Hello All

I was thinking back on this past week, trying to decide what neat things happened and what I should write about and I noticed that this past week has been very much about myths, legends and stories. Now you might wonder what Rondeau has to do with myths and legends and I agree that at first glance it can be tough to see the connection. As interpreters our job is to introduce people to wonders of the world around them. Myths, legends and stories are a great way to pique people’s interest in not only the history of an area, but also in nature.

Our shipwreck walk on Tuesday covered the story aspect of our Myth, Legend and Story week. The stories of local area shipwrecks were powerful and evocative and gave a sense of the tragedies that can occur on the deceptively calm appearance of Lake Erie’s waters. However, I’ve written about our shipwreck program in the past so I’ll leave it there.

The myth component was taken care of at our bat night on Friday evening. There are a lot of myths about the natural world and bats have their fair share of them. It’s amazing how many myths there are about bats considering how many cool things that are true about them, like eating half their body weight in food per evening (that’s like me eating 360 quarter pounders with cheese in a day). Buts myths do abound from flying into people’s hair to being completely blind. In reality bats can see just fine. Though for precision night time hunting and navigation, their echolocation is the tool at night.
















The only time you'll see a bat in someone's hair


And finally legends abounded on Saturday night when we talked of our celestial friends – the stars (unfortunately, due to a cloud bank we could not see them). Legends were shared from cultures around the world. We had Greek legends about the constellation Andromeda, Japanese legends about the star Vega and Native American Legends about the Big Dipper. If you’d like to hear them, you’ll have to join us for our next star night on Aug 7th.

















The Constellation of Andromeda
The fuzzy dot in the middle is the Galaxy of Andromeda



For the nature feature of this week, I though I’d keep to the same theme and talk about a creature who has a few of my favourite urban myths – the harvestmen. Now some of you may be wondering what a Harvestman is. You may know them better as daddy longlegs. The first misconception is that they are spiders. They look similar and are related to spiders, but if you look closely they have a couple of differences. The easiest one to spot is their body. Spiders have two body parts connected by a thin waste whereas harvestmen have only one oval shaped body part. Another big difference is that harvestmen can’t make silk (a defining characteristic of spiders). But one of the neatest differences is the eyes. Most spiders have 8 eight eyes, but harvestmen only have two which are located on a small turret on their back. The eyes are placed back to back so that the harvestmen can see all around it to avoid predators.



















Harvestmen/Daddy Longlegs

















The black dot are the eyes, back to back on a raise platform


When I was a kid we were always told that if you kill a daddy longlegs it will make it rain. This myth supposedly came about because daddy longlegs are more frequently seen before a rain storm (however, I’ve found no scientific evidence whether or not that is true). Another old wives tale that I’ve heard is that a daddy longlegs will point you in the direction of your lost cows. You have to pick up the harvestmen by all the legs except one. The free leg will then point you in the direction of your cows.

But my favourite myth has to be that harvestmen are the most poisonous ‘spider’ in the world, they just can’t pierce our skin with their fangs. Of course we already know that they aren’t spiders and the third thing that puts them in a different group is that they don’t have any venom at all. In fact, harvestmen don’t even have fangs! Instead, they have tong-like appendages that help them grasp their food. Harvestmen eat dead insects, decaying plants, insect eggs or smaller, slow moving insects – nothing that they need fangs or venom for. I have no idea where this myth originated, but it has become so pervasive that major TV shows like Bill Nye the Science Guy and Mythbusters have done programs to debunk it. It’s amazing how many myths there are about this small, innocuous creature. It just goes to show you that you can’t believe everything that you here.













Tong-like mouthparts of a harvestman


Once again I’ve attached this week’s upcoming schedule. If you have heard any weird facts about nature and want to know if they are true send me an email or drop by the Visitor Centre and we’ll de-mythify them for you.


Mythically Yours
Kip

Hello Everyone

What does Great Big Sea, Bambi and Speed Racer all have in common? They were all here at Rondeau this past week.

Great Big Sea was here in spirit, if not in the flesh. Our first musical fishing program was done last Thursday. With the help of a visiting naturalist from Bronte Creek Provincial Park took we took our visitors on a music al journey through the bygone days of the fishing industry of Rondeau. The night was a brought to life with fish tales and sea shanties and everyone was singing traditional fishing songs that were made famous by the Newfoundland band known as Great Big Sea.

