Mussel Mania Along the Thames and Other Observations

 The last couple of days we have seen stellar weather.  Cloudless skies, very calm and just the right temperature!  At least things are finally getting drier with the lack of rain.  There are still some puddles or ponds that have not dried up all summer though.

Yesterday afternoon, I went for a long walk at Reid CA.  It was deathly quiet for birds, and with no wind, it was interesting walking through the quiet woods.  Finally, there are very few mosquitoes! However, on the way back, I encountered a few warblers and vireos to liven things up.

I did see a couple of Royal River Cruisers, but soon they will be no more for another year.  I like photographing them since they are my favourite!

Today, I had no idea what to do, but went for a walk at Peers Wetland first thing. I finally saw some migrant passerines there!  Included were Nashville (4), Tennessee (2), Cape May, Magnolia and Black-throated Green Warblers.

I then had the notion to head down to Keith McLean C. L.  The only shorebirds were a pair of Semi-plovers flying through.  Lots of Bobolinks flying over.  Highlight was a Least Bittern which flew right in front of us.

Some butterflies included an unco-operative Fiery Skipper and Common Checkered-Skipper, but a couple of Common Painted-Lady posed briefly.  They are the more common lady of late.

I wanted to get another look along the Thames River, so went to the Tecumseh Monument park east of Thamesville.  Water level was low enough for a decent look.

Winter Scene of the Area

Quite a few Smoky Rubyspots as expected.

As well as American Rubyspots.

I saw no dragonflies whatsoever!  I had Elusive Clubtail on my mind, but there is still lots of chance for to find one of them.

In one section, I found a multitude of mussels!  No doubt one of the flooding events washed them up.

small portion!

There were too many to sort through, but from what I saw, most were Pimpleback, an imperiled species.  Not imperiled at this spot apparently!

But, I found some others that stood out.  I do not think I have had Black Sandshell (near threatened) here, but there were some today.

Others:

Pink Heelsplitter (Vulnerable)

Deertoe (vulnerable)

Mucket (as opposed to Fatmucket!)

Along the Thames, one can find various plants of interest.  Right away, I noticed some as Wingstem, which is in the rarer category.  I am sure there is a lot more along the Thames than we realize.  It is also found along the Sydenham.

Cup Plant, well past its prime is here as well.

This is an interesting spot honouring Chief Tecumseh, which I have talked about before.  I stop here at various times during the year!

Interpretive signs along the old road allowance promote history in the area.

Late Winter Scene!

Winter Scene!

(Photos from a previous visit).

At home this afternoon, I noticed a peculiar insect on the concrete. It certainly has a weird name, called a Pigeon Horntail!  Never have seen this one before.

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.

                   ************************************************************

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!

Newport News

Sunrise over Lake Erie

Today I started at Rondeau.  It was way too warm for this time of year, hence not a lot of birds to see.  I did take a look at the lake at dog beach, but not much was moving....yet again.  There was a good selection of warblers at the end of Lakeshore Road to keep up my interest.

Yesterday was  bit better with a good number of passerines with a few decent "pockets" of warblers and vireos.

Ovenbird

I checked the goldenrods near marsh trail and found a Fiery Skipper.

I checked out McLean's on Friday as well.  Some shorebirds were on the flooded field.  There were three dowitchers, and at least two of them were Short-billed.  I did not have a scope at the time.

Three dowitchers were beside the road today, which appeared to be Long-billed.

Bronze Coppers are plentiful right now.

The highlight today was near Wardsville to tour the Newport Forest.  It is a 45 ha "closed" property owned by Thames Talbot Land Trust TTLT) that borders on the Thames River.  It is not open to the public, so only guided tours or special permission is required.  A joint outing of Lambton Wildlife and Sydenham Field Naturalists was in the offing today.

Here is a layout taken from the TTLT site:

It is actually a fabulous place and we spent at least three hours there.  There are many uncommon plants there such Virginia Bluebells and Green Dragon, as well as Wingstem.

Wingstem is very common there and was well past its prime.  

The other two aforementioned plants bloom in the spring.  We did manage to find a withered Green Dragon though, a plant similar to Jack in the Pulpit, along with some of its bright red berries.

The trail parallels the river at one point.  

I had in mind that rubyspots would be there, and sure enough I spotted some across the river!  I suspect both American and Smokey are here, but it was a bit difficult to tell from the distance.

They were resting on the logs across the river.

A good selection of trees are here including Blue Ash, Hackberry, hickories and elms.  We looked at a large American Elm which obviously has beaten the Dutch Elm disease.

Slippery Elm is here as well.

The entrance goes through an abandoned field rich with asters and goldenrods.

Heath's aster

Smooth Blue Aster

Lance-leaved Aster

Flat-topped (Grass-leaved) Goldenrod

Some common butterflies were seen and even a Common Buckeye.

It was a pleasant walk through the property on a nice day!