Back in August last year, Todd Hagedorn and I headed up "north" for a weekend of exploring the Bruce Peninsula and southern Georgian Bay area. My main goal for exploring this part of Ontario was to catch up with a particular butterfly that is rather common in early August near coastal Shrubby Cinquefoil fens on the Bruce Peninsula. While the Dorcas Copper would be my main target, I was also interested in doing some botany and herping in these parts of Ontario, and Todd was game to join me for the weekend. I don't have time to write a really detailed blog about that weekend, since time is limited this time of year, and the memories from that weekend are already beginning to fade. Without further ado, some photos!
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| Brewer's Blackbirds - Ferndale, Bruce County |
The Bruce Peninsula is the only location in Southern Ontario where Brewer's Blackbirds can be found in decent numbers. While they are absent from much of the peninsula, a good sized population exists in some of the agricultural areas. Todd and I were fortunate to come across a roadside flock in the morning that cooperated for photos.
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| Brewer's Blackbird - Ferndale, Bruce County |
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| Brewer's Blackbird - Ferndale, Bruce County |
Our primary spot to search for the Dorcas Coppers was the fen at Singing Sands, located coincidentally enough off of Dorcas Bay Road. Extensive renovations have taken place here, included the creation of a large parking lot, building and boardwalk system. It appears that the place had skyrocketed in popularity as well, and hundreds of people would be arriving later in the morning, around the time we departed. However we had the place mostly to ourselves due to our relatively early arrival time.
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| Bog Lobelia - Singing Sands, Northern Bruce Peninsula |
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| Monarch - Singing Sands, Northern Bruce Peninsula |
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| Coral Hairstreak - Singing Sands, Northern Bruce Peninsula |
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| Common Wood-Nymph - Singing Sands, Northern Bruce Peninsula |
Shrubby Cinquefoil is the main foodplant of Dorcas Copper, and it is all over the place at Singing Sands.
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| Shrubby Cinquefoil - Singing Sands, Northern Bruce Peninsula |
The Dorcas Coppers were surprisingly easy! We noted at least a dozen at Singing Sands, making them the most numerous butterfly of the day.
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| Dorcas Copper - Singing Sands, Northern Bruce Peninsula |
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| Dorcas Copper - Singing Sands, Northern Bruce Peninsula |
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| Dorcas Copper - Singing Sands, Northern Bruce Peninsula |
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Dorcas Copper - Singing Sands, Northern Bruce Peninsula
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| Dorcas Copper - Singing Sands, Northern Bruce Peninsula |
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We slowly meandered around the shoreline wetlands, focusing mostly on insects and plants. I had a great time trying to identify the fen plants, some of which are restricted in range in Ontario.
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| Sticky False Asphodel - Singing Sands, Northern Bruce Peninsula |
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| Tawny-edged Skipper - Singing Sands, Northern Bruce Peninsula |
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| Northern Crescent - Singing Sands, Northern Bruce Peninsula |
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| Horned Bladderwort - Singing Sands, Northern Bruce Peninsula |
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| Northern Spreadwing - Singing Sands, Northern Bruce Peninsula |
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| Purple Tiger Beetle - Singing Sands, Northern Bruce Peninsula |
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| Atlantis Fritillary - Singing Sands, Northern Bruce Peninsul |
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| Harebell - Singing Sands, Northern Bruce Peninsula |
Following our time at Singing Sands we drove south, our next stop being the Oliphant fen. I distinctly remember scanning over the flats with my binoculars at one point. Less than two weeks later, Ontario's first Reddish Egret showed up here and remained for several weeks. Its entirely possible that it was present when Todd and I were here in early August, but we sure did not see it.
At Oliphant we enjoyed the wetland plants, some of which were new for us. A few notable ones (for me) included Mountain Deathcamas, Prairie Indian Plantain, Slender-leaved Sundew and Bog and Ohio Goldenrods.
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| Mountain Deathcamas - Oliphant fen, Bruce County |
It was getting on in the afternoon and we had a couple of hours of driving ahead of us, so we hit the road. Our destination was Dan Riley's cottage north of Barrie on Lake Simcoe where we would be spending the night. That evening I broke out the macro lens and flash to document a few of the moths that gathered near one of the lights on the cottage. Steve Pike had driven up as well, and he had brought both of his moth lights with him, but neither were working. Regardless, we still had a great time with a solid variety of moth species coming to the porch light at the cottage.
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| Striped Eudonia Moth - Oro-Medonte, Simcoe County |
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| Pale Beauty - Oro-Medonte, Simcoe County |
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| Black Wedge-Spot - Oro-Medonte, Simcoe County |
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| Lesser Grapevine Looper Moth - Oro-Medonte, Simcoe County |
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| Desmia sp. - Oro-Medonte, Simcoe County |
The next morning we met up with Nikki Huculiak and the five of us drove to a site about an hour away to do some herping and to camp that evening. This site contains a mosaic of habitat types, but especially exposed Canadian Shield bedrock interspersed with bogs and swamps.
The day started off overcast and cool but soon began warming up. Almost immediately I spotted the first snake of the day, a beautiful Smooth Greensnake out and about. These inoffensive little snakes are a favorite of many herpers, myself included, and I just can't get enough of them.
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| Smooth Greensnake - Muskoka District, Ontario |
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| Smooth Greensnake - Muskoka District, Ontario |
A little while later we found a second Smooth Greensnake, right around the time we came across a couple of other hikers. I was happy to help this fellow add Smooth Greensnake to his lifelist!
This Eastern Chipmunk was too preoccupied with a tasty mushroom to worry about the photographer a few feet away.
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| Eastern Chipmunk - Muskoka District, Ontario |
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| Eastern Chipmunk - Muskoka District, Ontario |
The herping was slow, but we eventually began adding new species. Unfortunately our main quarry, the Eastern Massassauga, remained hidden this time, but we had a blast regardless.
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| Northern Leopard Frog - Muskoka District, Ontario |
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| Yellow-spotted Renia Moth - Muskoka District, Ontario |
Northern Ringneck Snakes are one of the most frequently encountered snakes on the southern edge of the Canadian Shield. They feed by slurping down Red-backed Salamanders and earthworms, which they sometimes find under flat rocks or crevices.
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| Northern Ringneck Snake - Muskoka District, Ontario |
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| Xyris sp. - Muskoka District, Ontario |
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| Northern St. John's Wort - Muskoka District, Ontario |
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| Northern St. John's Wort - Muskoka District, Ontario |
Northern Ribbonsnakes were scarce during our visit with only one accounted for.
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| Northern Ribbonsnake - Muskoka District, Ontario |
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| Northern Ribbonsnake - Muskoka District, Ontario |
This Io Moth caterpillar was fun to find!
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| Io Moth - Muskoka District, Ontario |
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| Dekay's Brownsnake - Muskoka District, Ontario |
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| Dekay's Brownsnake - Muskoka District, Ontario |
Todd snagged this emerald from the edge of a fen, which keys out as an Incurvate Emerald. This is a range-restricted species in Ontario and is in fact designated "S1".
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| Incurvate Emerald - Muskoka District, Ontario |
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| Incurvate Emerald - Muskoka District, Ontario |
One last highlight from the weekend - this Eastern Gartersnake was successfully swallowing a very unfortunate American Toad. An impressive takedown for sure!
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| Eastern Gartersnake eating American Toad - Muskoka District, Ontario |
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| Eastern Gartersnake eating American Toad - Muskoka District, Ontario |
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| Eastern Gartersnake eating American Toad - Muskoka District, Ontario |
It was a great weekend with a good group of friends!
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