Bate's Fisheries from Rondeau Park

Bambi made her appearance at Friday evening’s Deer Hike deer walk and she wasn’t alone. A bald eagle and a raccoon were quite the delight for the large crowd who came out to see and learn about Rondeau’s largest animal.

The true highlight of the week was on Saturday. Not only was it a great day it was also National Parks Day. Rondeau was filled with campers and they would have given Speed Racer a run for his money during our 3^rd annual Amazing Race. Teams raced around the park completing challenges such as; identifying bird calls, building nests, matching animal scat, and outsmarting a spider! Great fun and excitement were had by all (although there were many tired campers at the finish line.) Our first place team, an uncle/nephew duo completed all the challenges in just under three hours! Prizes were generously donated by the Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit, the Park Store and the Friends of Rondeau.

To continue on with our theme of lightning fast amazing racers I figured it would be a good time to brighten your day with dazzling lightning trivia (and with that shockingly bad transition here we go). There really isn’t anything else that we see around here that shows off the raw power of nature than a lightning strike.

Nature likes everything to be in balance. This includes electrical charges and that’s were lighting come in. Lightning is just nature’s way to keep those charges balanced out. During a storm, rain, snow and ice collide continuously in the clouds which can cause a build up of a negative charge at the bottom of the cloud. At the same time objects on the ground like steeples, trees, and people swinging golf clubs, build up a positive charge. Nature wants to balance this out and we end up with a lightning strike. A lightning strike is created by a process called a ‘stepped leader’. Negative charges jump downwards from the clouds in steps of about 46m (150 feet). When these ‘steps’ comes within 46m of a positively charged object on the ground a surge of positive charge, called a streamer, rushes up to meet the negative charge and creates a channel for electricity to pass creating lightning. Although the strike looks like a single bolt, it is usually made up of several bolts under 2 inches in diameter and they all strike in less than half a second.

Lightning is more common than most people think. At any given time there are more than 1000 storms raging on earth. On average lightning strikes the Earth about 100 times per second! Thankfully they aren’t all in Rondeau. The temperature of the air around lightning bolt is a balmy 30,000 °C (54,000 °F) which is around 5 times the surface of the sun. So it should come as no surprise that a large thunderstorm produces more energy than atomic bomb. The super-heated air around a lightning bolt is expands faster than the speed of sound. This causes a shockwave that we hear as thunder. The reason we usually hear rolling thunder instead of one big bang is because lightning isn’t one single bolt but several, all creating shockwaves at different altitudes which reach our ears at slightly different times.

Before I say au revoir for the week I’d like to thank Laura and Lauren who helped write this weeks Rondeau Events. Our events for the upcoming week are attached. I highly recommend coming out on Tuesday night for an evening of Lake Erie’s shipwrecks and lost souls. If you have any questions about our programs or nature in general please drop by the Visitor Centre, call us at 519-674-1768 or send me an email at kipling.campbell@ontario.ca

Strikingly Yours

Kip

Mid-July is quickly barrelling down upon us and things are a jumpin’ here at the Visitor Centre. From stormy shipwrecks to staff in ghillie suits our programs are taking off.

The first shipwreck walk of the summer was a bit hit with over 40 people joining us for our evening stroll on the shores of a deceptively calm Lake Erie. The highlights were definitely the mad search for washed up rum bottles and the gruesome tale of The Morningstar where 33 lives were lost. From the deadly waters of Lake Erie we moved to how to survive the deadly game of predators in the wild. Kids where challenged to use their best spotting and hiding skills as Scott skulked around them in a fool proof ghillie or camouflage suit. Needless to say, the young spotters were more than a match for sneaky Scott.

On a similar note of avoiding being eaten, we have stumbled upon a wonderful new tool to help in the fight against mosquitoes! Early this spring, during our Wings of Spring festival, we were introduced to an all natural brand of new bug repellent. It’s called ‘Bugs Away Repellent’ and it’s made by a local company called Faerhaven Soaps. I’m always a little sceptical about new bug repellents, but being excited about a natural alternative I decided to give it a go. If nothing else, the pleasant non-chemical smell would be worth it, but to my delight it really works well. So well that we decided to get some for all of our staff here at the Visitor Centre and sell it in our Friends of Rondeau Bookstore. So if you are wondering what the new perfume that everyone at the Visitor Centre is wearing, now you know.

