Growing Wild Bergamot + Recent Bird Sightings

As I grow older, I have found that I enjoy gardening more and more.  I want to be able to grow veggies, as well as be able to grow a nice native perennial wildflower garden.

But, I have had bad luck with gardening in the past. I blame that on having poor  infertile clay soil and a general lack of knowledge of gardening. Amazingly, Youtube has been such a great source of information. There are countless videos for learning how to grow anything.

Last fall and this spring, I have made an effort to collect some local seeds (ethically of course) and just in the last week or two, I've attempted to germinate Wild Bergamot seeds in a wet paper towel that was left in the dark for a few days. Amazingly, it worked! I have transplanted the sprouts to potting soil and I could have many, many Wild Bergamot plants to propagate into my garden and perhaps in the hedgerow behind my house. I am doing a similar experiment with Black eyed Susan seeds I gathered from a local field.

Wild Bergamot Seed Head

Some plants that I have tried to grow in my perennial garden are:

Tall Sunflower (success)
Coneflower Echnicea (success)
Black eyed susans ( From Lowes not a local variety)
Wild Bergamot
Bee Balm  ( From Lowes not a local variety)
Butterfly Milkweed
Common Milkweed
Blazingstar ( From Lowes not a local variety)
Dense Blazingstar (from local seed stock)

I have recently learned about how with coneflowers, at this time of year, you can take a shovel and divide up the bundle of shoots emerging from the ground. I didn't really know you could do that!

I have had good luck at Black Oak Heritage Park in West Windsor for birding and Daily Physical Exercise.  Today I had a very drab looking female Pine Warbler (FOS), FOS House Wrens and a FOS Blue Grey Gnatcatcher.

The next week promises to start to get exciting bird wise.

Good Birding!
Dwayne

This plant is rumoured to be extremely healthy --- and extremely ... painful !?!?

Grapevine Epimenis Moth

Northern Oak Hairstreak at Reid CA in Wallaceburg ON + ... wait for it... FOY Dickcissel in Lambton!

Northern Oak Hairstreak at Reid CA

Those that read my end of year summary (published back in Jan) might recall that one of my nature viewing goals this year was to finally catch up with the Northern Oak Hairstreak.  I must admit that I have tried at least once or twice for this butterfly in the past with and dipped. So this year, I made an honest effort to go see this butterfly in the middle of its flight time (June 20?). Kit and  I left Windsor at an ambitious time of 7AM and arrived (still early) at Reid Conservation Area, on the shores of the Syndenham River just a little ways north of Wallaceburg. It was still quite brisk and perhaps the butterflies were still warming up as we arrived. After searching for over an hour, I started heading out to the road. But, as luck would have it, an older couple arrived, and I figured I would see if they could have better luck finding this nickel sized fluttery beast. Also, a text message from Blake suggested to "be patient".  So... after about ten minutes with the older couple, I found a hairstreak walking along a stem several inches below the flowers of an Indian Hemp plant. This is my fourth buttefly lifer species this year, and I think I am at about 120 species photographed.

Northern Oak Hairstreak

An interesting thing about the Northern Oak Hairstreak is that there are two major types within the species. The primary type was called a Southern Oak Hairstreak, and when the northern species was added, they thought of calling the northern one a "Northern Southern Oak Hairstreak" and the southern version a "Southern Southern Oak Hairstreak". Now, they just call it an Oak Hairstreak and locals can add Southern or Northern as they like. 

Another interesting thing about this butterfly is that (as far as I know) there is only one population known in all of Canada - north of Wallaceburg, and it was Blake Mann who discovered it. Imagine looking at the field marks of a hairstreak butterfly (with its large white "M") and saying: "what is this? this isn't in any field guides!". So a special shout out to Blake for his keen observation and his leperodoptic contributions to Ontario and Canada butterfly watching.

Reid Conservation Area

*(note: as I write this posting tonight, I am listening to an Indigo Bunting singing in my back yard, with distant Wood Thrushes, Song Sparrows, Red bellied Woodpecker, House Wren and occasionally a Great crested Flycatcher! (ebird checklist)  Also, there are House Sparrows chirping... this is Windsor after all...)

