A morning at Bill Mason Centre (part 1)
July 29th, 2013
I had a wonderful morning at Bill Mason Centre last week, and got enough good photos to make three posts out of it.
This Common Yellowthroat obviously meant to feed his young, but was unwilling to go to his nest while I was watching. Instead he hopped from perch to perch, watching and scolding me while holding the insect in his mouth. In the wallpaper version, you get a good view of the lush bushy vegetation that characterizes this wetland. The crop shows three of the alder catkins which look like mini pine cones.
Lots of fledgling Swamp Sparrows were about, still streak-breasted in their youth.
I gather the boardwalk at Bill Mason Centre is not so much maintained in summer, when the schoolkids aren't around to use it. Because eventually I came to this:
Whereat I made the mistake of attempting to push through the huge overhanging reeds. I gave up and turned back halfway, and once I was out, found myself covered head to toe with hundreds of little bits of greenish debris. I didn't mind it so much until I noticed that the hundreds of little greenish bits were moving. Because I was in fact covered head to toe in aphids.
...but it was worth it to have seen this adorable mink scampering down the boardwalk!
(Continued in next post...)
Odes Outing
July 25th, 2013
Last weekend I joined quite a number of people for a dragonflies and damselflies outing at Mud Lake, led by Chris Lewis and Gillian Mastromatteo. It was lots of fun for all, and I particularly appreciated the opportunity to learn by observing how to net and handle odonates without harming them. Because some odes can only be identified by taking them in hand and using a magnifying glass, I will have to learn that skill if I want to get more serious about dragonhunting.
Dragonflies in hand make for interesting photos!
Lance-Tipped Darner. Is it just me or does he look like he's enjoying this?
Male (behind) and female White-Faced Meadowhawks.
Lancet Clubtail.
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Black and Yellow Mud Dauber. Not a dragonfly, obviously, but I couldn't resist photographing these cute wasps, who seemed to be everywhere.
My First Dragonhunter
July 22nd, 2013
I've been eager to see one of these ever since I read about them on Gillian's blog. Last week at Sugarbush Trail, I finally got my wish!
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Dragonhunters are aptly named: large, powerful dragonflies that routinely eat other dragonflies and damselflies. (They'll even eat monarch butterflies, carefully eating around and discarding the bits with the highest concentration of toxins.) Given that this one was perched over Chelsea Creek right by the display grounds of the jewelwings, I have an idea of who was on the menu!
The Beauty Of Jewelwings
July 19th, 2013
It's settled: Ebony Jewelwings are my favorite insects of all. They look like butterflies in flight; but when they land, they look like no other insects you've ever seen. (Technically they're damselflies.) I love their vivid iridescent blue/green bodies, and their delicate black teardrop wings. Watching them feels almost like bird-watching. The males have their favorite perches, their showy displays, their courtship rituals. They chase each other as they vie for breeding rights, while the females perch demurely in groups, watching the show.
Jewelwings like clear, clean flowing water...not an easy thing to find in Ottawa. My favorite spot for watching them is Chelsea Creek in the Gatineau, along the Sugarbush Trail. It's a beautiful area and teeming with jewelwings in summer. At a bridge over the creek, territorial males haunt their chosen perches (usually overhanging blades of grass), returning, like avian flycatchers, to the same perch over and over after each sally over the water. This makes them easy to find!
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This next shot greatly benefits from viewing at high res. It's two females laying their eggs in the creek.
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Finally, an odd action shot. A male flew by and seemed to grab at each ovipositing female in turn. Was he guarding them? Or was he trying to interrupt the process, because they weren't his eggs?
Slender Spreadwing
July 16th, 2013
This has to be the daintiest (and certainly the most elegant) insect I have ever successfully photographed. I'm impressed that my lens even managed it!
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Not 100% sure of the identity. It's definitely a spreadwing damselfly of some sort. Slender Spreadwing is an educated guess based on how long and delicate it is.
A loss to the Ottawa birding community
July 15th, 2013
Bob Bracken died suddenly yesterday. Bob was a long-time birder and naturalist in Ottawa who contributed a great deal to the community. I have personally encountered him a few times in the field and found him to be a perfect gentleman and very helpful. I will miss him.
Highlights From Trillium Woods
July 12th, 2013
I braved nuclear mosquitos, 6000% humidity, and the threat of thunderstorms to bring you these photos. Enjoy!
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An Anxious Parent
July 9th, 2013
Like the Winter Wren at South March Highlands, this House Wren made a huge fuss of a distraction display when I stumbled into its territory. It perched conspicuously and scolded nonstop until I left. It probably had fledglings hidden about in the undergrowth.
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In many areas House Wren is a common backyard bird (thus the name), but in Ottawa it's quite localized--although in the past few years, I seem to be seeing more and more of them. Places I've found them singing include Shirley's Bay (where I found this one), Watts Creek Trail and adjacent Nortel woods, Petrie Island, and the lands south of the airport. They favor open woodlands with scattered trees, and nest in tree holes or bird boxes. They're usually shyer than this. This was my first-ever opportunity to photograph one up close!
As sweet as they look and sound, House Wrens have a sinister side. They've been known to sneak into the nests of neighboring birds and puncture their eggs. This is presumably a way of eliminating competition for resources. Another peculiar habit of the species is deliberately incorporating unhatched spider egg sacs into their nests. After the spiderlings hatch, they prey on the mites that would otherwise parasitize the vulnerable nestlings.
On My Balcony
July 5th, 2013
Busy parent robins have been flying back and forth for a couple weeks now, feeding this brood atop my second-floor balcony light. I consider them welcome neighbors. They're much cleaner birds than the pigeons that used to lay eggs on my apartment balcony.
Don't worry, I'm not as close as it looks! I shot this from the back yard.
Tandem
July 3rd, 2013
Widow Skimmers mating in midair.
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