming ceased!

Magnolia Warbler along the Spicebush Trail

Largeflower Bellwort 

Common Yellowthroat, male

We enjoyed lunch in the company of a few Five-lined Skinks! Young skinks have blue tails. They are Ontario's only native lizard!

A pair of White-eyed Vireos have been hanging around this spring. Although Rondeau is at the extreme northern breeding range of the species, it is hoped that they may mate and have young! We were very lucky to find this uncommon bird as they tend to spend the majority of the time down low in shrubs. The yellow "glasses" and white eye are diagnostic.

 Port Franks, May 11th afternoon

After lunch we walked some Port Frank's Trails where we found a pair of Black-capped Chickadees gathering soft moss to use as nesting material. Chickadees are cavity nesters and the pair was building in a manmade nesting box.

A Hermit Thrush attempted to hide from us in a grassy area.

Wild Lupine - an important plant species for some endangered butterflies, moths, etc.

It was "mating" day for Juvenal's Duskywing!

Juvenal's Duskywing

Sleepy Duskywing! - a new species for us!

Azure sp.

Bronzed Tiger Beetle

The area has some great potential for dragonflies this summer. We will be back to expand our dragonfly list beyond the Green Darner that we found!