Rondeau Ric

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. In the front yard, another of Anne's finds. She is into inaturalist and inspects every plant at least once a day. Melanoplus sanguinipes Is a species of spur-throated grasshopper in the family Acrididae. Other common names include the lesser migratory grasshopper and red-legged grasshopper. It is found in the Caribbean and North America.

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 29 2019. Seen while out on the pontoon. Also had several shore birds, kingfisher, eagle, sora and least bittern. Botaurus lentiginosus The American Bittern's yellow eyes can focus downward, giving the bird's face a comically startled, cross-eyed appearance. This visual orientation presumably enhances the bird's ability to spot and capture prey. The eyes turn orange during breeding season.

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 28 2019. The most common bird in the yard right now is ruby-throated hummingbirds followed by Baltimore orioles. Not that I'm complaining , but it was nice to see, rather than just hear, the pewee. Contopus virens The Eastern Wood-Pewee’s lichen-covered nest is so inconspicuous that it often looks like a knot on a branch.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird rain dance. Rondeau Provincial Park, Aug 27, 2019. Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

Unexpected Cycnia Moth, caterpillar, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, August 23, 2019 One of Anne's unexpected finds out in the yard. Cycnia collaris It is a milkweed dependent moth species.

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug,23, 2019. Set up a light to attract moths last night. This is one of the larger visitors. It has a body length of 40mm (1 1/2 inches) and a wing span of 85mm( 3.2 inches) Chauliodes pectinicornis A well-known species in North America. Fishflies lay their eggs upon vegetation overhanging streams, whence the larvae, as soon as hatched, drop into the water, and go about preying upon aquatic animals.

Close up an Eastern Giant Swallowtaill on ironweed in the yard. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 23, 2019. Papilio cresphontes

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 21, 2019. Anne found a log that has become skink habitat. We check it each day and there is a family of skinks using the habitat. There is a long deep fissure where they like to hide, I flipped this one from vertical to horizontal to make it easier to relate to. Plestiodon fasciatus

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 19, 2019. With the high water this year bitterns and rails are harder to find out in the marsh. We had a good day with shorebirds, sandhill crane, green heron and assorted gulls and terns. Ixobrychus exilis Perhaps surprisingly, tiny Least Bitterns use areas with deeper water than the much larger, longer-legged American Bittern. Least Bitterns can do this because their long, agile toes and curved claws allow them to grasp reeds and hunt small prey while suspended from these precarious over-water perches. source- Cornell lab of ornithology.

Camouflaged looper Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 19, 2019. Took a while to figure out what we were looking at. Wavy-lined emerald moth or camouflaged looper are well known for their camouflaging technique where they attach bits of the plant petals/tissue along their backs using silk. Depending on what plant they are feeding on, they may adorn all types of different coloured plants in hopes of avoiding detection. When the petals begin to wilt and discolour, they will discard their outdated camouflage and replace with a new ‘coat’. (Synchlora aerata).

Tall Ships, Kingsville, Ontario, Canada, Aug 17, 2019. This is the Empire Sandy, one of the tall ships on the great lakes this summer. We just missed it coming in under sail. For a hefty fee you could take a short cruise on one of the 6 ships in the harbour.

 Rondeau Provincial Park, Aug 11, 2019. Lots of dragonflies around but so far I have been finding a limited number of species.

An adult cicada killer wasp emerging from a burrow. Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 16, 2019. Sphecius speciosus, often simply referred to as the cicada killer or the cicada hawk, is a large digger wasp species. Cicada killers are large, solitary wasps in the family Crabronidae.

