Rondeau Ric

A pair if house wrens passing food for the chicks in the house. Rondeau Provincial Park, July 31, 2023. Troglodytes aedon. The House Wren has one of the largest ranges of any songbird in the New World. It breeds from Canada through the West Indies and Central America, southward to the southernmost point of South America. source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology  

Black-billed magpie, near St. Thomas, Ontario, July 30, 2023. Very far away, heavily cropped and processed. Saw 5 of the possible 6 in the area. Unusual visitor this far east. Pica hudsonia. The Black-billed Magpie makes a very large nest that can take up to 40 days to construct. It's a lot of work, but a study found that it only used about 1% of the daily energy expenditure of the pair. Laying eggs, on the other hand, takes 23% of the female's daily energy budget. source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Eastern cicada killer wasps are back at Rondeau. They are harmless unless you are a cicada. Interesting animals. Rondeau Provincial Park, July 28, 2023. Sphecius speciosus Mild mannered female cicada killer wasps are active during the summer, intent on their tasks of 1) digging underground burrows and 2) provisioning them with paralyzed cicadas that will be food for their grub-like larvae. The wasps will be very focused on these tasks for several weeks.

A young white-tailed deer being targeted by the Vampires of Rondeau. Our yard,July 26, 2023. Taken through the Wonderful Wildlife Window.' Rondeau Provincial Park. Odocoileus virginianus.

Rose-breasted grosbeaks, Rondeau Provincial Park, July 24, 2023. Pheucticus ludovicianus. Two males share the record for the oldest Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Both birds were at least 12 years, 11 months old when recaptured and released during banding operations. One was banded in 1972 in Vermont and found in the same state in 1984. The other was banded in Maryland in 1976 and recaptured in 1987 in the same state. source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Rondeau Provincial Park, July 23, 2023. A multi-legged visitor beside the pond. The black and yellow mud dauber, Sceliphron caementarium (Drury), is a common and widely distributed solitary sphecid wasp that hunts spiders and builds characteristic mud nests for their offspring. In each cell of her nest, a female mud dauber lays a single egg which she provisions with up to twenty-five live, paralyzed spiders. source - University of Florida .

Punk Rock Cardinal, Rondeau Provincial Park, July 23, 2023. Northern Cardinal strutting around the yard this afternoon. Cardinalis cardinalis. The oldest recorded Northern Cardinal was a female, and was 15 years, 9 months old when she was found in Pennsylvania. source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Yellow warbler eating a bee, Rondeau Provincial Park, July 22, 2023. Didn't now they were bee eaters. Setophaga petechia. Yellow Warblers forage along slender branches of shrubs and small trees, picking off insect prey as they go or briefly hovering to get at prey on leaves. source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Monarch butterfly, up close and personal, Rondeau Provincial Park, July 18, 2023. In the front garden which is tall grasses and wild flowers. Danaus plexippus. Monarch butterfly migration is the phenomenon, mainly across North America, where the subspecies Danaus plexippus plexippus migrates each summer and autumn to and from overwintering sites on the West Coast of California or mountainous sites in Central Mexico.

Snowberry Clearwing, Rondeau Provincial Park, July 17, 2023. ID by iNaturalist. Each July they show up when the bee balm (bergamot) starts to bloom. Hemaris diffinis, the snowberry clearwing, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. This moth is sometimes called "hummingbird moth" or "flying lobster".

Gray catbird with lunch, Rondeau Provincial Park, July 16, 2023. I was able to capture images of several bird species with food in their beaks. This one was my favourite of the day. Dumetella carolinensis. The oldest known Gray Catbird was at least 17 years, 11 months old when it was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in New Jersey in 2001. It had been banded in Maryland in 1984.. source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology

