Red Admiral Butterflies stream through Ontario

Nature Notes for April 27, 2012

Red Admiral butterfly                          ©Bruce Parker

As I write, the temperature is only a couple of degrees above freezing, there is a strong wind and the weather forecast is for a mix of rain and snow. It’s hard to believe that the most recent flurry of excitement among naturalists concerned butterflies.

The first reports were from southwestern Ontario on April 15. Several hawk watches reported massive flights of Red Admiral butterflies. By Monday, April 16, they were in Northumberland. They were being reported in Ottawa by the end of the week. By Saturday, April 21, even the Toronto Star had noticed.

Those who study butterflies were amazed by the sheer numbers. Most were declaring that they had never seen such a flight.

Red Admirals are about two-thirds the size of a Monarch, medium sized by butterfly standards. They are quite easy to identify. The upper side is mostly black, with an orange band in the middle of the fore wing and another orange band on the trailing edge of the hind wing. The tip of the fore wing also has several white spots.

They are one of the butterfly species which overwinter as adults. They don’t usually survive Ontario’s winters. They overwinter in the southern states or Mexico and migrate north when warm weather arrives.

Red Admirals are a Holarctic species, that is, they occur in Europe and northern Asia as well as in the Americas. The occur all across Canada and have been recorded as far north as the Yukon and Northwest Territories.

The adults feed on flower nectar. Last week, there were several reports from around Port Hope of flowering trees or shrubs covered with dozens of butterflies.

In my garden, there were not many flowers in bloom: a few scilla, pulmonaria, the first violets, hyacinths and daffodils. The latter two are probably too large for the butterflies to use. In any case, the Red Admirals I observed in my garden didn’t stay for long. They paused briefly to sip at a flower and then continued flying north.

The caterpillar, or larva, feed on stinging nettles as well as several other species of nettle. I haven’t yet seen much growth of nettles so the female Red Admirals have no place to lay their eggs at present. The Red Admiral caterpillar is usually black with white dashes along its sides and tufts of bristles.

The caterpillar lives in a rolled leaf nest that it makes on the food plant. I wasn’t able to find any indication in my reference books as to whether many birds eat these caterpillars. Many birds find fuzzy caterpillars unappetizing.

Migration is a risky undertaking. This huge flight of Red Admirals came very early, with warmer than average temperatures and brisk south-west winds. Although this flight was mostly of Red Admirals, a few Question Marks and American Ladies, two other migratory butterfly species, could be found in the flight.

Then early this week, the weather changed: cold, rain and snow in areas north of Northumberland. Many of these butterflies will probably die if the cold persists for several days.

A word of caution to readers who check out this butterfly on Google. Only two of the five photos shown are actually of Red Admirals.

Eastern Bluebirds thrive on Rice Lake Plains

Nature Notes for April 13, 2012

Eastern Bluebirds are truly beautiful birds and we are lucky enough to live in an area where they can be easily seen. The Rice Lake Plains, just south of Rice Lake, are home to a healthy population of this species.

The male of this small thrush is bright blue on the back, with a brick red breast the same colour as a robin’s breast, and white belly. The female is a faded version of the male. They have a gently warbling song.

Bluebirds prefer open habitat with scattered trees. The trees must contain dead snags with old woodpecker holes in them for nesting. They feed on arthropods in the breeding season. They feed their young on insects as the nestlings require animal protein to thrive. Their preferred hunting technique is to sit on a perch to search an area of short vegetation and then drop to the ground to capture their prey.

Before European settlement in Ontario, they probably occurred on the Rice Lake Plains, the savannah around Lake St. Clair and in areas that had been subjected to forest fires. The rest of the province was covered by dense forest which was not attractive to this species.

In winter they form small flocks and feed mostly on fruit. In a winter such as has just passed, many bluebirds remained in this area throughout the winter. The winter was relatively mild, with little snow and an abundance of fruit, some of which is still hanging on vines and bushes.

Bluebirds are secondary cavity nesters. That is, they nest in cavities in trees excavated by other species, mainly woodpeckers. In the mid-twentieth century, their population was in such a decline that they were listed as threatened. There were a number of reason for this decline, but chief among was the competition for nest cavities from two non-native species, the European Starling and the House Sparrow.

Fortunately bluebirds will nest readily in human built structures. Founded in 1978 by Dr. Lawrence Zeleny, the North American BluebirdSociety encouraged people to erect nest boxes in suitable habitat. NABS provided information about bluebirds and their needs and recommended nest box plans for those who wanted to help.

If nest boxes are built with the correct size opening, they will exclude European Starlings. However, a nest box that will admit a bluebird will also admit a House Sparrow, so care must be taken to site nest boxes away from areas that have House Sparrows.

