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Algonquin August 2023

Warbler River (Algonquin Observations August 2023, Part 3)

One early morning in Algonquin Park, within the Pog Lake Campground, I took a walk to a river and a dam. Here, with the sun rising and the river flowing noisily over the dam, I could hear the faint little remarks of small songbirds zipping from branch-tip to branch-tip. I caught their colourful feathers reflecting the early morning light and from their frenetic foraging I identified them as members of that most energetic and wonderful group of birds known as Wood-Warblers (Family Parulidae). At least… most of them were Wood-Warblers. One avian exception was thrown into the mix.

From early morning visits in the light and an evening journey with fog muting the colours of the trees and birds, I spied and photographed 6 species of brids, some of them close enough to observe especially well. There was a tunnel formed of trees which created a surrounding of places for small birds to hop about me, sort of a shark tunnel for birding, with much less threatening subjects of observation. As the small birds moved about and around me I marveled at their bursts of flight and keen senses that enabled them to glean trees of insect inhabitants.

What follows is a swift tour through the birds I observed and photographed at this wonderful location, a flyby if you will.

Least Flycatcher (Empidonax minimus):

The one non-warbler was a Least Flycatcher (Empidonax minimus), another migratory bird but only very distantly related to the Wood-Warblers. Least Flycatchers appear in Ontario during May and usually leave by September (after breeding), setting off for their wintering grounds in Mexico and Central America (Tozer 2012). They are very common and widespread in Ontario during their stay, but are not often noticed, at least by me.

Magnolia Warbler (Setophaga magnolia):

This was the best shot I got of this sneaky bird.

Magnolia Warblers spend their breeding season, from about May to September nesting along the edges of forests of conifers or mixed trees (Tozer 2012). These beautiful birds are striking for their bright yellow undersides and was originally named the “Black-and-yellow Warbler” but is now more commonly called the Magnolia Warbler. Below is an excellent little window into one ornithologist’s encounter with these birds at the end of the 19th century. I think this piece of writing by William Brewster (Brewster 1877) captures some of the wonder I feel whenever I encounter warblers:

“At length, entering a grove of thick growing young spruces, I sat down to rest on a mossy log. I had been there but a short time when I became conscious of faint sounds in the trees above and around me, — chirpings, twitterings, and occasionally a modest little effort at song. Watching attentively, I soon spied a movement among the branches, and a tiny bird hopped out into the light, presenting a bright yellow breast and throat for just a moment before flying into the next tree, Here was a revelation ! I already knew a few of the most familiar birds, — the Robin, the Bluebird, the Sparrow, the Oriole, and some others; but it had never occurred to me that dark forests like these might be tenanted by such delicate and beautiful forms. Only the tropics surely could boast such gems.”

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata):

Displaying its namesake yellow rump, this is perhaps a female based on her lack of blue patterning across her back, but young males have similar coloration.

Yellow-rumped Warblers are generalist warblers, using a variety of coniferous and mixed forests for their nesting habitat, and foraging with varied techniques including fly-catching and gleaning (Tozer 2012). These generalist habits make them a common sight, and that’s certainly a cause for celebration as their flitting trails through the foliage are wonderful to watch. Yellow-rumped Warblers have been sighted in Algonquin Park into November, but normally they depart for their United States wintering range during October (Tozer 2012).

This individual is a male, based on the darker coloration on his back. He has caught some sort of insect in his beak.


Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica):

Chestnut-sided Warblers have some wonderful patterns.

While the preceding Warblers use conifers for nesting, the Chestnut-sided Warbler prefers open secondary forests and shrublands, historically caused by fire and more recently caused by human disturbances such as logging (Tozer 2012). Indeed, as humans have changed the forests of North America, these colorful birds have become more common as their preferred habitat has spread. Chapman (1917) writes: “The Chestnut-sided Warbler, for example, considered by Wilson and Audubon to be a rare species, is now abundant, and we may believe that this change in numbers is due largely to the development of those scrub and second growths in which the bird delights.”

I believe this is a young bird based on its washed-out colours and the lack of distinctive patterning of the adults of this species.


This is the same bird as above, showing it from a rather different angle than usually seen. It certainly makes the bird appear to be well-fed.

American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla):

“If a bird exists which is more constantly in motion and in a greater variety of ways, I have yet to see it.” – Frank Chapman, in Warblers of North America (1917).

The first several times I observed American Redstarts, I didn’t realize they were Wood-Warblers. I think the very dark and bright coloration didn’t match my association of Parulids with generally yellows and pale blues or white. The females are green-grey and yellow and white so they seem more in line with my description above, but the males are unmistakably distinctive. My first remembered encounter with Redstarts was in MacGregor Provincial Park (you can read about it here). They are memorable not just for their striking coloration but for their rapid foraging style, described beautifully by Chapman (1917) as “a mad series of darts and dives and whirls, of onward rushes and as sudden stops”.


Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia)

Similar to the American Redstart, the Black-and-white Warbler seems to be an odd one in the group appearance-wise. This monochromatic species also displays a different foraging strategy than the frenetic foliage-gleaning and hovering more typical of the Wood-Warblers. The Black-and-white Warbler forages much more similarly to a Nuthatch (Sitta sp.) or Brown Creeper (Certhia americana), crawling up and down trees and branches, using its elongated hind-claw and shorter legs to do so (Tozer 2012). The scientific name of this bird translates as “variegated moss-plucker”, in reference to their foraging methods (Hughes 2001). Another surprise from this small bird is that the “nest is usually located on the ground, often in a depression at the base of a tree, stump, or shrub, or under logs or dead branches” (Tozer 2012). What an amazing creature.

Black-and-white Warbler which one could easily mistake for a White-Breasted Nuthatch.

The Wood-Warblers I observed (and the Least Flycatcher too), all arrive in Algonquin in Spring and depart in the Fall; they use the resources of the northern forests swiftly before retreating to southern ranges as winter approaches. I’m glad I was present to see and capture their foraging, flitting, forms among the branches and tree trunks of the riverside in Pog Lake campground, and going through these photos again makes me look forward to their return this Spring.

