Nature in Ontario's Banana Belt: May 2012

At first this dragonfly really puzzled me. I couldn't get an identification I felt confident with so I emailed a few experts:

Hi xxxx,

I took your odonate course a couple years ago at the Aboretum and enjoyed it greatly. I have been investigating dragonflies more closely ever since. I found a dragonfly I am having a hard time with. Do you think maybe you could please help me ID it? Thanks in advance!

And a response:

Coooool. This looks like a Variegated Meadowhawk! Where did you see it? Near a Great Lake? I still haven't seen one in Ontario but got to see some in California last November.

Cheers, xxxx :)

It turns out with this species, as with other strange ones seen this year, we have a southern dragonfly expanding it range. This speciment was found at the Twin Creek Landfill in Watford. A great distance inland and tucked well away from any Great Lake.

Variegated Meadowhawk

Red-tailed Hawk (?)

Solitary Sandpiper, Tringa solitaria (?)

Lesser Yellowlegs, Tringa flavipes (?)

Thanks to all those who shared in the appreciation of this wonderful forest.

The highlight of the annual walk - Virginia Bluebells

Virginia Bluebell

Mertensia virginica

Borage Family (Boraginaceae)

Found in rich floodplain areas of Southern Ontario. It is easy to see why Virginia Bluebells is a favorite woodland wildflower. The pastel colors of the flowers and foliage are soft and soothing.

The flowers are pollinated by long-tongued bees primarily, including honeybees, bumblebees, Anthophorid bees, Mason bees, large Leaf-Cutting bees, and Miner bees; these insects seek nectar and collect pollen. Other visitors of the flowers include hummingbirds, bee flies, butterflies, skippers, and Sphinx moths, including hummingbird moths. This group of visitors seek nectar from the flowers. Small flower flies may also visit the flowers, however they feed on the pollen and are not effective pollinators.

Golden Alexander

Golden Alexander
Zizia aurea
Carrot family (Apiaceae)

Golden Alexanders is common in Southern Ontario. Habitats include moist black soil prairies, openings in moist to mesic woodlands, areas along woodland paths, savannas, thickets, limestone glades, thinly wooded bluffs, powerline clearances in wooded areas, and abandoned fields. Golden Alexanders occurs in both degraded and higher quality habitats. It adapts readily to habitat restorations.

The flowers are attractive to many kinds of insects seeking pollen or nectar, especially short-tongued bees, wasps, flies, and beetles. Such long-tongued bees as bumblebees, cuckoo bees (Nomada spp.) also visit the flowers, as do some small butterflies and true bugs. Notwithstanding all of these visitors, this plant is capable of self-pollination. Caterpillars of the butterflies Papilio polyxenes asterius (Black Swallowtail) feed on the leaves and flowers.

Wild Geranium

Geranium maculatum

Geranium family (Geraniaceae)

The Spotted Geranium, Wood Geranium, or Wild Geranium is a woodland perennial plant native to eastern North America, from southern Manitoba and southwestern Quebec south to Alabama and west to Oklahoma and South Dakota.

It grows in dry to moist woods and is normally abundant when found.

This White Trillium has become pink with age.

White Trillium

Trillium Grandiflorum

Bunchflower Family (Melanthiaceae)

The white trillium grows in rich woods. The White Trillium has been the provincial flower of Ontario since 1937. Populations of white trillium often have some individuals with green and white, sometimes contorted petals, a condition that results from infection by mycoplasma-like organisms.

The species name, grandiflorum, means "large flowered."

Trilliums grow for at least six years before flowering.

As the fruits mature, they bend close to the ground and split open, exposing clumps of sticky seeds. Each seed has a large bump, called an elaiosome, that ants find irresistible. When ants carry the trillium seeds back to their nest, the elaiosome is eaten and the seed discarded (planted) well away from the parent plant.

Violets

Viola sororia, Viola pubescens and others

Violet Family (Violaceae)

Toward the end of the growing season, as days get shoter, violets produce inconspicuous, closed, petal-less flowers that self-pollinate and ensure the plant's reproductive success. There are 30 species of violets in Ontario, many which readily hydridize, so identification is notoriously difficult.

The three main features used in identification are

1. Colour of flower;

2. Variation in leaf form; and

3. Manner of growth:

a) Flowers and leaves come up on one stalk (stemless violets);

b) Leaves and flowers branch from stem (stemmed violets).

Viola sororia (Common Violet)

Pale Violet (Viola striata)

Purple, stemless, uncut leaves - This is the most common species of violet. The common response to this flower is "that's what I call a violet."

Viola pubescans (Yellow Violet) - No Photo

Yellow, stemmed, uncut leaves - This widespread species with its many variations is the cause of considerable disagreement among botonists.

Viola striata (Cream Violet)
White/cream, stemmed, uncut leaves

More information on Violet identifcation can be found here:
http://ontariowildflowers.com/groups/54/violetid.php

Wild Ginger

Asarum canadense

Birthwort Family (Aristolochiaceae)

Asarum canadense, commonly known as Canada wild ginger, Canadian snakeroot and broad-leaved asarabaccais, is a herbaceous perennial native to deciduous forest in eastern North America, from the Great Plains east to the Atlantic Coast, and from southeastern Canada south to approximately the fall line in the southeastern United States.

The long rhizomes of A. canadense were used by Fist Nations as a seasoning.It has similar aromatic properties to true ginger (Zingiber officinale), but should not be used as a substitute because it contains an unknown concentration of the carcinogen aristolochic acid. The distillate from the ground root is known as Canadian snakeroot oil. The odor and flavor are spicy. It has been used in many flavor preparations.

Only three species of Birthwort in Ontario.

One-flowered Broom Rape

Orobanche uniflora
Broomrape Family (Orobanchaceae)

The flowers are cross-pollinated by bumblebees and possibly other long-tongued bees. Very little appears to be known about floral-faunal relationships for this species. The root system is parasitic, developing feeder roots (haustoria) that attach themselves to the roots of a suitable host plant. One-Flowered Broomrape is holoparasitic and lacks chlorophyll; it is dependent on the host plant for nutrients.

A surprise - (parasitic) One-flowered Broom-Rape

Spring Beauties are one of the first spring wild flowers to bloom. Most have already
come and gone as the succession of the season marches forward.

Yellow Rocket

Animal sightings:

Six-spotted Tiger Beetle

Rose-breasted Grosbeak called vigorously
throughout the day.

Angle wings and Red Admirals were plentiful

There were a number of other plants and animals that we saw that I wasn't able to photograph - some notables include:

Wildflowers: Wild Flox, False Mermaid, Marsh Marigold, Buttercup sp.

Flowering Invasives: Garlic Mustard, Dandelion, Autumn Olive.

Reptiles and Amphibians: American Toad, Wood Frog, Dekay's Brown Snake, Garter snake

Butterflies: Common Buckeye, Monarch, Tiger Swallowtail, Red Admirals (many seen - more than 30), Sulphurs.

Birds: Spotted Sandpiper, Orioles, Nuthatch, American Robin, Bluebirds, Tree Swallows, Turkey Vultures, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Blue Jays, Chickadees and many more.