Monday, July 6, 2020

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


Salamanders, Salamanders and more Salamanders



On April 7th, 2020 my dad and I had a plan to go Salamander hunting in the evening (not the violent kind).  We were going to go to the county of Halton Hills. This would be mine and my brother Jackson's third time seeing them and my little sister Eloise's first time.

Of course in a crazy time like this (Covid 19 pandemic) we made a plan that if anyone was there we would go home, but, if there was no one there we would stay. We headed out at 7:30PM.

It looked like it was perfect weather with a nice amount of rain falling and some thick mist that would keep the Salamanders moist for the trip to the creek to mate. When we were getting close to the place we crossed our fingers that no one would be there.

Luck was on our side because when we got there no one was there, or it could have been the fact that it was pouring rain.  It was 8:50PM when we got there, and we decided to wait for the rain and lightning to pass.

The first Spotted Salamander we found was when we got to the rocky and leafy part of the trail and in same spot we found another one.  On the other side of the trail there was a Unisexual Mole Salamander. Then when I got my camera out to take some pictures of the Salamanders it said on the screen "No Memory Card Present" then I just remembered that I had left my memory card back home. I told my dad this news and he said I could have his for a bit. So I used his memory card to take some photos. Thanks Dad!

Unisexual Mole Salamander- Halton Hills, Ontario, April 7, 2020 9:10PM

Spotted Salamander-- Halton Hills, Ontario, April 7, 2020 9:10PM
 The rain was still falling a bit so I got some pictures with rain drops on it.

Then after that we got to the the board walk and started seeing more Salamanders! I took better pictures since the rain was not falling a bit, and all the Salamanders we were seeing was great!


Spotted Salamander-- Halton Hills, Ontario, April 7, 2020 9:30PM

Spotted Salamander-- Halton Hills, Ontario, April 7, 2020 9:30PM
When we got down on the board walk we spotted an Eastern Newt. You could also hear thousands and thousands of Spring Peepers!

When we were going to the boardwalk towards a small creek my sister (that was having a blast) said "Frog!! I found a frog!" so we quickly hurried over and saw that she found a nice looking Spring Peeper!


Spring Peeper-- Halton Hills, Ontario, April 7, 2020 9:30PM

If you sometimes have trouble telling the difference between the Spring Peeper and Chorus Frog (Western or Boreal), just ook at the back and if you see a pattern that looks like an X that means it is a Spring Peeper and the Chorus Frogs have lines not in the shape of a X.



Spring Peeper-- Halton Hills, Ontario, April 7, 2020 9:30PM
After that we got to the creek and we were amazed by what we saw!

Spotted Salamander-- Halton Hills, Ontario, April 7, 2020 9:40PM



There was about fifty or sixty of them in that small spot and it was spectacular!

Spotted Salamander-- Halton Hills, Ontario, April 7, 2020 9:40PM




Then we went on and got some more good photos

  Spotted Salamander-- Halton Hills, Ontario, April 7, 2020 9:50PM

 Spotted Salamander-- Halton Hills, Ontario, April 7, 2020 9:50PM

    We saw another Unisexual Mole Salamander but this time you could see faint blue spots.

Unisexual Mole Salamander- Halton Hills, Ontario, April 7, 2020 9:40PM



It is  sometimes very hard to tell Unisexual Mole Salamanders and Jefferson Salamanders apart. Unisexual Mole Salamanders are a cross between a Blue-spotted Salamander and a Jefferson Salamander and adult Unisexual Mole Salamanders look a lot like normal Jefferson Salamanders.  Since they inter-breed a lot there is more often a Unisexual Mole Salamanders than real Jefferson Salamanders and the only way to make a full ID is do get a DNA sample.

Then we turned back and got on the board walk and were going to head home but we spotted another Eastern Newt and stopped to look at it. When we were looking the newt I glanced around hoping to find one of the Spring Peepers out of the many we were hearing. I looked around and sure enough I found one.


I searched at another spot and found one again but neither of those times did I get a good photo of one.