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)

References:

Brewster, William. “THE BLACK-AND-YELLOW WARBLER (DENDRŒCA MACULOSA).” Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club 2, no. 1 (1877): 1–7. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24723498.

Chapman, Frank. 1917. The Warblers of North America. Dover edition, 1968.

Hughes, Janice M. 2001. The ROM Field Guide to Birds of Ontario. Royal Ontario Museum.

Tozer, Ron. 2012. Birds of Algonquin Park. The Friends of Algonquin Park.

For Previous Algonquin Observation posts, see:

–Lakeside Lives (Algonquin Observations August 2023, Part 2)

–Campsite Companions (Algonquin Observations August 2023, Part 1)

–Robber Fly Hunting Queen Ant

–Algonquin in August

–Canada Jay (Perisoreus canadensis)

–Moose (Alces alces) Family

–Algonquin Observations, Part 5 – Spruce Bog: The Reckoning

–Algonquin Observations, Part 4 – Spruce Bog Speedrun and the Logging Museum Trail

–Algonquin Observations, Part 3 – Peck Lake Trail

–Algonquin Observations, Part 2 – Opeongo Road

–Algonquin Observations, Part 1 – Pog Lake Campground

Categories
Algonquin August 2023

Lakeside Lives (Algonquin Observations August 2023, Part 2)

Subsequent days in the park had us spending time at the Pog lake beach and surrounding area. The fog swirling across the calm lake was a wonderful sight to begin our Algonquin days. One morning the shapes of loons speared the fog and then dropped below the still surface of the lake. Loons may be a common sight within the lakes of Algonquin park, but that does not mean that they are a boring sight at all. Their calls and dives are woven into the atmosphere of Algonquin Park.

The charisma of Loons did not prevent my eyes being drawn to the small living denizens of the beach area as well. Resting on a buoy was a Large Orthopteran (grasshopper/cricket/katydid) of some sort. This was a Roesel’s Bush-Cricket (Roeseliana roeselii), an introduced Katydid from Europe. There are two forms to this species, one long-winged, and one short-winged. I believe the one I spotted is of the longer-winged variety.

As the days progressed, more insect activity became apparent. A flower near the lake’s edge was visited by a bumblebee-look-alike: the Orange-legged Drone Fly (Eristalis flavipes). The larvae of this species feed within moist decomposing plant material and are known as “rat-tailed maggots” because of the long thin breathing tube that extends from the larvae. But the adults are beautiful bumblebee-mimics, one of many examples where one stage in an insect’s life is more attractive (to us) than another.

Nearby the flower was a pair of damselflies (Bluets, Enallagma) performing their heart-shaped coupling.

Part 1: The Male has clasped onto the female behind her head.

I’m unsure of the species but there are over 30 species of Bluets in North America (bugguide.net), so called because of the often bright blue colour of the male.

Part 2: Acrobatics incoming…

Damselflies have a strong ovipositor which they use to pierce vegetation in order to lay their eggs inside. Oftentimes, the plants they lay eggs into are partly underwater, causing the damselflies to stretch their abdomens beneath the water surface to cut into a suitable stem.

Part 3: Union.

There were other encounters within the Pog Lake Campground, but the most memorable for me were in a location separated by a walk from our campsite and the beach, a wonderful place I came to call “Warbler River”. That will be the subject of my next post.

For Previous Algonquin Observation posts, see:

–Campsite Companions (Algonquin Observations August 2023, Part 1)

–Robber Fly Hunting Queen Ant

–Algonquin in August

–Canada Jay (Perisoreus canadensis)

–Moose (Alces alces) Family

–Algonquin Observations, Part 5 – Spruce Bog: The Reckoning

–Algonquin Observations, Part 4 – Spruce Bog Speedrun and the Logging Museum Trail

–Algonquin Observations, Part 3 – Peck Lake Trail

–Algonquin Observations, Part 2 – Opeongo Road

–Algonquin Observations, Part 1 – Pog Lake Campground

Categories
Algonquin August 2023

Campsite Companions (Algonquin Observations August 2023, Part 1)

In August of 2023, I returned to one of my favourite places: Algonquin Provincial Park. While there, I photographed and encountered varied organisms and I’d like to take the opportunity to explore and describe these nature observations in a series of blogposts, as I often do.

When first arriving at our campsite, I observed not a living thing itself, but rather the mark of a living thing on its environment: I found a bird nest. According to iNaturalist it is likely the creation of a Vireo (genus Vireo, who said Scientific names were hard to remember?). The most common Vireo in Southern Ontario is the Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus), so this was likely constructed by a member of this species. A description of their nest construction is appropriate here: “The female spends 4 to 5 days constructing a nest of bark strips, grasses, pine needles, wasp-nest paper, twigs, and plant fibers that hangs below the branch. She glues the materials (some of which are provided by the male) together and to the branch fork with spider-web adhesive, occasionally supplemented with spider egg cases and sticky plant fibers.” (Cornell Lab of Ornithology 2019). I love thinking of the time and effort that went into this small nest. Just think of the spiders’ webs and egg cases that went into this architecture.

Small eye-level nest of a songbird, likely a Vireo of some sort.

While exploring our campsite, a very different organism was in the process of creating a nest, a crabronid wasp female. This tiny black-and-yellow wasp was investigating the ground of our campsite for a location to create a  burrow. The wasp landed several times and dug a little bit into the sandy soil then hovered for a while, circling the area before dropping to the ground once more. At one point, it entered the firepit and dug rapidly into the ashes within, crafting itself a very easily constructed but frightfully unwise burrow. It put me in mind of the parable of the man building a house on sand, perhaps there is a Hymenopteran equivalent about “digging one’s burrow in ashes”. In any case, I don’t think the wasp was settled on the firepit as its burrow location because after forming these temporary exploratory burrows, she flew off and wasn’t seen the rest of the day.

“Do not dig your burrow in ash” – ancient Hymenopteran proverb.

A few days later, I spotted her hovering form once more, this time accompanied by a prey item. Dragging below her was a corpse larger than herself, that of a Horse Fly (Tabanidae). I never witnessed the end of her journey, I’m not sure if she found a good spot to bury her large prey to feed her young. But I hope that she did.

Crabronid wasp dragging her larger horse fly prey below herself.