If you ever walk along the beach at Rondeau you have definitely heard our most common shorebird. The Killdeer is well known for its habit of saying its own name along with a regular ‘deeah, deeah, deeah,’ call. June and July are a great time of year to see one of their most amazing displays. It’s called the broken wing display. During this display the male or female will tilt to one side, droop a wing and fan out their tail. The whole purpose of this display is to say “Hey look at me! I’m easy to catch and eat! Come chase me!” The Killdeer are attempting to lure a predator away from their nest and nestlings to keep them protected.

Even if you see them doing the display, good luck trying to find thenest. The speckled eggs and young nestlings are so well camouflaged that you could walk within inches of the nest and never know it was there. A week ago, one of the wardens found a nest and gave me directions to go and see it. Even with very precise directions it took me quite a bit of time to locate nest. The nest is just a shallow scrape on the ground with barely any lining at all. The eggs are very pointed at

one end. This way if something nudges them by accident the eggs will roll in a circle, instead of rolling away from the protection of the nest. Right now, most of the eggs have hatched and there are lots of young Killdeer just starting to roam the beaches. If you keep your eyes peeled, you just might be lucky enough to spot one of the well camouflaged young.

Searchingly Yours,

Kip

I know it’s only been a day, but I was lax last week and was really late getting the blog posted. But a lot has happened in the last seven days. Over this past week we’ve seen our first children’s program, had canoe training and are gearing up to welcome the last of our staff.

Our first official children’s program of the year, Brady’s Winged Weirdos, was a flying success. It took off with 19 kids performing the American Woodcock dance and soared to a melodious ending with a beak-utiful rendition of the song “Where’s Your Nest At?” (look for this tune on our upcoming CD – The Wailings of the Staff). Terrible puns aside, the kids had a great time running around learning all about some of the odder birds that make Rondeau their home.

For those of you who were gracing the shores of Rondeau Bay this past week, you may have been treated to synchronized flailing of the Rondeau Canoe Team. That’s right, in the cool embrace of Rondeau Bay, our staff were furiously practicing J-strokes, back paddles, draws and canoe-over-canoe rescues. I’m pleased to say we have a well qualified staff who are keen to bring everyone out on a paddle through the marsh. Our first trip of the summer is this upcoming Sunday, so book your spot now.

I’m also excited to have the final two staff members join us this Monday. Breanne and Tara will round out the Visitor Centre team. Breanne is returning for her second year and Tara is making her NHE debut. We are all excited about having a full team and I hope you will all come out and join us in welcoming them to Rondeau.

Everyone knows that if you want to see the best wildflower showing, you have to go out in the early spring before the leaves are out on the trees. But just because the peak wildflower season has come and gone, it doesn’t mean there aren’t any impressive flowers out there. I’d like to draw your attention to the MEGAMINTS. In general, the plants in the mint family are small and demure. However, there are exceptions to the rule. We have two of these megamints in Rondeau; Wild Bergamot and Oswego Tea. These plants can grow up to 5 feet tall, with bright purple or red flowers. Definitely something you won’t overlook.

Wild Bergamot is the more common of the two species. The purple flower head is made up of several long skinny flowers that look like the end of a logger’s pike pole. For a long time I had been told that Bergamot was responsible for the flavour in Earl Grey Tea. While it is true that the flavour does come from Bergamot, it isn’t from our Wild Bergamot. Our Bergamot got it’s name because it smells very similar to a plant that grows near Bergamo, Italy – the Bergamot Orange (which is the true source of Earl Grey Tea). However, if you mix Wild Bergamot with regular black tea you will still get that familiar Earl Grey flavour. The real claim to fame for both Wild Bergamot and Oswego Tea came from Boston Tea Party of 1773. Both plants became commonly used as a substitute to the boycotted British tea.

Oswego Tea is also known as Bee Balm. This plant looks very similar to Wild Bergamot except that it is scarlet red instead of purple. Not only does this plant seem really attractive to us, it’s also a favourite of hummingbirds. Red is one of the hummingbird’s favourite colours and the pike shaped flowers are perfect for small birds that can hover and have a long tongue to reach the nectar deep inside. The name Oswego Tea comes from 1743. John Bartram, a botanist, learned about the flower at Fort Oswego in New York. The Native-Americans in the area were using the plant to make a medicinal tea to treat chills and fevers. By combining the name of the fort with the use as a tea the name Oswego Tea was born. However, the word Oswego was in fact the native name of the nearby river. The name Bee Balm also refers to its medicinal properties. A poultice of this plant was used to relieve insect stings and bites.