Spring Peeper- Halton Hills, Ontario, April 7, 2020 10:10PM


When I was done taking pictures of the Spring Peepers I headed back to my family and then when I got there my dad and I saw a Spotted Salamander with orange spots on it's head.

Spotted Salamander (orange spots on head) - Halton Hills, Ontario, April 7, 2020 10:10PM


Then it was time to go. We got to the car, put hand sanitizer on and hit the road.








A Hermit Thush

On April 10, 2020 I got up with no plans for the day (except putting out the outhouse that my dad built earlier) so I birded until was lunch time and then went out to put the outhouse up with my dad.



Then I went home and birded some more. I went inside to upload pictures of the creatures that I had seen. Then on iMessages my dad said, "Hermit Thrush!" I left in a hurry and ran out with boots and a t-shirt plus some shorts.

I ran to the location where my dad saw it and I spotted it right away and got my best pictures of one yet!





Hermit Thrush- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario, April 10, 2020, 3:50PM 

Then I got on the tractor with my dad and went home.

When my dad was digging he found a cool Ground Beetle, so he brought it home and we got some great pictures of it.






Green Pubescent Ground Beetle- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario, April 10, 2020, 4:40PM


Saturday, July 4, 2020

A Morning Walk

When you get up early in the morning and go on a walk it can be very productive because all the birds are waking up and doing their morning routine (singing)!

That's exactly what my dad and I did on April 11, 2020. When we were at some of the first pine trees we spotted our first Yellow-bellied Sapsucker of the year.

A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker has been coming (we don't know if it is the same one) to the same tree for the past few years so it's now easy to know where they are so when my dad checked the tree we found our first Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in Ontario of the year!


Yellow-bellied Sapsucker- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- April 11, 2020, 8:00AM


Then we went up to the back pond and we heard some rustling in the leaves so we we looked around to see what was making all that rustling when my dad called "Broad-winged Hawk!" I quickly looked around and saw my first Broad-winged Hawk of the year flying away!

After that we went on and tried again for the mystery bird that was rustling in the leaves but still had no luck so on we went.

We were going to make a turn towards the other side of our swamp when I spotted a sparrow that turned out to be a American Tree Sparrow. They start disappearing at our place once the Chipping Sparrows start coming.

When we were making our way beside the swamp we saw a pair of Mallards and flushed a pair of Wood Ducks. I love when they make their whistling noises that sound like "o-week o-week" as they fly away.

When we were doing the back loop we saw the pair of Eastern Bluebirds and heard the distant call of the Northern Flicker.


Once we got to the back pond we heard the same strange rustling in the leaves and we thought
"What if it's a Fox Sparrow?" so we tried the smack call of the Fox Sparrow on an app that I suggest you should use called iBird Pro, and sure enough when it called we saw one.. two actually!


Fox SparrowGuelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- April 11, 2020, 8:50AM



Yes, another year bird!

As my dad was looking into the forest I was looking at the Fox Sparrows, fascinated by the colours, size and the characteristics they were showing! The Fox Sparrow will use their legs to scratch at leaves and sticks in the forest to find meals (in this case insects, like lots of other sparrows and birds.) Fox Sparrows migrate through Southern Ontario and go up north to breed and raise their young like lots of other migrant bird species do.

As I was watching them I felt like something was watching me so I spun around to see a Coyote looking at me as it ran across the field!

Coyote-Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- April 11, 2020, 9:00AM


Coyotes have lots of different colour variations depending on how old they are, what time of year it is (sometimes) and where they are located. This one was very blonde.

Coyote- Guelph Eramosa, Wellington, Ontario- April 11, 2020, 9:00AM


I called for my dad but as soon as he got there it had disappeared into the woods.

 As we were turning the bend I spotted a small bird fluttering through some small cedars and it turned out to be a Winter Wren. I tried to get some pics but it was just too fast!

After that we went back to the house and heard an Eastern Phoebe and then went in the house to have some breakfast.