Another Hymenopteran was looking to provision for its young, although its prey was far larger than a horsefly. The creature was a Black-and-red Horntail (Urocerus cressoni) and its prey was a tree. Horntails (Suborder Symphyta) lay their eggs inside the trunks of trees and the larvae feed within. Urocerus cressoni larvae feed inside of Pine trees and their relatives (Marshall 2023).

Black-and-Red Horntail (Urocerus cressoni) resting on the trunk of a tree, likely searching for a place to lay her eggs.

Many other insects were observed on the trees, plants and litter of our campsite and the surrounding areas of the Pog Lake Campground. Some True Flies (Order Diptera) caught my attention. A bright and shiny Dolichopus skittered about in the leaf litter, and an elongate Robber Fly (Genus Machimus) was spotted on fallen pine needles.

Dolichopus Fly.
Robber fly of the genus Machimus.

Some of the most beautiful insects found in the Pog Lake campground were the Dragonflies (Order Odonata). A strikingly large Dragonfly of the genus Aeshna was basking in the sun on the trunks of trees and (when I was able to take its photo) on our dining tent entrance.

A much more easily missed odonate was the Variable Darner (Argis fumipennis), a smoky grey presence among the pine needles and fallen bark.

Resting along a branch was a beautiful Autumn Meadowhawk (Sympetrum vicinum), in a colour phase that I hadn’t observed before. Males of this species are a bright red with a rusty-red thorax, but females (like the one I encountered) are yellowish. I was able to get very close to this dragonfly and was rewarded with some beautiful photographs.

We didn’t just hang out by our campsite in Pog Lake, but we spent quite a bit of time at the campground beach and that will be the focus of my next blogpost.

References:

Cornell Lab of Ornithology. 2019. All About Birds. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-eyed_Vireo/lifehistory#nesting Accessed on [1/24/24].

Marshall, Stephen A. 2023. Hymenoptera

For Previous Algonquin Observation blogposts, see:

–Robber Fly Hunting Queen Ant

–Algonquin in August

–Canada Jay (Perisoreus canadensis)

–Moose (Alces alces) Family

–Algonquin Observations, Part 5 – Spruce Bog: The Reckoning

–Algonquin Observations, Part 4 – Spruce Bog Speedrun and the Logging Museum Trail

–Algonquin Observations, Part 3 – Peck Lake Trail

–Algonquin Observations, Part 2 – Opeongo Road

–Algonquin Observations, Part 1 – Pog Lake Campground

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Uncategorized

Norfolk Naturalist Year in Photos, (Dec 2022-Nov 2023)

Siederia walshella, on the Lynn Valley Trail, April 2023:

On a walk on the trail by my house, I spotted this tiny creature (about a cm long) climbing up the trunk of a tree. I’m not positive on the identification, but it’s based on iNaturalist’s auto-ID for my photo and seems to match from what I can tell. If the ID is correct, this tiny caterpillar was likely searching for lichen to eat.

Eastern Spotted Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens), in my Parents’ pond, April 2023:

For the past few years, my parents’ garden pond has been host to these amazing creatures. All amphibians impress with their transformation from aquatic to terrestrial life but the Eastern Spotted Newt outdoes this life cycle with some incredible twists and turns. Larval newts transform into terrestrial juveniles (known as “efts”) and leave the water behind, living in the leaf litter. While on land, the efts have a rough reddish brown skin which keeps moisture in. After two to seven years, the efts undergo another transformation, darkening in colour and gaining a raised tail fin which aids them as they return to the water as aquatic adults. The newt pictured above is in this final stage of life: an aquatic adult. This isn’t necessarily the end of the newt’s transformations however, since some newt adults leave the water and regain some of their terrestrial attributes (rougher dry skin, loss of tail fin) for hibernation on dry land (Harding and Mifsud 2017).

Greater Bee Fly (Bombylius sp.), Lynn Valley Trail, April 2023:

This fuzzy fly has special adaptations to gather sand in its abdomen which it coats its eggs with before launching the eggs into solitary wasp nests (dug in sand presumably) (Marshall 2012). The larvae hatch from the eggs and enter the nest chambers of their host before feeding on a single host larva each (making the Bee Flies parasitoids, consumers of a single prey item).

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) Parent and Gosling, Grant Andersen Park, May 2023:

Canada Geese are both common and abundant so they usually don’t catch my eye, but I really liked how the gosling was in the exact same pose as its nearby parent in this photo.

Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius), Grant Andersen Park, May 2023:

The picture is blurry because the action was taking place across some water from my camera lens, but this fascinating courtship display was happening right in the middle of Simcoe in Grant Andersen Park. These shorebirds performed their display a few times and then mated and dispersed.

Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis) family, Long Point, May 2023:

Sandhill Cranes have captures my heart with their wild resonant calls and their impressive size. It was a special treat to watch this family of two parents and two young foraging at the edges of a marsh in Long Point.

Canada Warbler (Cardellina canadensis), Long Point Old Cut Birding Station, May 2023:

Canada Warblers migrate into Ontario to breed during May/June, creating nests near the ground on stumps or small mounds (Bezener 2016). Then in late summer/early Fall they set off again to leave the Canadian winter behind them. Like other Wood-Warblers (the Family Parulidae) they consume insects and spiders, taken from plants or the ground.

White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus), Lynn Valley Trail, June 2023:

This deer was incredibly close to the trail, so I was able to capture its gaze among the purple wildflowers.

Velvet Ant (Timulla vagans), Backyard, July 2023:

Velvet Ants are not members of the ant superfamily (Formicoidea) but are instead solitary wasps (members of the family Mutillidae). Their larvae develop as parasitoids on the larvae of other wasps (in the case of Timulla vagans, their hosts are Crabronids and Eumenine wasps (Marshall 2023)). The males of Timulla vagans are winged unlike the ant-like females and will carry the wingless females in their mandibles during their mating flight (Waldren et al 2020).

Physocephala marginata, Backyard, July 2023:

Although this insect drinking nectar appears to be a wasp, it is actually a fly of the Family Conopidae. Female Physocephala marginata seek out their lookalikes (wasps and bees) at flowers. After apprehending a host wasp or bee, P. marginata uses its abdomen to insert an egg inside the host’s abdomen (Marshall 2012). The egg hatches inside and the larval Conopid consumes the host from the inside.