House wren on the hunt. Rondeau Provincial Park, July 14, 2023. Troglodytes aedon. For House Wren eggs, temperature inside the nest box can be critical to survival. If a sun-drenched nest box warms above about 106 degrees Fahrenheit for an hour, the eggs will begin to die. If a cold snap chills a nest below about 65 degrees Fahrenheit for more than a day it can also doom the eggs. source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Red-headed woodpecker with lunch, Rondeau Provincial Park, July 14, 2023. We had red-heads, red-bellies , red-wings and house sparrows hawking insects over the yard today. Not sure what they were catching. Melanerpes erythrocephalus. The oldest Red-headed Woodpecker on record was banded in 1926 in Michigan and lived to be at least 9 years, 11 months old. source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Eastern tiger swallowtail, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, July 11, 2023. An edge on view of a butterfly. Papilio glaucus. One of the most common and beautiful eastern butterflies. Individuals can be found anywhere east of the Mississippi river and a bit farther west into the Great Plains states. There are also populations in several Mexican states.

Or just Three Amigos. Cedar waxwings, Rondeau Provincial Park, July 11, 2023. The water feature was a busy place today. Bombycilla cedrorum. Building a nest takes a female Cedar Waxwing 5 to 6 days and may require more than 2,500 individual trips to the nest. They occasionally save time by taking nest materials from other birds’ nests, including nests of Eastern Kingbirds, Yellow-throated Vireos, orioles, robins, and Yellow Warblers. source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Eastern Prickly Pear cactus flower, July 10, 2023, Rondeau Provincial Park in our yard. In Canada, the Eastern Prickly-pear Cactus is found only in southern Ontario. There are two known locations, which are on sand spits along the shore of Lake Erie. Based on historical reports, this cactus may once have been marginally more widespread in areas near Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair. Opuntia cespitosa source - https://www.ontario.ca/page/eastern-prickly-pear-cactus

Had the opportunity to watch cliff swallows building a nests. This one was almost ready for eggs. Chatham-Kent, July 7, 2023. Petrochelidon pyrrhonota. Although the Cliff Swallow can nest solitarily, it usually nests in colonies. Colonies tend to be small in the East, but further west they can number up to 3,700 nests in one spot. source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Red Admiral butterfly, up close and personal. Rondeau Provincial Park, July 8, 2023. Vanessa atalanta There are more than just red admirals in the Nymphalidae family. The western U.S. has the Weidemeyer's admiral (Limentis weidemeyerii); the white admiral (Limentis arthemis) lives in North America, Great Britain, Eurasia and Japan; the Indian red admiral (Vanessa indica) is found in the Canary Islands and India

Just an orchard oriole. Rondeau Provincial Park, July 7, 2023. Wishful thinking. I was trying to turn the oriole into a rare bird. As the saying goes - close but no cigar. Icterus spurius. The oldest Orchard Oriole on record was a male and he was at least 11 years old when he was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in Maryland in 2012. source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Rondeau Provincial Park, July 6, 2023. We seem to have had a fledge of house wrens, the young are all around and the adults are looking worn out. Troglodytes aedon. Male House Wrens returning north to breed in their first year are more likely to settle close to an established male than farther from it. Experienced males tend to settle farther apart. Young males may take clues from more experienced males about what areas are good nesting sites. source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Rondeau provincial Park, July 4, 2023. An unexpected visitor to the water feature this evening. Occasionally we see a female but this is the first breeding plumage male since migration. Setophaga ruticilla The oldest American Redstart was at least 10 years and one month old, when he was recaptured and rereleased during a banding operation in Ontario.

Rabbit, Rondeau Provincial Park, July 2, 2023. Eastern cottontail. Sylvilagus floridanus

Rondeau Provincial Park, July 2, 2023. Not in adult plumage yet. Setophaga petechia. The oldest-known Yellow Warbler was a female and was at least 11 years old when she was recaught and rereleased during banding operations in New York.

Rondeau Provincial Park, July 1, 2023. We seem to have had a fledge of hummers. We can't keep track but I think we have 7 or 8 coming to the feeders. Archilochus colubris. The oldest known Ruby-throated Hummingbird was a female, and at least 9 years, 2 months old when she was recaptured and rereleased in 2014 during banding operations in West Virginia. source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Baltimore oriole launching from the water feature in the yard. Rondeau Provincial Park June 28, 2023.