Rare Eramosa Property 1

On April 11, after my dad and I went on a walk, my dad, brother & sister and I decided to do a quick survey at the "rare Eramosa property 1" after breakfast. Rare Eramosa property 1 is a new trail near us. Last year, the people who owned the property starting doing bio-blitzes there.  I went there for the first time with my family. My Uncle Matt and cousin Willy also came. We came back this year in the spring and my dad (and sometimes me) go there to complete surveys

When we got there the sky was clear and you could hear the beautiful song of the Song Sparrow. Down by the field my dad spotted some boards in the grass so we lifted them up checking for snakes or insects and we found three ground beetles but nothing else.

Anisodactylus- Rare Eramosa property 1, Wellington, Ontario, April 11, 2020, 11:00AM

Green Pubescent Ground Beetle on the right and the picture above and Chlaenius Tricolor on the left- Rare Eramosa 
property 1, Wellington, Ontario, April 11, 2020, 11:00AM

Chlaenius Tricolor- Rare Eramosa property 1, Wellington, Ontario, April 11, 2020, 11:00AM

Then we made our way into the forest where there was lichens growing on some of the few rocks. There were also some hoof funguses growing on trees and other types of fungies. When we came to a small clearing with a stream we jumped across and saw a small group of Golden-crowned Kinglets that I managed to get a photo of.

Golden-crowned Kinglet- Rare Eramosa property 1, Wellington, Ontario, April 11, 2020, 11:10AM

Then there was a bit more forest and you could hear a Northern Cardinal in a circle of cedars. We walked along the edge of the field while looking at the robins swooping down to find some food. We looked and listened for anything strange.

When we got to the other side of the field, we saw a group of turkeys running or flying into the forest.

Then we walked along the edge of the forest and found a group of birds, including some Black-capped Chickadees, two Brown Creepers, a few Dark-eyed Juncoes, a Red-breasted Nuthatch, a few Blue jays and a bunch of Robins in the field beside us. Then we walked  down the pathway towards the river.

American Robin- Rare Eramosa property 1, Wellington, Ontario, April 11, 2020, 11:20AM

When we got to the bottom of the hill we had to go on one side of the trail to prevent us from getting a soaker in the deep puddles. Once we started getting near the river we started hearing a noise that sounded like a thump. It would start out as a slow rhyme then slowly getting fatter, then it would stop, returning a minute later

Can you guess what it was??  None other than a Ruffed Grouse doing his display!

Male Ruffed Grouses will find a log they like and then they start hitting it with its tail, producing a sound that sound like heart beat. There must have been three or four of them!

Then we went down to the river where we flushed some mallards and saw a pair of Canada Geese swimming down the river. We decided to have a break and snack on a few goldfishes under a big cedar next to the river, and after the snack dad I went to see how far we could get. When we were walking along the edge of the trail we saw a Belted Kingfisher flying down the river, then we kept going but it got a lot harder and muckier so we decided to turn back.

When we were going up the big hill again I spotted something between the roots of a tree and when a got a closer look at it a realized it was a Leopard Slug!

Leopard Slug- Rare Eramosa property 1, Wellington, Ontario, April 11, 2020, 12:40AM

When we got back to the car we checked the boards while two Song Sparrows were flitting around. We found no snakes again or cool insects, so we jumped in the car and headed home.

Son Sparrow- Rare Eramosa property 1, Wellington, Ontario, April 11, 2020, 1:22PM