Tachinid Fly (Exorista sp.), Backyard, August 2023:

Tachinid Flies are yet another group of parasitoid insects. Stephen Marshall, in his giant book on flies had this to say about this huge family of flies: “The Tachinidae is in many ways the ultimate fly family. With almost 10,000 named species and thousands more awaiting description… exhibits an unparalleled variety of sizes, shapes and colors. The range of life history strategies is equally amazing, at least within the constraint that every know species in the group is a parasitoid that develops inside another insect… or related arthropod” (Marshall 2012, p 386). Hosts of this genus are caterpillars or sawfly larvae.

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (Halyomorpha halys), Backyard, August 2023:

This species of Stink Bug is native to East Asia but was introduced to North America accidentally in the 1990s. As with many successful and widespread introduced species, the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug can feed on a wide diversity of plants and can be a serious pest of agriculture and gardens. The pictured insect is a nymph, not quite an adult because it is missing fully developed wings across its back.

Green Heron (Butorides virescens), Waterford Ponds, August 2023:

The above photo was actually taken by my wife on an outing to Waterford Ponds. She was quicker on the draw to find and focus on this beautiful bird amidst the morning mist and tangled reeds of its marshy habitat. I’ve written an article about these amazing birds because of a different close encounter I had, go here to learn more!

Common Whitetail Dragonfly (Plathemis lydia), Front of House, September 2023:

As I was entering my house, I was stopped by the sight of this wondrous insect framed perfectly on my siding beside my door. I carefully entered the house to retrieve my camera in order to get this picture. One of the first Dragonflies photographed at my house since I don’t have a backyard pond… yet. The Common Whitetail pictured is a male, distinguishable because it has the chalky white abdomen which it uses as a signal to chase other males off of its territory. Females of this species have multiple bands on their wings and a dark abdomen.

Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum), Lynn River, September 2023:

When swimming in the water, a cormorant reminds me of a hook-billed loon or a merganser, but their especially long neck gives them away. Like loons and mergansers, cormorants are underwater divers, pursuing fish prey amid lakes and rivers. This one was foraging in the Lynn River right in the middle of Simcoe, and I was very excited to get a close look at its sleek profile as it dried off on the bank. You can’t see them in the photo, but it was amidst a crowd of Canada Geese.

Great Spangled Fritillary (Argynnis cybele), Backyard, September 2023:

I at first thought this large butterfly was a Monarch (Danaus plexippus) as it was nectaring among our milkweed patch, but I quickly realized it was a different species. After patrolling our garden, this fluttering visitor rested and spread its wings on our orange plastic picnic table where I snapped this picture. The caterpillars of this species make it through our winter, after hatching just before the cold arrives (Hall et al 2014).

Black Swallowtail Caterpillar (Papilio polyxenes), Backyard, September 2023:

These colourful caterpillars feed on plants in the Carrot family (Apiaceae), and there were several munching away on our garden carrots this year. My 3-year old son helped me demonstrate one of their defensive strategies for this photo. If provoked these conspicuous caterpillars unfold the orange organ featured here, named an osmeterium, which has a foul odor (I would describe it as old rotten cheese, it was surprisingly powerful for such a small creature) (Marshall 2006). If I were a caterpillar-foraging bird or mammal, I would avoid such smelly prey.

Virginia Giant Hover Fly (Milesia virginiensis), Backus Woods, September 2023:

As the name implies, this fly was large and conspicuous in a sunny clearing. The larvae of these large flower flies (Syrphidae) develop inside rotting trees, sometimes inside tree holes (Skevington and Locke 2019).

Shadow Darner (Aeshna umbrosa), Backus Woods, September 2023:

Darners are huge dragonflies (over 7 cm long), instantly noticeable when in flight but this one cooperated in staying still while I took its picture. The Shadow Darner is named after its habit of flying late in the day (even at dusk) and staying mostly in shade (Marshall 2006). This one was photographed in the afternoon.

Chinese Mantis (Tenodera sinensis), Backyard, September 2023:

There are no Mantids native to Ontario, both of our common species: the European Mantis (Mantis religiosa) and the Chinese Mantis pictured here, were introduced to North America over a hundred years ago (Marshall 2006). This very large and impressive insect was clambering through my garden and nicely posed for a few pictures but this was my favourite photo I took, showcasing its powerful grasping forelegs and its triangular head.

References:

Bezener, Andy. 2016. Birds of Ontario. Partners and Lone Pine Publishing.

Hall, Peter, Jones, Colin, Guidotti, Antonia, and Hubley, Brad. 2014. The ROM Field Guide to Butterflies of Ontario. Royal Ontario Museum.

Harding, James H. and Mifsud, David A. 2017. Amphibians and Reptiles of the Great Lakes Region. University of Michigan Press.

Marshall, Stephen. 2006. Insects: Their Natural History and Diversity. Firefly Books.

Marshall, Stephen. 2012. Flies: Their Natural History and Diversity. Firefly Books.

Marshall, Stephen. 2023. Hymenoptera: The Natural History and Diversity of Wasps, Bees, and Ants. Firefly Books.

Skevington, Jeffrey H. and Locke, Michelle M. 2019. Field Guide to the Flower Flies of Northeastern North America. Princeton University Press.

Waldren GC, Roberts JD, Pitts JP (2020) Phoretic copulation in the velvet ant Sphaeropthalma pensylvanica (Lepeletier) (Hymenoptera, Mutillidae): A novel behavior for Sphaeropthalminae with a synthesis of mating strategies in Mutillidae. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 78: 69-89. https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.78.55762

For last year’s photo recap, see: Norfolk Naturalist Year in Photos (Dec 2021-Nov 2022)

Categories
Blogversary

Happy 4th Birthday, Norfolk Naturalist!

Dance Fly of the genus Dolichopus in my backyard.

It’s that time of year again, when I review the past year of blogging and reading, as well as the last year of photos. The photos will be showcased in the next blog post, sometime in December. This post will be all about my past blogging year (Dec 2022-Nov 2023) since this is the anniversary of my first blogpost on this site. Here we go!