Dragonfly flight. Common Green Darner, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 13, 2019. Anax junius The green darner or common green darner, after its resemblance to a darning needle, is a species of dragonfly in the family Aeshnidae. One of the most common and abundant species throughout North America, it also ranges south to Panama

Cooper's Hawk, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, August 13, 2019. Anne spotted this hawk having supper in a tree in the woods next door. Accipiter cooperii A Cooper's Hawk captures a bird with its feet and kills it by repeated squeezing. Falcons tend to kill their prey by biting it, but Cooper’s Hawks hold their catch away from the body until it dies. They’ve even been known to drown their prey, holding a bird underwater until it stopped moving. source - Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

August 13, 2019, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. Plestiodon fasciatus The Common Five-lined Skink is the only lizard native to Ontario. Juveniles and some adults have five stripes that run down the back. Juveniles have bright blue tails, but the colour fades with age. Females typically lay a clutch of 9-10 eggs under cover, such as logs or rocks. The young mature in just under two years and typically live less than five years.

June 5, 2018, Witless Bay Newfoundland, Canada. Fratercula arctica A lighthouse keeper on Iceland’s Westman Islands has been banding puffin chicks for more than 60 years. The islands are home to the largest puffin colony in the world, and the keeper, Oskar Sigurdsson, earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for his prolific banding: more than 90,000 birds in that time, including more than 55,000 puffins. Half of North America’s Atlantic Puffins breed in one location: Witless Bay, Newfoundland, Canada. source - Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Hopewell Rocks, N.B., Canada, June 14, 2018, From our east coast trip last year. I think I'll have it made into a jigsaw puzzle. Want one? Ascophyllum nodosum

While riding my bike I spotted two deer, a doe and buck right beside the road. They didn't mind me stopping and getting lots of images while they continued to browse. In other images you can see there faces and ears are covered in mosquitos. It's a hard life out in the bush. Odocoileus virginianus

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 9, 2019. Shorebird migration is underway, we are seeing a few species on the south beach in small numbers. Calidris minutilla The Least Sandpiper is the smallest shorebird in the world, weighing in at about 1 ounce and measuring 5-6 inches long. Males are slightly smaller than females. source - Cornell lab of ornithology.

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 8, 2019. In the front yard, not much variety in dragonflies but they make up for it in numbers. Sympetrum rubicundulum

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 7, 2019 Refound the nests of the cicada wasp. The photo with a cicada is from last year, the other is from today. Specius speciosus Adult wasp emergence generally occurs by the first week in July and may continue throughout the summer months. Adults live approximately 60–75 days and feed on nectar and other plant exudates. The males typically die soon after mating. The female wasps prefer to dig new nesting holes in full sun, where well-drained soils exist and vegetation is sparse. They may burrow near sidewalks or patio edges in home lawns. Each female digs an individual burrow 6–10 inches deep and one-half inch wide. The soil is dislodged by her mouth, and loose particles are kicked back using her hind legs. The excess soil thrown out of the burrow forms a U-shaped mound at the entrance.

Starlings, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, July 31, 2019 One of the many species that come to the yard. Sturnus vulgaris All the European Starlings in North America descended from 100 birds set loose in New York's Central Park in the early 1890s. The birds were intentionally released by a group who wanted America to have all the birds that Shakespeare ever mentioned.

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Aug 3, 2019. Spotted while on one of my daily bike rides around the park. Plathemis lydia

White-tailed deer, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, August 2, 2019. "Bambi" is still staying in the general vicinity of our yard. There is a small herd across the road and down about 1/4 mile. Odocoileus viriginianus White-tailed deer prefer a mixture of open areas and forest, which provide coverage. They are commonly seen in woodlands, meadows and abandoned farms and near streams. During the summer months, deer will be found in forested areas where there is abundant food. However, in the winter, when there is less food and the snow is deep, deer will concentrate in “deer yards” where there is food and shelter from winter storms.

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. Setophaga petechia Life can be dangerous for a small bird. Yellow Warblers have occasionally been found caught in the strands of an orb weaver spider’s web.

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, July 23, 2019. The pose made me think of a parrot, he's colourful enough. Cardinalis cardinalis The oldest recorded Northern Cardinal was a female, and was 15 years, 9 months old when she was found in Pennsylvania.