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.

Social Distancing in Rural Lambton County!

Mitchell's Bay June 6, 2020

We spent Saturday morning at Mitchell's Bay. A lot of phragmites has been removed since our last visit and we had a better view of the extended boardwalk. Unfortunately, due to erosion, the boardwalk is off limits. It is one of my favourite places to view wildlife!

Our best bird find was the elusive Yellow-billed Cuckoo!

A close second was the Black-crowned Night Heron which 

we have not been able to find this year in Lambton County.

It was nice to find so many Purple Martins! We saw a total of 7 Purple Martin Houses in 2 different locations along the Mitchell's Bay trails. Three of the boxes for this Endangered Species were built by Chatham High school students and are monitored by volunteers.

A few Green Herons flew past the reeds as we walked the North Trail.

Lots of Map Turtles were basking in the sun.

We were amazed by the number of Turtles basking in one location. I counted 37 individual turtles in this photo, but that was only a 1/3 of the total. Phragmites blocked our view and they jumped into the water before we could get to a clearer opening.

Lots of Bull Frogs were making their "jug o' rum" call.

Butterflies were hard to photograph but I found a 

White-spotted Sable Moth, willing to sit still for a picture!

Muskrats didn't pay much attention to us as they swam along the channel.This one looks

like he has "buck" teeth but I think it is just a claw from his foot under his jaw.

If A Snail Could Smile...

If a snail could smile, I imagine it might look something like this. I believe it is a Roman Snail which is invasive in North America. This species has 2 sets of antennae. The upper pair has the eyes, and the lower pair host the sensors. Because of its large size, this species is eaten as Escargot in French cuisine!

A tiny Painted Turtle basked in the sun on Wednesday. I wondered if it was 

stuck until a nearby frog jumped, and the turtle quickly dove into the water.

The much larger Snapping Turtle was also taking a rest on a warm spring day.

Still near the pond, a pair of damselflies were mating in the wheel position.

A rough looking robin dries out after the thunder storm from the night before!

This Common Ringlet survived the winter months in the caterpillar stage!

A Killdeer flew noisy circles around us while we walked along a trail. There 

must have been a nest nearby but he never resorted to performing the 

broken wing trick, so we must not have been too close.

A pair of Chipping Sparrows fought over this larva. The victor had a good lunch!

I misidentified a Spicebush Swallowtail in a recent post. I called it a Black Swallowtail. I'll use poor light conditions as my excuse, but this butterfly, is in fact a Black Swallowtail. 

I am beginning to see more and more of them with the warming weather!