Garter Snake on the Lynn Valley Trail.

The first article after last years blogversary article was the start of a new tradition, my blogging year top photos! (Norfolk Naturalist Year in Photos (Dec 2021-Nov 2022)) I plan to do the same thing this year, so keep an eye out for my next photo roundup post sometime in December.

Striped Skunk in my backyard, affectionately named by my son, “Jam”.

In August 2022, I went on a night hike to listen to bats and it was an incredible experience. So incredible that I wrote a post about it: Flying Creatures of the Night. Then I wrote a post about one of the two bat species we observed on that night hike, Big Brown Bat.

Slug on the Lynn Valley Trail, affectionately named by my son, “Trail”.

In March, I finally completed a book review I’ve been working on for a while for Terns, by David Cabot and Ian Nisbet. Then in April, another Norfolk Field Naturalist outing inspired me to write an article, this time about the American Woodcock: The American Woodcock in Literature and in Life.

Great Golden Digger Wasp (one of my new favourites) in my backyard.

Over the rest of the year, I completed some more of My Top 20 Nature Photos of 2013-2020… of which there are still over half to come… But anyway, I wrote about a Spring Peeper, a Leafhopper, a Maple Looper Moth, and a Common Compost Fly.

Goldfinch at the Royal Botanical Garden trails in Hamilton.

Between these, I published an article about my observations on one of my camping trips this past summer, to Port Burwell. I went on 2 other significant camping trips, one to Algonquin and another to Pinery Provincial Park. I’d like to write up my observations on both of those trips as well (I saw lots of neat creatures as always), but haven’t finished writing about them yet.

American Toad, in the RBG trails.

In September, I finished a post that I have been working on in the background for a long time, about the beautiful fly genus: Callopistromyia, the Peacock Flies. And in October, I reposted one of my tumblr blog posts: Hidden Worlds, a post about some of my early explorations with my macro lens and the world of springtails.

Caspian Tern, at Waterford Ponds.

And as usual, here is a list of the nature-related books that I read during the past blogging year, with short reviews/thoughts:

A Small Porch, by Wendell Berry:

In this collection of poetry, some were quite beautiful, the ones which invoked a sense of being outside in nature experiencing the curiosity and wonder of trees and birds and flowers, and the turning of seasons. The Essay which makes up a third of this collection was quite fascinating with lots to think about and much to challenge the way we think about land use. Powerful stuff that I will certainly be thinking about into the future.

Great Lakes Nature: An Outdoor Year, Revised and in Color, by Mary Blocksma:

Very nice short articles about different nature observations throughout the year, with nice small illustrations and with a focus on identification. No scientific names, which was a negative for me (because I like scientific names). For someone just getting into an awareness of the natural world around them I would say this book is an excellent way to make nature observation and identification a habit. For myself, already having established nature observation as a habit I didn’t find it as interesting or useful.

The Guests of Ants: How Myrmecophiles Interact with Their Hosts, by Bert Holldobler and Christina L. Kapwich:

Wonderful exploration of the fascinating world of Ant Guests, those organisms that have made their way into ant colonies (or in/on the ants themselves). There are detailed case studies, tantalizing avenues for further study, and marvels on every page. The images are incredible and the stories of the myrmecophiles are often jaw-dropping. More of a sequel to “The Superorganism” in style and coverage than “The Ants”. 

The Handbook of Bird Families, by Jonathan Elphick:

Excellent at conveying the global diversity of birds (there are almost 11 000 species named and I found myself encountering genera and families that I had never heard of before on a regular basis within). The photographs are excellent, though often small. The text is also very small print, which could be a challenge to some readers.

Each family of birds receives at least 1 or two paragraphs of broad overview as well as a fact-box with quick stats, some families which are hyper-diverse being allotted 3-5 pages of text. The text mainly catalogues diversity, by describing which subfamilies the family is divided into, how many and which genera are in what parts of the world and brief snippets of natural history and behaviour throughout.

There were editorial errors on a regular basis unfortunately… it felt like paragraphs had been reassigned to different Bird Families after being written because of taxonomic changes or as though they were pieces of a previous book, shifted into a new context without being thoroughly proofread. This caused some confusion, but not too much, and overall the amount of information within about bird diversity was absolutely worth the occasional re-read of a confusing paragraph. I think it could have used a more thorough editor but overall a very good book cataloguing the world’s avi-fauna.

Frogs and Toads of the World (2011), by Chris Mattison:

Amazing tour through the diversity of Frogs and Toads throughout the globe. With a species count of 5000+ this 200 page book can only serve as an introduction to the true diversity of the group, but as such an introduction it works well, full of excellent photos and informative text.

Cranes of the World, by Paul Johnsgard:

While dated, this book provided an excellent summary of what was known about Cranes (fascinating birds of the Family Gruidae) throughout the world in the 1980s. I uncovered many interesting facts about these beautiful birds within. I found the species accounts (which make up the majority of the book) to be somewhat dry but the book is designed to be a reference work, so I can’t blame it for laying out the facts systematically. It remains the only book of its kind as far as I can tell and it’s freely available online: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/vi…
So if you’re interested in Cranes, check it out!

The Best Of The Raven: 150 Essays From Algonquin Park’s Popular Newsletter, by Dan Strickland and Russ Rutter:

I read these natural history essays while camping at Algonquin Park (2 trips), and thoroughly enjoyed them. Full of information that brings you deeper into the fascinating natural world surrounding you in Algonquin Park, amazing.

Consider Her Ways, by Frederick Philip Grove:

This book was so much fun. An expedition of leafcutter ants goes forth into the unknown continent of what we call North America. Along the way they encounter new species of ants with new ways of living and document their astounding discoveries into the world of humanity and ant-kind.

The journey is epic, the philosophies discussed by the ants are fascinating and relevant, and there is even an amazing ‘cameo’ by a famous myrmecologist. The format of the book is so much fun, with footnotes lending the document a verisimilitude that I loved (for example the human discoverer of the document mentions his confusion at certain phrases but opted to leave them in for completeness). The ending was rather abrupt and I was a little disappointed that the main encounters and discoveries discussed were limited to ants and humans rather than any other species that the ants would have encountered.