Male bluebirds will vigorously defend their chosen nesting cavity from all competitors. I was recently told of a male who successfully defended  his nest box from a starling. He attacked the starling and pinned him to the ground and sat on him for about ten minutes.

Two other native bird species will also compete for these artificial cavities, the Tree Swallow and the House Wren. Since Tree Swallows are semi-colonial in their breeding habits, spacing the boxes 200-300 meters apart will make them less attractive to Tree Swallows. To deter House Wrens, the boxes should not be placed near shrubby habitats or wood edges.

In this area, Hazel Bird started a nest box trail in the Harwood area which she maintained for over 30 years. Due to her efforts, bluebird populations have recovered in this area.

There are two other species of bluebirds, Western and Mountain. The Western Bluebird doesn’t seem to wander outside its stronghold in western North American. The Mountain Bluebird on the other hand, sometimes wanders east. One was found this past winter in Prince Edward County and was seen by quite a few birders.

For more information about bluebirds, refer to the web site of the Ontario Eastern Bluebird Society, oebs.ca or the North American Bluebird Society, nabluebirdsociety.org.

Warm March temperatures confuse creatures

Nature Notes for March 30, 2012

Last week’s unseasonably warm temperatures, as high as 25ºC in the daytime, with above freezing temperatures at night, confused all creatures.

Frogs were singing – spring peepers, chorus frogs, wood frogs, and an American toad in my neighbourhood. Several early butterflies were flying – Mourning Cloak and Eastern Comma. Even the first mosquitoes were reported, along with a bat that might have been feeding on the mosquitoes.

Vegetation is also ahead of schedule. Spring bulbs are flowering in many gardens. Some maples and willows are already in flower, something not usually seen until at least the first week of May.

On a couple of mornings last week, warm enough to sleep with the windows open, the dawn chorus was deafening. It was made up mostly of American Robin song, but there were also Northern Cardinals, Song Sparrows, Black-capped Chickadees and European Starlings in the mix.

Several of the early spring migrants were seen weeks earlier than in a “normal” year. On March 18, a Fox Sparrow turned up in my garden. This bird was at least two weeks early and didn’t stay for long.

The first few Tree Swallows have been reported in the area. These birds are taking a big risk, since they rely entirely on flying insects for food. The early arriving males may get the best nesting territories, but if the weather turns cold, they could pay with their lives for that early arrival date. Cold temperatures suppress activity among the insects that these birds rely on for food. I was sent a newspaper clipping this week by a friend who winters in Sarasota, Florida. It showed a large flock of Tree Swallows, a species that winters there, taking off for points north. Perhaps the few I saw today were among them.

In last week’s warm days, a pair of Song Sparrows were collecting nesting material from my front garden. Let’s hope that they delay nesting until there is a better chance of them finding enough insect prey to feed their young.

The first few Field Sparrows have arrived back at the Alderville BlackOak Savanna. These birds are about two weeks early.

The first Eastern Phoebes have been reported. These are a flycatcher, reliant on insect prey. Sometimes, if the weather turns on them, they will move into a farmyard with livestock in search of flies to keep themselves alive.

Northern Flickers seem to be everywhere this week. Flickers are a migrant woodpecker and their call is both loud and distinctive.

American Crow numbers have increased. They have been seen carrying nest material. This is also the season that homeowners need to guard their curbside garbage from the crows. They have learned that those green plastic bags often contain goodies.

Waterfowl numbers are thinning out, although most of the “winter” duck species can still be seen in small numbers. On March 27, one Tundra Swan turned up on the Port Hope waterfront in the company of several Mute Swans. This bird is en route to nesting grounds in the Arctic, perhaps as far north and west as the Mackenzie delta.

The exception to the decrease in waterfowl numbers is the Canada Geese. At least 2000 can be found grazing on a pasture field west of Welcome. Let’s hope that they leave some food for the cows that will pasture there later this spring.

Last week’s warm temperatures have birders expecting birds that should not be here for at least another month. The early arrivals are taking a risk to acquire good breeding sites. If they survive, the risk has been worth taking. Many of the later arriving migrants winter in the tropics, so they don’t know how warm it is here. The warblers and vireos and orioles will no doubt start arriving during the first week of May, right on schedule.

Early Spring migrants in Northumberland

Nature Notes for March 16, 2012

Over the past two weeks, there have been a number of reports of Bohemian Waxwings from all over the area. There have been reports from Jamieson Rd., Brown’s Rd.and Kellogg Rd. in Port Hope Ward 2, Cold Springs in Hamilton Township, and from the Roseneath area.

This waxwing is a bit larger than the Cedar Waxwing which nests in our area. They have gray underparts with rufous undertail coverts, where the Cedars’ underparts are bright yellow with white untail coverts. In the field guides, they may appear very much alike, but once they are seen together, the differences are very clear.

