Prairie Romp: An Outing to Walpole Island

Late this morning the local naturalists had an outing to Walpole Island.  It is not often that we get a chance to check out some of the prairie sites, so it was something one could not pass up.  Today, we were led into a site by Clint Jacobs.  I have been to a few other sites, but this was one that I had never visited.  I was hoping that it was a different site that we had been to many years ago...that might have produced some Northern Bobwhite!

We parked our cars under an Ohio Buckeye tree, which is very rare for Canada.  In fact, I do not think it grows anywhere else...naturally!

Pink Milkwort was plentiful at this site.  It is tiny a plant found regularly on Walpole and some at Ojibway.

There was another kind of milkwort which I think was Field Milkwort.

Rough Blazing Star is quite abundant at this particular site.  There were a few Dense Blazing Star soon to come into bloom, but it was outnumbered by Rough by a longshot.

One section had some Colicroot.

Colicroot

We were free to roam around to take in the unique plants.

There were lots of other prairie plants to look at.

Butterfly Milkweed

Mountain Mint

Showy Goldenrod (not in bloom)

Butterflies and dragonflies were not abundant (not surprising for this year!),  but Halloween Pennant was one of the more numerous odes.

Halloween Pennant on Rough Blazing Star

Halloween Pennant on Dense Blazing Star

One of the butterflies was this Eastern Tailed-Blue.

We were not there to look at birds, but a Black-billed Cuckoo was calling nearby.

Beforehand, while waiting at the arena parking lot, a Broad-winged Hawk soared overhead.  An odd sighting for this time of year.  I did not have my camera on hand at the time!

This afternoon I stopped by Reid CA since the weather was quite nice.  Some Dukes' Skippers were working the sedges.

While looking at a Dukes', I found a Striped Hairstreak-first for the year, finally!

I saw a couple of Broad-winged Skippers in another area.  This year it is too wet to walk through the sedges, so this was a distant shot.

Prairie Flowers and Grasses

Mid summer is the time to enjoy the prairie remnants we have in the area. Although it is past midsummer, there is still much to see.

This past weekend the Sydenham Field Naturalists were treated to a guided tour on Walpole and Squirrel Islands west of Wallaceburg. The only chance to see these prairies on Walpole is by special arrangement.

We checked a spot on Squirrel Island where Pink Milkwort was flowering. It is a rather rare plant with tiny deep pink flowers. Among the Big Bluestem were lots of Dense or Spiked Blazing Star plants. There a number of blazing star species, but this is the most common. Also seen were Stiff Goldenrod plants.

This particular site has lost quite a bit of turf due to erosion into the St. Clair River. It was noted that video footage of Small White Lady's Slippers was taken and showed them actually washing into the St. Clair River.

At the north end of Walpole, we looked at Rough Blazing Star, Coreopsis, Prairie Dock, etc. The Showy Goldenrod plants were observed, but they bloom in late summer.

A few photos accompany this post. (Not all on Walpole).

SPIKED BLAZING STAR (top two photos) and ROUGH BLAZING STAR (below)