Overall, a very fun read, a tour through the world of ant diversity told from the perspective of some ants themselves. Amazing.

The Nature of Oaks: The Rich Ecology of Our Most Essential Native Trees, by Douglas W. Tallamy:

The book moves through the year month by month describing the various ecological happenings on oak trees during those months. So I read through the book in that way, reading each month as it was happening around me. Interesting, learned lots, and I now pay more attention to Oak trees when I find them.

That wraps up my blogversary article for this year! Hope you enjoyed the brief tour of my nature writing/reading year. Next up will be my roundup of top nature photos from this past year, stay tuned!

For previous blogversary articles, see below:

–Happy Birthday, Norfolk Naturalist!

–Happy 2nd Birthday, Norfolk Naturalist!

–Happy 3rd Birthday, Norfolk Naturalist!

Categories
Nature Observations Tumblr Repost

Hidden Worlds

Using a magnifying hand lens, or a macro camera lens opens up whole worlds of detail and diversity unappreciated by the naked eye. One of these worlds is that of the Springtails.

A group of Springtails on the Lynn Vally Trail on a log.

This past winter* I encountered them where they are most often seen, even without any sort of magnifying equipment: bounding by the millions atop the snow. While at Algonquin’s Mew Lake Campground, I observed these tiny pinpricks of dark life in stark contrast against the bright white snow. In this context, these Springtails are called “snow-fleas”, and it’s easy to see why. The tiny creatures are about the size of fleas and hop about with amazing ability. Springtails are not fleas, and leap about not by their legs but by a “spring-like tail” that curves under their body and can launch them through the air.

*This was originally written and posted on my tumblr blog in April 2018, so the winter referred to was 2017-2018.

They are actually part of a group known as Collembola, which is not quite under the group Insecta. They are not true insects, but are closely related. I had the privilege of being able to observe Springtails several times since our Algonquin trip and it is an incredible pleasure to be able to resolve something so tiny (about 1-3 mm long) into an individual animal, complete with legs, head, and antennae.

Even though they are quite numerous, they are small, and many Springtails spend most or all of their time belowground. This makes them difficult to study, and little is known about these amazing creatures.

Some closer views of individuals.
To give some more context on their size: the green blurred object in the background is the head of a screw on the bridge, and the Springtails are the bluish-grey specks in the focus.
Categories
diptera Species Profile

Callopistromyia, the Peacock Flies

For this article I’d like to consider one of the most beautiful insects I’ve ever had the pleasure of observing: the Peacock Fly (Callopistromyia annulipes) and its relative, the only other member of its genus the Peahen Fly (Callopistromyia strigula)*. The main difference in appearance between these two species is in their wings: C. strigula contains much narrower wings than C. annulipes (Kameneva and Korneyev 2006).

*There is no common name for C. strigula, so I made one up. You might be surprised that there isn’t a common name, but consider that there are hundreds of thousands of species of Flies, and many of these are only known within specialist groups that study the differences between them. This is also the reason that there isn’t much information available for these Flies despite their beauty and conspicuousness.

Callopistromyia annulipes, the Peacock Fly. Note the wide wings and the position they are held in above the body.
Callopistromyia strigula, the Peahen Fly. Note the relatively narrow wings, and their position held out to the sides of the body.

C. annulipes is distributed across the United States and occurs in three provinces of Canada: British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario, while C. strigula is found in Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan as well as several States. Over the past several years, this species has spread into Europe as well, no doubt via human means (Pintilioaie and Manci 2020). 

In both species males and females display, contrasting with many fly species in which only the males display for the females to choose from among them. I don’t want to discuss sexual selection and mate choice here in any depth. Suffice to say that because both males and females perform displays there is likely mutual sexual selection going on in these species, meaning that traits are preferred and chosen by both sexes in this species, rather than a female-choice bias or male-choice bias.*

*of course, this only applies if the displays and accompanying appearances are sexually selected for, but there are other ideas for what forces are selecting these displays (see further below).

Video of Peacock Fly (Callopistromyia annulipes) displaying on a bridge railing on the Lynn Valley trail in Simcoe.

Little is known of these species’ biology other than that they display on conspicuous surfaces (more on this below), and there are records of the adults of C. annulipes feeding on the frass from wood-feeding beetle tunnels* (Steyskal 1979). Their puparia** have been found beneath the bark of various deciduous trees, so it’s presumed that their larvae feed on dead wood, or fungi within dead wood or something associated with dead wood. 

*Frass is a fancy way of saying “insect excrement and related material” usually used in connection with wood-boring insects… that ‘related material’ bit is key here since although a lot of what we call frass passes through an insect’s digestive system it can also be broken up bits moved behind a wood-boring beetle, so less insect “poop” and more insect “debris”.

**puparia refers to the hardened larval skin that encloses the pupal stage of derived Diptera… which probably doesn’t explain very much unless you know what those other terms mean. Basically, instead of nothing surrounding the pupa (the transformative stage of insects, between larva and adult), a huge branch of the Fly Family Tree (the Cyclorrapha) hardens their final larval stage skin into a protective case, sort of the fly version of a chrysalis.

As with many Diptera, their larvae are mysterious. After much searching, I managed to find a few pictures of Callopistromyia larvae online. I was amazed and contacted the person who recorded these organisms to obtain permission to share the relevant information and images.

The pictures depict larval and pupal C. strigula which were found feeding on the inner bark of a boxelder tree (Acer negundo) (van der Linden 2018). I can’t find any pictures or information pertaining to C. annulipes larvae, but presumably they have the same or similar feeding habits. 

Finally, the most attractive thing about these species are their displays. The reason I’m writing about these flies is because I noticed them, and the reason I noticed them is because they strutted about on the railings of bridges on the Lynn Valley Trail. The Peacock Fly (Callopistromyia annulipes) in particular raises its large wings so that they meet above its back presenting a very noticeable display. By contrast, C. strigula adults display their wings in a more horizontal fashion. Presumably, these displays are about attracting mates and because the displays are performed by both sexes, they are about mutual mate choice. In other words, males are displaying to attract the attention of females and females are displaying to attract the attention of males. An intriguing possibility is that these wing displays are about more than finding a mate… they could also be an example of predator mimicry.