Bohemian Waxwings nest in the Boreal Forest, from extreme north-western Ontario through to Alaska. They winter within North America, where they wander widely. Some winters, they can be found as far east as Newfoundland. Sometimes they turn up, as they have recently, in southern Ontario. Before long, they will be returning north and west to their breeding grounds.

Also within the past two weeks, Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles have been on the move. They typically appear in this area in the first week of March, although there was one report from Hamilton Township on February 27.

Along with the blackbirds, migrant American Robins could also be found. Some were singing as though on territory from the tops of trees, especially on sunny days.

A few Song Sparrows could be found in brushy area on March 13. There have been a few reports during the past week of Killdeer and TurkeyVultures.

Some of these birds may be local nesters but many of them stop here to rest and feed before continuing to move further north.

If the area gets another dump of snow, we may well witness a reverse migration. That is where the early arriving migrants turn around and return a little further south to await warmer weather. This week, the weather has been quite spring-like, but it is only the middle of March and winter may not yet be done with us.

There are still plenty of ducks and geese gathering. The pond in Garden Hill Conservation Area has held between 1,500 and 3,000 CanadaGeese every time we’ve visited over the past two weeks. Along with the Canadas has been one Snow Goose, two or three Trumpeter Swans, many Mallards and American Black Ducks, and lesser numbers of Common Mergansers, HoodedMergansers, Green-winged Teal and American Wigeon. There are still good numbers of Northern Pintail, reported in the last column, but the numbers are decreasing.

Waterfowl are also gathering all along the Lake Ontario waterfront awaiting open water further north. This is a good time to check out wet agricultural fields. These temporary ponds often contain migrant waterfowl.

The warm weather may mean that viewing conditions will not be the best for the Presqu’ile Waterfowl Festival on March 17 and 18. There will probably still be lots of ducks, but they will be far out on the bay and difficult to see and identify.

Today (March 13), Rice Lake had quite a lot of open water, but there was still quite a lot of ice. The lakes further north are probably still well iced covered, but it won’t be long before open water will welcome the returning migrants.

Northern Pintail migrants early arrivals

Nature Notes for March 2, 2012

Reports of their arrival began very early this year. Thirty Northern Pintails were reported at Cobourg Harbour on January 30. Then there were reports from Presqu’ile in the first week of February, followed by reports from the Durham waterfront and several other places in southern Ontario. Last week, there were about 100 on Garden Hill pond.

This beautiful duck is known to migrate north early, but this was nearly six weeks earlier than Northern Pintail are usually expected in this area.

Pintails are really beautiful in a subdued way. They are slender ducks with quite long necks. The male has a brown head with a streak of white on the head which extends into the brown on the side of the head. Most of the body and wing feathers are gray, with another spot of white near the flank and black under the tail. The central tail feathers are very long, and give the species its common name. The female is the same slim shape as the male, but is a mottled brown. The beak on both male and female is steel gray.

Northern Pintails are “dabblers”, that is they feed in shallow water by tipping up, tail in the air and head under the water.

They eat mostly grain and seeds, and like Mallards, sometimes glean in grain, corn, soybean, and, in the south, rice fields.

When they pass through Northumberland, they can often be found, along with many other migrant waterfowl, in the temporary ponds that form in farm fields while the ground is still frozen.

The centre of their breeding abundance is in the prairie potholes of western Canada and the northern U.S., north to the tundra. This is another species which is circumpolar in its distribution, occurring also in Europe and Asia. Some of the Eurasian population winter as far south as sub-Saharan Africa.

Although some pintails nest in southern Ontario, most Ontario breeders go further north to the James Bay lowlands. There have been only three nest records for Northumberland County, during the periods of the Breeding Bird Atlases.

They prefer to nest near ponds in fairly open situations. They nest on the ground in a slight depression which the female lines with dried vegetation and down.

As with most ducks, the male takes no part in rearing the young. The female takes the ducklings to suitable feeding areas and guards them until they are old enough to be independent.

One reference I consulted claimed that Northern Pintail was the third most abundant game duck (after Mallard and American Black Duck) in North America. The population of pintail can vary quite dramatically depending on moisture conditions. In years of drought in the prairies, the population suffers. As well, the wet potholes that they favour are often disturbed by human development.

Although the population decreased during the later part of the 20^th century, it seems to be recovering now. This is due to protection of the nest areas and restricting the harvest limit for the species.

Readers can learn more about migrant waterfowl in this area at Presqu’ile Provincial Park’s Waterfowl Festival on March 17 and 18. Volunteers will be stationed at viewing platforms at several places in the park to help visitors see and identify the ducks. Depending on conditions, visitors might also get lucky and see a Bald Eagle or a Snowy Owl. Several of each have been seen in the park over this past winter.