Prairie Prowl at Dutton

Saturday I had the opportunity to visit the Dutton Prairie in Elgin County.  As a recent member of the Field Botanists of Ontario (FBO), I joined close to 20 plant enthusiasts under the able leadership of Will Van Hemessen.

The Dutton prairie is actually along the old railway line currently owned by CSX where one can find prairie remnants.  The West Elgin club has leased about one mile on each of west and east of Coyne Road.  There are actually two rail lines parallel to each other, but this is the southerly one which originally started out as the Michigan Central Railway back in the 1800's.
I stopped by here once, perhaps 15 years ago?  Time flies....

What is unique here is that some rare plants grow naturally such as Compass Plant and Pale Purple Coneflower, among others.  We can find these plants elsewhere, but they have mostly been planted in prairie plots or "restoration" plots.

Pale Purple Coneflower Eschinacea pallida

I am far from knowledgeable about plants, but it was quite interesting to me.  There were several uncommon native plants seen, including thistles, grasses, and others including trees. There were several species of willows for example.  Sedges were examined as well.

Field Thistle (I think) Cirsium discolor

Cordgrass out of focus!

There are many grasses out there, some not native to the area.  Cordgrass was neat. One has to watch touching it as you can get cut!

One section which stretched into private property had an impressive amount of Spiked Blazing Star.

Liatris spicata

Ohio Goldenrod is plentiful in some spots.  It was not quite in bloom.

Solidago ohioensis

Another section had a spectacular spread of Compass Plant, worthy of a photo.

Silphium laciniatum

Many of these old rail lines have good plant diversity.  Many species were likely brought up accidently in cargoes of the trains.

I did not know the people on this trip except for one, George Bryant.  Four years ago he led us on a special trip at Torrence Barrens in Muskoka if anyone can recall from an old blogpost!

Along the way I watched for butterflies, and a couple of time in the more sedgy areas, I spotted Broad-winged Skipper.

A Monarch nectaring on blazing star was begging for a photo.

I had a bit of time before the trip commenced, so I stopped by Clear Creek quarry on the way there.  It was early morning, so not much was flying.  I did find a FOY Common Buckeye!

I also stopped on the way home.  There were fewer dragonflies than the previous week, and I failed to see a Comet Darner.  One would think they are still flying.  BTW, I learned that there is another spot for Comet Darner just in C-K along the lake, but on private property.