Can you see the face of a Jumping Spider in the Peacock fly’s wing-pattern?

A fascinating paper with an excellent title* describes how other species of Ulidiidae (the family of Flies that includes Callopistromyia) have wing patterns and displays that mimic the appearance of Jumping Spiders (Salticidae) (Hill et. al. 2019). The reason? Jumping Spiders are visually hunting predators of basically any insect they can catch. The wing patterns are possibly exploiting the visual system of Jumping Spiders by causing the spiders to believe they are staring down another Jumping Spider and so to be cautious. I can’t help but be intrigued by this idea, and somewhat skeptical. Despite its appeal, there are some problems with the hypothesis. One problem that came to my mind is that Jumping Spiders will hunt other Jumping Spiders. So if the pattern is supposed to resemble a Jumping Spider and deter them from predating the fly, why would it? The paper acknowledges that there are still many unknowns, but the authors make a good case that at least some insects are manipulating salticid responses to prey with visually deterrent patterns. And they also note: “In a natural setting even a brief delay in the attack of a salticid could allow these flies to escape” (Hill et. al. 2019). As always in science, more studies are needed…

*The title, for those of you who don’t read through the References section, is “Do jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) draw their own portraits?” The idea is that in avoiding hunting insects that resemble themselves, jumping spiders leave those ones alive to reproduce in like kind and so jumping spider resemblances are crafted by the natural selection of the jumping spiders themselves.

There is always more to learn, and always new organisms to explore in the world. I hope you enjoyed my dive into the beautiful flies of the genus Callopistromyia, the Peacock Flies. 

References:

Hill, David, A. P. C., Abhijith, and Burini, Joao. 2019. “Do jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) draw their own portraits?” Peckhamia 179.1: 1-14. (full pdf available here: https://peckhamia.com/peckhamia/PECKHAMIA_179.1.pdf)

Kameneva, Elena and Korneyev, Valery. 2006. “Myennidini, a New Tribe of the Subfamily Otitinae (Diptera: Ulidiidae), with Discussion of the Suprageneric Classification of the Family”. Israel Journal of Entomology. Vol. 35-36, 2005/6: 497-586.

Pintilioaie A-M, Manci C-O (2020) First record of the peacock fly Callopistromyia annulipes (Diptera: Ulidiidae) in Romania. Travaux du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle “Grigore Antipa” 63(1): 87-91. https://doi.org/10.3897/travaux.63.e50920

Steyskal, George C. 1979. “Biological, Anatomical, and Distributional Notes on the Genus Callopistromyia Hendel (Diptera: Otitidae)”. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 81(3): 450-455.

van der Linden, John. 2018. https://bugguide.net/node/view/1510354

For other blogposts focused on Flies (the vast insect Order Diptera), see:

–5. Robber Fly Hunting Queen Ant

–Flies: The Natural History and Diversity of Diptera, by Stephen A. Marshall

–Flies Falling to Fungi and Other Dipteran Observations

–Fuzzy Flies and Song Sparrows

–Eastern Band-winged Hover Fly

Categories
diptera Top 20 Photos 2013-2020

9. Common Compost Fly (Syritta pipiens)

Subject: Common Compost Fly (Syritta pipiens).

Location: Parents’ Garden (Walsingham).

Date: July 2018.

The Story Behind the Shot: The amazing hovering capabilities of Flower Flies (the Family Syrphidae) have always impressed me and I really wanted to capture this one in the air. The fact that I was able to take this shot is a testament to how little these insects falter while hovering in mid-air.

The Story Behind the Species:

Common Compost Fly males are some of the most impressive flyers in the world of insects. They use their skills to patrol among flowers and pursue females which visit the flowers with incredible agility. Their singleminded pursuits seem to have sacrificed discrimination for the sake of directness, as these flies are known to pursue “any insect of almost any size that appears in their search area” (Marshall 2012 p. 307). After mating, the females lay their eggs in decomposing plant material, which can include compost, hence their common name.

Syritta pipiens is an introduced species in North America, brought over accidentally from Europe around 1895 (Skevington et. al. 2019).

References:

Marshall, Stephen A. 2012. Flies: The Natural History and Diversity of Diptera. Firefly Books.

Skevington, Jeffrey H., Locke, Michelle M., Young, Andrew D., Moran, Kevin, Crins, William J., and Marshall, Stephen A. 2019. Field Guide to the Flower Flies of Northeastern North America. Princeton University Press.

For other Posts in this series, see:

–My Top 20 Nature Photos of 2013-2020

–1. The Pale-Painted Sand Wasp (Bembix pallidipicta)

–2. Moose (Alces alces) Family

–3. Canada Jay (Perisoreus canadensis)

–4. Common Five-Lined Skink (Plestiodon fasciatus)

–5. Robber Fly Hunting Queen Ant

–6. Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer)

–7. Leafhopper (Errastunus ocellaris)

–8. Maple Looper Moth (Parallelia bistriaris)

Categories
Nature Observations

Port Burwell Observations, July 2023

At the beginning of July, my family and I were camping in Port Burwell Provincial Park. While there, as I usually do when camping, I took some photos of the creatures I encountered and I’d like to explore some of them and what I can find out about them here. So here goes…

On my first night there I found myself sitting alone with a book and a small clip-on reading light in a dining tent (which was open to the outside, for at least part of the night). My tiny beacon of light attracted several insect investigators and I quickly became distracted from my reading*.

*If you must know (as I would want to know if I was the blog’s reader), I was reading a collection of sci-fi short stories: Galaxy: Thirty Years of Innovative Science Fiction, edited by Frederik Pohl, Martin H. Greenberg, and Joseph D. Olander.

The most abundant insects alighting on my illuminated pages were members of that vast insect Order: Diptera, the Flies. Two that I photographed were likely the same species, and I suspect were male and female representatives. I have tentatively identified them as members of the genus Neurigona based on iNaturalist. They are certainly long-legged dance flies (Family Dolichopodidae). Dolichopodids are diverse flies (there are around 7000 species in the world (Marshall 2012)) which often hunt other flies and springtails as adults. There are about 150 species in the genus Neurigona (Marshall 2012).