Other butterflies seen include about 3 banded hairstreaks, lots of Common Wood Nymphs, Eastern tailed Blue, 1 Question Mark, 4 Eastern Comma, lots of small European Skippers, 1 Red Admiral and of course, 1 Oak Hairstreak. 

European Skipper on Indian Hemp

After seeing the hairstreak butterfly, Kit and I met up with Lambton birder Sean J who was checking out a hay field not far from Reid CA. Upon getting out of our car, we heard the songs of Dickcissel (FOY!) , Bobolink, Savanah  Sparrow, Eastern Meadowlark and more.

From this point, we had a decision to make - go to Strathroy for more grassland birds (Upland Sandpiper) or perhaps head back towards Windsor and stop by Rondeau and perhaps try for an Acadian Flycatcher (both of these would be lifers for Kit). We ended up going to Rondeau to try for the Flycatcher.

Good Birding & Lepping!

Dwayne

Skunk's Misery OFO Trip

This posting is about the Skunk's Misery OFO Trip that took place on June 2nd, 2013. I'm a week late posting about this trip, but it just so happened that my Rondeau Trip the following day (Monday June 3rd, 2013) was a little more blog-worthy. Skunks Misery [map] is a one of the largest remaining tracts of Carolinean Forest in southwestern Ontario. According to Thames Talbot Land Trust: "The heart of Skunk's Misery is a 1200-ha complex of old-growth hardwood forest and swamp in Middlesex County, connected by wooded ravines to the Thames Canadian Heritage River to the south."(TTLT)

Our group met up at the Newbury Hospital and quickly proceeded to the first Skunks Misery forest path (Near Concession Dr and Sassafras Rd). Our first hour seemed to be the most productive. Some highlight birds seen were:

Chestnut sided Warbler
Golden winged  Warbler
Blue winged  Warbler
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Eastern Towhee
Indigo Bunting
Ruby-throated Humingbird
Black billed Cuckoo
Yellow billed Cuckoo (heard)

Scarlet Tanager
Hooded Warbler
Mourning Warbler (heard)
Red eyed Vireos
Pileated Woodpecker (flyover)
Acadian Flycatcher (heard, but not seen)

 

Our group did not see a Cerulean Warbler this year.  We heard but did not see an Acadian Flycatcher, although I ended up seeing one the following day at Rondeau.


I had a chance to meet two birders on this OFO trip:

Paul Nicholson, who writes columns for the London Free Press:
http://www.lfpress.com/2013/06/06/the-world-outdoors-skunks-misery-a-pleasure-for-birders

And Tianna Burke who expertly found a Tree Wood Frog and showed the OFO group. She was mentioning that she has a blog. Check it out! http://ramblingofawildflower.blogspot.com/ . I was pretty amazed to hear that both Paul and Tianna were fans of Nerdy for Birdy!

Out-of-focus Tree Wood Frog

After the Skunks Misery walk, the group went on to Ridgetown and Blenheim Sewage Lagoons. I believe they saw White winged Scoters which was really late and out of place for that species. Blake and I agreed to break away from the group to try and find some grassland species from an area near Strathroy Ontario, just 20 minutes northwest of Newbury.  We were hoping to find Upland Sandpipers and Grasshopper Sparrows, but no such luck on this trip.


Savannah Sparrows, Eastern Meadowlard, Horned Lark, Eastern Kingbirds, and lots of Rock Pigeons were around. I was hoping to see Grasshopper Sparrows, but no such luck this time. I must have looked at 100+ sparrows through my binoculars or scope... But this is how birding goes...There are no guarantees. If you want guarantees, you need to go to the zoo or an aviary. :-)

There were thousands of Rock Pigeons around... I wonder why?

