Fall Fling Along the Sydenham

 On this brisk autumn day, the Sydenham Field Naturalists club had an outing along the east branch of the Sydenham River.  The Sydenham River is unique in so many ways, there are no shortage of things to discuss.

Note the abundant Lizard's Tail along the riverbank

There are some notable trees and plants here, and I cannot help but wonder what insects (especially odonates) are here in the summer.  I would be anxious to visit this place at various times during the summer!

Although Common Hackberry trees are regular along the Sydenham, they are abundant at this location.  Some are quite large.

As we walked along the riverbank, several Kentucky Coffeetree were noted.  Some quite tall!

Single leaves of this tree are unique where each is composed of about 70 leaflets on 3-7 pairs of branches from a central stalk.

This rare species is often planted as an ornamental, but some grow naturally in southwestern Ontario, like this location.

I suspect it would be a good place to look for mussels as well, since the river is quite shallow here.

At one point, we noticed this plant, called Wingstem.  Another "rare" species.

Above our heads, someone noticed this mushroom growing out of a tree.  Seemed to be there for no apparent reason!

I noted a few birds during the walk, including this Red-tailed Hawk soaring overhead.

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Today's history note highlights a collision of two salties on the St. Clair River 7 October 1966.  The Emsstein was hit by the Olympic Pearl in front of where the Lambton Generating Station was being built.  It was holed and began taking on water, so it was beached.

The above photo was taken by my grandfather Morgan Dalgety.  I vividly remember this scene even though I was only about four years old!  I do have a good memory of things along the St. Clair River, as it was a place my parents took me to very frequently.  There was always, and still is, some attraction to that river!

Sydenham Nature Reserve Tour

Today was a special tour organized by Ontario Nature at the Sydenham Nature Reserve near Alvinston.  The morning dawned with dense fog as it usually does this time of year when the days are too warm.  It was quite foggy the whole drive to the site.

Late last year, funds were secured and a wonderful 193 acre piece of land was preserved for nature along the east branch of the Sydenham River.  About 2 km of the Sydenham winds through the unique property which is very biologically diverse.

As many of you know, the Sydenham is known for rare fish and mussels, some of which are found nowhere else in Canada (up to 34 species mussels).  Near the end of the tour, we had a demonstration along the banks of the river by a couple of employees of St. Clair Conservation.  They showed us many of the species of mussels that can be found at this site.

Mussel Site

As there was a large group of people, the tour was divided into two separate groups.  One went up to the Buttonwood entrance (open to the public) where they observed the largest Sycamore tree in Ontario.  I had heard about this tree many years ago, but today I opted to go on the tour led by Larry Cornelis (so I did not see it!).  Many years ago the diameter was measured at 263 cm.
We went on to look at other trees and plants.

Red-headed Woodpecker Area

Larry showed us an upland bean field which some day will be restored to nature.  While there, an Olive-sided Flycatcher flew in and briefly alighted on a snag.  I took too long looking at it to take a photo!

Trek to the Kentucky Coffee Trees

We next went down into the valley woodland and looked at a stand of Kentucky Coffee trees.

Kentucky Coffee Trees

These trees are basically from one tree, as they sucker out to form several trees.  There are male and female trees, so these trees of one gender will never seed out.
The trees here were very tall.

While there, we could hear a couple of Red-headed Woodpeckers calling.  They nested here this year, and a couple of the group even saw them feeding young birds.  A late nesting I suppose!

Portion of the Sydenham

Along the way, Larry pointed out Beak Grass, which is an "S1" plant very rare in Ontario.  We saw a few clumps of them.  They will grow 2-3 feet and in late summer produce triangular 'seeds'.

Beak Grass

There is a healthy population of Beak Grass along the Ausable River, as mentioned in Pat Deacon's blog post. 
That site was found some time ago by Dorothy Tiedje.

The woods were rather quiet for birds, but it is great in the springtime, especially during migration. There are several pairs of Cerulean Warblers that nest in the area, as the habitat is prime.

It was a pleasant weather day and a wonderful day to walk through the woods!

Pandora Sphinx Moth caterpillar

Puffballs!