Long-legged Dance Fly (Family Dolichopodidae) attracted to my reading light, possibly of the genus Neurigona.

A beautiful little vinegar fly (a member of the Family Drosophilidae) graced the pages of my book as well: Chymomyza amoena. This species, along with the other members of its genus are “almost invariably present on fallen or wounded trees” (Marshall 2012 p. 477).

Chymomyza amoena, a member of the Family Drosophilidae, of which the most famous member is the Common Fruit Fly Drosophila melanogaster, ubiquitous in kitchens and laboratories the world over.

Two notable non-Flies made their appearance amid the glowing reading light. A tiny pale yellow leafhopper was just barely noticeable among the typed letters on the page, a member of the genus Edwardsiana. 

Tiny tiny leafhopper of the genus Edwardsiana.

A dark beetle also scuttled across the words of my reading material, which I believe to be a Ground Beetle (Family Carabidae), possibly of the genus Bembidion.

Ground Beetle scurrying across the title of the sci-fi story I was reading, “The Holes Around Mars” by Jerome Bixby.

The next day, I did a tour of the campsite with my camera in order to find more subjects to photograph and identify. One creature located on my dining tent was another beautifully patterned fly: Thaumatomyia. This genus of flies contains some species which feed on aphids as larvae and others which bore and feed within grass stems (Marshall 2012).

Chloropid fly in the genus Thaumatomyia.

Nearby was a prowling spider which is possibly the False Pirate Spider (Platnickia tincta):

Sliding slowly across the leaf litter was a pale orange slug of the genus Arion:

I was just able to capture this amazing butterfly that landed for a few moments on the ground, an Appalachian Brown (Lethe appalachia). Appalachian Brown caterpillars feed on sedges (Carex spp) and spend the winter in the caterpillar stage (Hall et. al. 2014).

Appalachian Brown Butterfly (Lethe appalachia).

On the walk to the beach there were plenty of insects worthy of attention but I didn’t want to block the path of water-seeking pedestrians by crouching with my macro lens, so I decided to photograph birds there instead. There were swallows darting above the sands (more evidence of insect abundance) but they proved impossible to photograph. I took several photos of what I believed to be 2 different gull species. While reviewing my photos and posting them on iNaturalist it became clear that despite the contrast between the large brown-feathered birds and the sleek grey-and-white ones the birds were all members of the same species: the Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis). 

Ring-Billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) panting in the heat to keep cool.
Another Ring-billed Gull, lacking the sharp white-and-grey plumage of the individual photographed panting above.
All of the birds in this photo are Ring-billed Gulls (Larus delawarensis) despite the one in the background appearing larger and in a very different plumage, the mottled brown look is that of a 1-2 year old bird before they acquire the more clearly defined gray and white feathers.

My final observation of the trip was a beautiful tiny leafhopper resting on a dining tent: Otiocerus coquebertii. This species is associated with Beech, Maple and Oak, possibly feeding on fungal hyphae (the underground microscopic portions of fungi) as nymphs (Bartlett 2020).

Otiocerus coquebertii, a tiny and beautiful leafhopper.

References:

Bartlett, C. R. 2020 (and updates). Planthoppers of North America (accessed August 12, 2023). https://sites.udel.edu/planthoppers/north-america/north-american-derbidae/genus-otiocerus-kirby-1821/

Hall, Peter, Jones, Colin, Guidotti, Antonia, and Hubley, Brad. 2014. The ROM Field Guide to Butterflies of Ontario. Royal Ontario Museum.

Marshall, Stephen. 2012. Flies: The Natural History and Diversity of Diptera. Firefly Books.

For other related blogposts, see:

–MacGregor Point Observations (May 2018)

–Port Burwell Observations

Categories
lepidoptera Top 20 Photos 2013-2020

8. Maple Looper Moth (Parallelia bistriaris)

Subject: Maple Looper Moth (Parallelia bistriaris)

Location: Turkey Point Provincial Park.

Date: June 2018.

The Story behind the Shot: While hiking down a trail at Turkey Point Provincial Park, my wife somehow spotted this moth among the leaves which it matched so closely. I was overjoyed to get such a close-up shot of an amazingly camouflaged insect.

The Story behind the Species:

This moth could be the poster-child for camouflage. Such an elegant example of hiding-in-plain-sight. Positioned among fallen leaves which it matches in tone and general shape, this moth is incredibly hard to spot! To hide itself even more, the Maple Looper Moth positions itself head down, thus hiding its least leaf-like feature and accentuating the lighter edge of its hindwings (Keiper 1969).

The larvae of this superbly secretive moth are also camouflaged, resembling twigs rather than leaves.

Maple Looper Moth larva (or caterpillar) demonstrating both its twig mimicking colouration and its looping movement. Photo by Dan MacNeal, used with permission.

The larvae, unsurprisingly, feed on Maple leaves (Crumb 1956), but bugguide.net lists Birch and Walnut as food plants as well (https://bugguide.net/node/view/3356).

I’m glad to have found and captured a photograph of this mysterious moth. A beautiful secret of the forest floor.

References:

Crumb, Samuel. 1956. “The Larvae of the Phalaenidae”. United States Department of Agriculture, Technical Bulletin # 1135. (Viewable in full here: https://books.google.ca/books?id=3jQlAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA1&dq=Phalaenidae&source=gbs_toc_r&redir_esc=y&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false)

Keiper, Ronald. 1969. “Behavioral Adaptations of Cryptic Moths IV. Preliminary Studies on Species Resembling Dead Leaves”. Journal of The Lepidopterist’s Society 23: 4: 205-210.

For other posts in this series, see:

–My Top 20 Nature Photos of 2013-2020

–1. The Pale-Painted Sand Wasp (Bembix pallidipicta)

–2. Moose (Alces alces) Family

–3. Canada Jay (Perisoreus canadensis)

–4. Common Five-Lined Skink (Plestiodon fasciatus)

–5. Robber Fly Hunting Queen Ant

–6. Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer)

–7. Leafhopper (Errastunus ocellaris)

And for other posts about Butterflies and Moths, see:

–Cryptic Caterpillars

–Leafhoppers, Lepidopterans and Longhorns