Our group leader had a summary report mentioning about 75 species seen during the afternoon. A good day with some great birders! Be sure to read Paul's Writeup on this trip, and Blakes!
http://www.lfpress.com/2013/06/06/the-world-outdoors-skunks-misery-a-pleasure-for-birders
http://burgbirder.blogspot.ca/2013/06/birds-and-leps-at-skunks-misery.html


Good birding!
Dwaynejava

Sources:
TTLT, "Skunks Misery", Thames Talbot Land Trust, ND, WEB, June 9, 2013, 
http://www.thamestalbotlandtrust.ca/index.php/skunks-misery
 

Bobolink, Meadowlarks and Savanah Sparrows in Essex Co?

Are you kidding me? Wow! Four grassland species in the last two days. I was talking to a birder on Tuesday and he mentioned Bobolink were seen in a local field. I did not believe that these birds were around so when I got onsite, I almost dropped my binoculars when I saw the scene you see above. A blackbird with a white back and beige nape? .... Bobolink.  I've never seen a breeding plumaged male... ever. The sound these guys make is incredible!!!

Eastern Meadowlark was incredible to see as well. I was not expecting to see one. I've never seen an Eastern Meadowlark outside of the state of Florida. I'm blown away they were breeding just minutes from my home in Windsor!

And just as I was about to leave, I noticed a sparrow on a small fence and took a closer look... Savannah Sparrow. Lots of beautiful grassland species to behold. I can't believe it. It took me over two years to see a Bobolink in breeding plumage. I've never heard the call of a Bobolink until today... Just awesome.

Seeing the four grassland species this week (Bobolink, Eastern Meadowlark, Dickcissel and Savannah Sparrow) has been incredible. My friend told me that this field has tall grass because it was raining too much to cut it earlier. *I would hate for machines to go through and cut the grass with all these birds nesting in it! Here is a great article about the burden of conservation in Ontario. Its a great, thought-provoking read... http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2774059&archive=true. 

Good Birding,
Dwaynejava

*I wrote this comment on Tuesday June 28th. I've added a second part of this posting below wrote on Wed June 29th, with a sad followup:
***Update: 

The posting above was from the 28th of June. Not even 24 hours after my initial visit to this site, I attempted to go back for some better photos only to realize the field had been cut. It was only 1/2 cut so I approached the man driving the tractor (he was taking a break) and mentioned that there were ground-nesting species that were endangered in Ontario. Of course, I was polite and we had a polite and civil converstation, but he stated he had to cut the field, but in the future, he would be willing to work with people to have a better outcome for these birds. He also mentioned if I can mark where the nests are, he would go around them. He then went on his way cutting the field.

Yesterday, I must have seen about 10 Eastern Meadowlarks flying around, hovering low over the grassy field as seen below:

 

 This hints that Eastern Meadowlarks were nesting, sadly, on the ground in waist-high grass.

Today, I returned to the site to take better photos, but I did not see one Meadowlark in over 1 hour. Some Bobolink were still around, as well as Savannah Sparrow. It was sad though, you would see Bobolink and Savannah Sparrows on the freshly cut hay mounds, and you couldn't help but wonder if that was where their nest was.

This was a birding-related example of how human interests conflict with our ecosystem's interests and the human interests typically win. This might be why this species is endangered  threatened (Crews) in Ontario. Grasslands need to be cut. They nest on the ground and the nests fail when a diesel tractor drives over them. Are there any compromises? Could this field have been cut after breeding season? Could the nests have been marked before the field was cut? I kind of gained a little more respect for vegetarians today (because this hay will be feed for cattle which eventually become steaks).

As I walked back to my car, I looked along the ground for broken egg shells or evidence of nests but did not see any. Hopefully, some breeding success will come of this. The farmer stated that the grass should have been cut weeks ago, but it was too wet.

Good birding,
Dwaynejava

Sources:
CREWS BETTE JEAN, "Bobolink protection needs more than farmers", Barrie Examiner, Obtained June: 28th, 2011, Web, Oct 2010, http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2774059&archive=true

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/stdprodconsume/groups/lr/@mnr/@species/documents/document/stdprod_085029.pdf

http://onnaturemagazine.com/songs-of-the-bobolink.html