Teatotalleringly Yours

Kip

Hello Everyone

The summer has arrived (although technically I suppose it arrived a week ago on June 21st). It really has been a blur of staff training, school programs and scavenger hunts here at the Visitor Centre.

We kicked off June by heading off for a four day training workshop that involves all the naturalists from all of Ontario Parks. The workshop was a great opportunity for all of the staff to meet other people in our field, learn new things and share new ways of interpreting the wonders of nature to our visitors. My highlight was learning that there is a spider out there that is vegetarian and feeds on fruit. Nature’s variety never ceases to amaze me. Just I when you think you’ve learned the basic truths about life, such as the fact that only plants photosynthesize, nature comes along and shows you how wrong you are (apparently there is a sea slug that has been discovered that can photosynthesize). But our training didn’t stop there, the rest of June was spent working on public speaking skills, program writing and identifying the plants and animals that make up the Rondeau community. Now we are ready to answer all of the questions you send our way.

In addition to training, June has been jumping with school groups. We’ve had everything from kindergartens kids learning about living things through to grade 6 students making mock park decisions about biodiversity. We’ve even had some grade 8 students come all the way down from Toronto to visit our precious piece of paradise. So I’d like to give a big thanks to Laura who organized it all and made sure all those students had a wonderful learning experience here at the park.

But out of all the cool stuff going on right now, I’m probably most excited by our scavenger hunt. We were looking for new ways to get our visitors to see even more of the park than they already do. After brainstorming with a few people, the idea of a photo scavenger hunt was born. The photos to be taken are in all different locations in the park (i.e. the lighthouse beacon and the Wilkinson’s Expedition sign) and doing all sorts of park related activities (i.e. playing sports and singing at a campfire). Depending on how many of the photos are taken, their picture goes up on our Scavernger Hunt Wall of Fame in one of our four levels; Chipmunk, Fox, Monarch and Eagle. And even more exciting, the photos that are taken can be entered into our photo contest and could end up on the cover of next year’s Rondeau Tabloid! But the thing that really excites me is that it is starting to take off, for most of June the only people on our Wall of Fame were the Visitor Centre Staff. But now that school is out more and more people are taking part and we’ve just had our first person reach the eagle level by getting all 30 photos. So I challenge you all to come out, take some photos and see if you can do better than our park staff!

Although I fully admit that June has been racing by, the real telltale sign of June is the slow, plodding of our shell covered reptile – the turtle. If you have been at the park, or even just driving around near any water bodies you’ve probably been noticing a lot of turtles out wandering around or digging holes at the side of the road. June is egg laying month for a lot of our turtle species, and is therefore one of the best chances to see some turtles without canoeing through the marsh. This time of year the female turtles leave their watery abodes to go in search of the perfect soil in which to lay their eggs. This careful selection of a nesting site is the last thing they will do for their young, because once the eggs are laid they are on their own. Hopefully the nest will remain secure until the end of summer and early fall when the young male and female turtles can dig their way out of the nest and rush down to the safety of the water. One of the coolest things about turtles is that being a boy or a girl is based not on the turtles genes, but on the temperature of the egg while it was incubating. In snapping turtles, eggs will hatch all girls if the temperature was below 21°C or above 29°C. If the temperature was 23°C to 24°C then all the eggs will be boys and if the temperature was 21°C to 22°C or 25°C to 28°C then there is a mix of both sexes.


Although, snapping turtles are well protected with their armoured backs and snapping jaws, very few turtles will actually make it to an age where they can reproduce and lay eggs of their own. Between eggs getting eating by raccoons, baby turtles getting eaten by predators and a bunch of other hazards, research indicates that only 1 turtle out of 100 will survive to adulthood – not very good odds. However, in the natural world, once they get to adulthood the yearly survival rate jumps to 97%. Unfortunately, roads and cars have changed their natural world. Now, the major cause of death of the adults is being hit by cars as they move from pond to pond or go in search of a nesting site. So we ask that everyone is careful while they drive, especially in the spring, and keep an eye out for those turtles who are just plodding along looking for a good place to lay the next generation.

Ploddingly Yours
Kip