27-MAY-2017
Wireworm (Click beetle larva) (Elateridae)
While planting wildflowers by the pond, I came across this beetle larva. I have no idea which click beetle species it is.
31-MAY-2017
Band-winged cranefly (Epiphragma)?
Small cranefly found in the old woods.
31-MAY-2017
Twenty-spotted lady beetle (Psyllobora vigintimaculata)
These tiny beetles mainly feed on mildew and are especially noticeable when powdery mildew afflicts plants.
31-MAY-2017
Fire-coloured beetle (Dendroides concolor), male
Those antennae are something else. I wish I could have got a clearer photo of them, but he was waving them around madly. The larvae of these beetles live in rotting wood, and according to Tom Murray, feed on fungi.
31-MAY-2017
Solomon's seal (Polygonatum pubescens)
Flourishing in the old woods section of the Fletcher Wildlife Garden.
31-MAY-2017
Red admiral butterfly larva (Vanessa atalanta)
A tiny caterpillar, perhaps 2nd or 3rd instar on stinging nettle. There were several of these caterpillars on the stinging nettle leaves.
31-MAY-2017
Geometrid moth larva
Hanging at the very tip of a basswood leaf, this tiny caterpillar is not easy to ID at this early stage, although someone familiar with the family might be able to.
31-MAY-2017
Pollinator beds
At the edge of the old field habitat these raised beds were made as demonstration gardens showing the plants that attract pollinators. When people hear the term pollinator they think bees, but in fact many insects and non-insects are pollinators: flies, beetles, moths, butterflies, and in some regions of the world, bats.
31-MAY-2017
Goldenrod gall moth (Epiblema scudderiana)
Found sheltering from the rain on a lupine leaf. There were several of these small moths around and no surprise that they are often referred to as bird-dropping moths (along with several other moth species which also resemble bird scat). These are the moths responsible for the elliptical shaped galls on goldenrod stems.
31-MAY-2017
Lupine
The lupines are in full bloom in the butterfly meadow and are very attractive to bees.
31-MAY-2017
Lupine
While most of the lupines are a gorgeous deep purple/blue colour, some are a pale pink as here.
27-MAY-2017
Red squirrel gathering nest material
A quick visit to the Backyard Garden of FWG, produced this red squirrel busily gathering a mouthful of dry grass. Here, it pauses briefly before quickly gathering more - next photo.
27-MAY-2017
Red squirrel gathering nest material
After gathering as much dry grass as it could comfortably carry, the squirrel quickly ran off to the compost piles and into a tunnel that perhaps ran right through the pile. I didn`t see it emerge on the other side, but as they are quick and I am not, it may well have got through the tunnel before I could see it.
27-MAY-2017
Snapping turtle
Huddled next to the shore, was a small snapping turtle. This is probably the same one that Sandy photographed a few days previous. The photo can be found in this May blog.
27-MAY-2017
The Fern Trail
At the far end of the (model) Backyard Garden, behind the Interpetation Centre, is this lushly planted short trail, called the `William J.`Bill`Cody Fern Trail` after the author of a book on ferns and a friend of the Fletcher garden.
27-MAY-2017
Planting the pond: 1
On Saturday morning, a number of volunteers gathered to help plant over 1,000 plants of various species around the pond. Last autumn, the pond was partly dredged and vegetation on the south slope removed to try and get rid of the invasive dog-strangling vine. Instead, a variety of native wildflowers were planted, selected for their attractiveness to pollinators of all species, bees, butterflies, moths, flies, beetles...
The next few images show various aspects of the activity.
27-MAY-2017
Planting around the pond: 2
Another view, this one looking west, showing volunteers planting wildflowers around the pond.
27-MAY-2017
Planting around the pond: 3
A cart full of implements for the work party.
27-MAY-2017
Planting around the pond: 4
some volunteers, rather than planting wildflowers, installed a fence to keep people from trampling the newly planted vegetation.
27-MAY-2017
Planting around the pond: 5
Some volunteers dug out the dog-strangling vine that was already growing thickly under the trees. Left alone, it would soon engulf the small plants.
27-MAY-2017
Planting around the pond: 6
A long shot looking south at the planting activity around the pond.
27 May 2017
Gilled mushrooms
These caramel-coloured gilled mushrooms appeared on chip mulch. (SG)
27 May 2017
Dryad's Saddle (Cerioporus squamosus)
Almost every year at this time, a Dryad's Saddle fungus appears on one or another of the downed tree trunks in our ravine. (SG)
27 May 2017
May-apple (Podophyllum peltatum)
The May Apples are now blooming in our Old Woodlot, but you have to lie on the ground to see the flowers under their umbrella leaves.(SG)
27 May 2017
Mystified Mallard
Thanks to all the volunteers who helped on 27 March, the south bank of our pond is now planted with 1200 wildflowers. This Mallard, who has been frequenting the pond lately, stepped out of the water for a closer look at the new additions.(SG)
27 May 2017
Spider babies
One of our volunteers, Michelle, was surprised to find hundreds of baby spiders dispersing from a web. They seem to be be yellow and black, but they are so small (under 2 mm), it's difficult to tell which species they might be.(SG)
27 May 2017
Mason Bee
This is one of the Mason Bees that is currently laying eggs in the box we made for it out of paper tubes and a milk carton. This one may have been on its last legs, as they are usually too quick and too busy to stop for a photo. (SG)
19-MAY-2017
Bee fly (Bombylius major)
I am not entirely sure, but this bee fly may be dropping eggs into the burrows of Andrenid bees. It was flying around the same general area, stopping frequently to rub its abdomen in the soil before taking off, circling around, landing in the vicinity, then back to abdomen rubbing, or seeming abdomen rubbing. I could never get close enough to see well and these photos (this and the next one) are greatly cropped, taken from some distance.
