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!

Ode To Joy at Sydenham River Nature Reserve

 On Saturday June 19, a planned odonate  survey was held at the Sydenham River Nature Reserve (SRNR).  It is always a thrill to visit the place whenever one has the chance.

About a year ago, we did our annual bird census, but I also photographed dragonflies along the way and put them up on iNaturalist.  The folks at Ontario Nature (owner of the property) noted these and were interested in having a survey done since one had not been conducted previously.  There was not really time to organize one, so eyes were set on mid June 2021, prime time for many species.

Corresponding with Gabriella Zagorski at Ontario Nature, I organized a few local enthusiastic individuals to check out the reserve.  We met on June 19 around 10 a.m. and set out.  The "Lambton" side is not really open to the public, and one has to traverse a private laneway to access.  There is a more public access at the end of Buttonwood Drive on the east side, but habitat is slightly different since your  are on the floodplain.  As well, the road is more of a track towards the end, and could be iffy after heavy rains!  There is not much of a trail to follow at that end through thick vegetation, and lots of stinging nettles!  And you need to traverse a creek if going straight in.

In any case, four of us did the Lambton side, while fellow blogger Quinten Wiegersma did the Buttonwood side.  Our group ended up spending five hours traversing various habitats, dealing with stinging nettle (my legs stung for a while!), steep and slippery riverbanks (Pete is fine!), and unknown holes in the river (hope you camera is OK, Mike!).  Poison Ivy was not a problem much to the delight of Paul.

Mosquitoes are never a problem at SRNR for some strange reason, and there are few ticks.

There are three abandoned farm fields on the Lambton side each of which have been reverted back to nature with prairie plants and/or trees and shrubs. 

The Lower Field

 We checked the first one, and came up with the star of the show, an Arrowhead Spiketail.  Pete spotted it first, and this was the one I was most interested in recording.

Last year, Mike and I saw several in this field.  It was known here, but is quite rare this far south in Ontario, and is uncommon anywhere in Ontario.  You can note the "perfect" arrows on the abdomen.  We only found the one this year.

Just previous to this find, I found a Rusty Snaketail, a somewhat uncommon species in these parts.

We ended up with a tally of four of these attractive creatures.  Here is another one we found later on in another field.

The most common dragonfly was Common Whitetail, so common I did not even take a photo!  But here is one from elsewhere.

female

Midland Clubtails were quite common, and a similar one, the Black-shouldered Spinyleg were tallied.  Some Midland Clubtails were making more Midland Clubtails!

There were other species of dragonflies, including Widow Skimmer, Twelve-spotted Skimmer, Common Green Darner, Eastern Pondhawk and Ruby Meadowhawk (only one!).

Then there are the dancers and bluets or damselflies.  Many of these can be difficult to ID with regards to age, variation and sex.  Sometimes one has to look at genetalia!

We did have Familiar Bluet, Powdered Dancer, Blue-tipped Dancer, Blue-fronted Dancer, Variable Dancer, Eastern Forktail.

One can get "familiar" with these with practise!

Familiar Bluet

Along the "stream" we did have Stream Bluets.

Stream Bluet

Blue-tipped Dancers, not to be confused with Blue-fronted Dancers, were the most common.  They can vary quite a bit it seems.

Blue-tipped Dancer

Along the Sydenham, there were countless American Rubyspots, a favourite of mine.  This was the most common ode.

Many Ebony Jewelwings were in the same area.

Then there are the "cruisers".  We only saw a couple of Swift River Cruisers.  They were so swift, I never got a photo!  Here is one from last week I did manage to photograph, on the fly, up on the Ausable.

In total we saw at least 20 species of odes.

There were some leps along the way including lots of Banded Hairstreaks.

I did find one FOY Hickory Hairstreak.

Despite the overcast skies (forecast wrong again!), we had a fun and interesting day!

Pete wondering if he should go in

Cruising and Dancing Along the Sydenham

 Saturday morning was another trip down to Rondeau.  I checked out Keith McLean Conservation Lands to start things off.  There was nothing new, and the Red Knot was still present.

In the park it appeared that there were less birds than the previous day.  Lot of gulls and terns were on the east side of south point, but once again, nothing rare!

Magnolia Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

After a while in the park, I had no ambition and went home!  In the afternoon I went up to Wilkesport for a walk at Nicholl's Memorial Forest and Wetland which is along the Sydenham.  It is not a great place for birds, but a nice spot to walk and look for insects and check out the prairie planting.

Several Royal River Cruisers were on patrol, but none stopped for a photo op.  I did catch sight of a Shadow Darner, and it stopped to hang out on a tree.

Silver-spotted Skipper

Some Tall Coreopsis is in bloom.

Stiff-leaved Goldenrod is here as well.

Flat-topped Goldenrod is growing in various locations.

Sunday, I wanted to check out a spot on the Sydenham River for odes.  But first, I went up to Forest lagoons, where once again there was nothing new. Not even a warbler along the edges!  It was an off-day for passerines I guess.

I did find a Common Painted-Lady, the first for the day.  It was a little tattered!

I then headed down to Shetland Conservation Area, but went to the boat launch on the north side of the river.  Here one can look for odonates and other things.  My focus was to find Blue-ringed Dancer, which is rare in Ontario.  I had never seen them before (since I never looked!).

It did not take long, and actually the first ode I saw was a Blue-ringed.  I did not get a good photo though.

I looked around some more and found several individuals.

Royal River Cruisers were here as well.  I am always fascinated by them, hence they are my favourite.

Other things included Blue-fronted Dancers, Stream Bluets and Fragile Forktails.

In the river, I noticed a "school" of fish, which turned out to be Black-striped Top Minnows.  Considered imperiled in Canada, these are neat little creatures.

Another Common Painted-Lady popped here as well.

It was a bit early in the day, so perhaps I missed some things that would be more active later.  However, with my target achieved, I left for W. Darcy McKeough CA for a walk there.

I happened to meet Cherise from Essex County there, so we had a good little chat before I went for a walk.

Birds and insects were a bit scarce.  I did find a Palm Warbler and a Yellow-rumped.

There was not much activity, but I did find a Common Checkered-Skipper.  Might be the first for me there, but I cannot remember off hand.

A couple more Common Painted-Lady were here also.

Next stop was Reid CA.  I was to meet someone from Natural Resource Solutions there to give a tour at 1 p.m.  I was a bit early so I went for a walk.  As this is the best place to find Royal River Cruisers, I saw several and photographed five different ones.

While there I received word that a Red-necked Phalarope was at Sombra, so I was not done for the day.  After the tour, I went to Sombra to check off the phalarope for the year, a bit distant.

The one cell is excellent for shorebirds right now, but this place is not the most birder-friendly as it is posted No Trespassing.  Not sure why this place cannot be made more accessible to birders, as many other lagoons are successful in that regard.

There are lots of ducks and other waterbirds that breed there.  Ruddy Duck, Common Gallinule, etc.

Each evening for relaxation at the end of the day, I sit out on the back porch watching for birds.  Nighthawks have been moving through and I see the odd one.  Lots have been reported lately, and some have seen impressive numbers!