19-MAY-2017
Bee fly (Bombylius major)
A side view of the behaviour described in the previous image.
19-MAY-2017
Chipping sparrow
This photo was taken in the Arboretum, next door to the FWG, and I post it because though I saw chipping sparrows at the garden, I couldn't get a shot. This photo shows the distinctive rufus cap.
19-MAY-2017
Ostrich fern ( Matteuccia struthiopteris)
These are the 'fiddlehead' ferns, an early spring delicacy, though not to everyone's taste. Better to leave them growing so they can turn into these beautiful large ferns that look almost like the big lush ferns of the west coast rain forests.
19-MAY-2017
White trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)
How quickly spring passes. One minute the trilliums are not up, the next they are already fading as evidenced by the rosy pink shades of many.
19-MAY-2017
Canada plum (Prunus nigra)
Also often called wild plum. This species is fairly common at the garden and attracts various insects during its flowering stage.
19-MAY-2017
Domestic apple tree (Malus)
I am told that Malus pumila is increasingly being used for domestic apple trees.
19-MAY-2017
Green frogs (Lithobates clamitans)
At the quieter end of the pond, that is, away from the bridge, there were 5 green frogs sitting on the shore. When I passed by, two jumped into the pond and sat (the ones in this photo), the others vanished. You may be more familiar with the name of Rana clamitans, which is what you'll find in older field guides. However, many taxonomic changes are occurring in all fields including amphibians.
19-MAY-2017
Black swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes)
Spring is pushing on and with it come the butterflies of late spring such as this black swallowtail.
22 May 2017
Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica)
A small clump of Virginia Bluebells is blooming in the Old Woodlot. We're hoping these plants, which were donated by Phil Reilly, will spread out and make a carpet of blue in a couple of years.(SG)
22 May 2017
Spring ephemerals
Trilliums and Bloodroot flowering has ended, but now May Apple (Podophyllum peltatum), Starry False Solomon's Seal (Maianthemum stellatum), Red Baneberry (Actaea rubra), violets are blooming in the Old Woodlot.(SG)
22 May 2017
Cedar-apple Rust (Gymnosporangium juniperivirginianae)
Today's rain seems to have brought out masses of this rust. Gelatinous brown "leaflets" are all over this Eastern Red-cedar (Juniperus virginiana). Google the latin name to see the variety of forms this organism can take. (SG)
22 May 2017
Pollinator beds
The FWG has partnered with Friends of the Earth to build pollinator beds at the FWG and at 3 Ottawa Community Housing sites. We opted for raised beds to make it easier to keep Dog-strangling Vine out. The vertical structures at the end of two boxes are intended to hold educational material, such as plant lists and information about various types of bees, as well as some bee boxes.(SG)
02-MAY-2017
White-throated sparrow
As most of you probably know, this species has been moving through our area for some time. On May 2nd at the garden there were numerous individuals in just about every area of the site. While they don't nest at FWG, they do nest in the region.
02-MAY-2017
Magnolia blossom
There are two magnolias at the Fletcher Wildlife Garden, both planted long before we came along. Their blossoms are so showy and so pretty and more than that, they attract a variety of insects. Here, a small fly is sheltering from the showers. I could not get close enough to see details, but it is possible it is a dance fly (Rhamphomyia)though really, I don't know. (CH)
02-MAY-2017
Eastern skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus)
This was planted by the pond, it didn't occur naturally. There are only a couple of locations around the Ottawa district where this species is known to occur in 'the wild'.
3 May 2017
Red Trillium
Red Trilliums (Trillium erectum), usually one of the first spring ephemerals after bloodroots, are blooming in our Old Woodlot.
3 May 2017
White Trillium
The more showy White Trilliums (Trillium grandiflorum) are also in bloom.
02-MAY-2017
Red squirrel
Not too happy with the rain, I'm sure, which was on and off all afternoon. This squirrel is sitting by the very well used roosting box which successive generations of squirrels have used. One year, sharing it with a colony of honey bees.
02-MAY-2017
Mallard. male
Sitting contentedly on the muddy south slope of the pond, this male was later joined by another male. Not sure where the female of last week has got to.
02-MAY-2017
Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)
This is the first patch of bloodroot I photographed this year at the FWG, not very long ago, and already the short-lived flowers have vanished. There is still bloodroot blooming, but it is such a brief flowering time.
02-MAY-2017
American goldfinch, male
The weather has been largely cool, grey and wet, with some warm sunny days here and there. The birds are grateful for the seed still supplied by the feeder until they can make use of natural food sources.
02-MAY-2017
Birch grove
The first flush of new leaves on the birch trees simply says "spring"!
02-MAY-2017
Erosion by the pond
There has been very heavy rainfall not only recently but on and off for weeks. This has created some severe erosion of the bare slopes around the pond of which this section is the worst.