Friends of Rondeau Park

Monarch Migration Festival 2010

2010-09-27T15:39:00.013-04:00

On Sunday September 19th we had our 10th annual Monarch Butterfly Migration Festival and we’re happy to report that it was a great success!

We would like to thank everyone involved for making the day run so smoothly, from the vendors to the volunteers. We couldn’t have done it without you!

The less than perfect weather didn’t seem to keep anybody home either…we had just over 1000 people down at the Visitor’s Centre throughout the day!

And when the sun finally decided to show it’s face, the guided butterfly hikes spotted 6 species of butterflies including Monarchs, Painted Ladies, Cresents, Sulfurs, Cabbage Whites and a Black Swallowtail.

Dale and Laura are the two people who really made it all happen!

Another creature we were delighted to see that day was a Blanding’s turtle hatchling. Back in June when these turtles leave the water to dig their nests, we noticed a large female looking quite interested in the gravely soil around our parking lot. Luckily the nest wasn’t predated by raccoons or skunks during the summer and we have seen 2 hatchlings so far.

Blanding’s turtles have a black, highly-domed carapace (upper shell) with yellowish spots or streaks. The plastron (bottom shell) is yellow with black markings. The tell-tale sign of Blanding’s turtles is their bright yellow throat and notched upper jaw which gives them a permanent “smile”. Adult Blanding’s turtles have a hinged shell, which allows them to close their shell tightly when predators come knocking.

Unfortunately Blanding’s turtles are listed as a threatened species in Ontario due to loss of wetland habitat and road mortalities. So if you are lucky enough to see one of these little turtles wandering around on the road, give them a hand to the other side.

September 8, 2010

2010-09-08T11:10:00.016-04:00

Hello Everyone!

Well, the summer season here at Rondeau has come to an end. The summer staff are making their way back to their respective universities as we speak, leaving Emily Slavik and I alone at the Visitor Centre. Although I have been working here at Rondeau for the past 4 years, I feel like I should introduce myself. My name is Laura Penner and I will be writing to you all while Kip is away at teacher’s college. I apologize for the late posting, but it took a few days to work out a fall schedule and figure out our staff availabilities.

Although the Visitor Centre may appear empty and quiet, we are still quite busy planning for school groups and the upcoming Monarch Migration Festival. I will also be putting the finishing touches on the new tracking display later this week so be sure to come check it out!

For anyone who will be coming to visit the park this month, you will notice that Rondeau Road is closed to vehicle traffic. Once the weather begins to cool down, our cold-blooded friends love to bask on the sun-warmed asphalt. It takes a really keen eye to tell the difference between a Ribbon snake and a small twig when you are driving along admiring the beautiful fall colours.

For those who have never had the chance to see a Ribbon snake, just picture a slender Eastern Garter snake. Ribbon snakes are dark brown or black and have three yellowish-white stripes that run down the length of their bodies. To tell the difference between these similar snakes look for the Ribbon snakes bright white lips and chin. There is a sharp boundary between the light coloured lips and the dark colour of the upper head (this boundary on a Garter snake is blurred and not so defined). Ribbon snakes will also have a small white or yellow spot just before the eyes.

These relatively small snakes prefer meadows or forest edges near permanent bodies of water such as marshes or lakes. They often feed in water, capturing frogs, small fish and some invertebrates. Unlike some other snake species who lay thin-shelled eggs, Ribbon snakes give birth to live young who are independent immediately after birth. Another feature Ribbons share with the Garter snake is the ability to secrete a musky liquid upon its tormentor…so think twice before you grab one for closer inspection.

Eastern Ribbon Snake

Attached you will find the schedule of programs for the month of September. Visitor Centre hours will be Friday to Sunday 10:00am – 4:00pm.

I hope to see you soon, and keep your eyes peeled for snakes on the road.

Laura

What’s on at Rondeau?

September 2010

Saturday September 11
Guided Hike – 10:30am at the Tulip Tree Trail
A Walk through Time
Time changes everything, even nature. Come see first-hand how time has changed Rondeau from a sandy beach to a lush forest.

Saturday September 18
Guided Hike – 10:30am at the Tulip Tree Trail
What’s in a Name
Why are we known as Carolinian Canada and the banana belt? Come learn all about this unique area and the creatures that live here.

Sunday September 19
10:00am – 4:00pm at the Visitor Centre
Monarch Migration Festival
The Monarchs are on the move. Join us for a day of butterfly hikes, tagging demonstrations, children’s crafts, local artisans, Adopt-a-Monarch program, a bbq and so much more!

Saturday September 25
Evening Program – 7:30pm at the Visitor Centre
Owl Prowl
Come learn how these amazingly adapted birds locate and hunt down their prey in complete darkness. We may even get to see one!

Sunday September 26
Guided Hike – 1:00pm at the Visitor Centre
Brilliant, Busy and Beautiful

Did you miss the Monarch Migration Festival? Come along on this hike to learn all about our most beautiful insects and their amazing life cycle.
*If you would like an electronic copy of Rondeau Events send an email to emily.slavik@ontario.ca*

Visitor Centre Hours:
Friday, Saturday and Sunday
10:00am – 4:00pm

2010-08-30T10:25:00.008-04:00

Hello Everyone

This past week marks a couple of Monarch firsts for the 2010 season. As many of you know the end of August is the start of the Monarch season. If you’ve come by the Visitor Centre in the past couple of weeks you may have noticed that our Monarch tank has been in full swing with up to 15 caterpillars at one time. I’m happy to say that the first of the chrysalises has successfully hatched into a handsome male Monarch Butterfly. The other first was of course our first tagged butterfly at the park. The butterfly tags arrived this past Wednesday and we wasted no time. Emily Slavik had the honour of the first tag this year, by tagging a male while showing some visitors how and why we tag butterflies.

Tagged Monarch Butterfly

As much as I enjoy the Monarch season, it does bring a twinge of sadness. Monarch tagging means the summer is coming to a close. The days are noticeably shorter, the summer staff are starting to say their goodbyes and the summer is turning into a fond memory. But summer isn’t the only thing saying goodbye. As August leaves, so must I. I’m taking a leave of absence from Rondeau to go and spend the next 8 months away at Teacher’s College. I’ve had another amazing summer here at the park, met some great people, participated in some great programs and have made many wonderful memories to carry me through until I return next June. I like to say thank you to all the amazing visitors and the awesome staff the made this my best summer here.

Me saying good-bye from a tree

But I can’t say goodbye without giving one last creature feature that leaves a lingering impression. And nothing lingers like the sweet, delicate smell of skunk musk. Even their scientific name Mephitis mephitis pays homage to their fragrant nature by translating into “the smell, the smell”. Skunks get the reputation of spraying their stench at the slightest of provocation, but this is simply not true. It takes the skunk energy and time to refill depleted scent glands so the less they spray, the better for them. On top of that, they don’t like the smell any more than we do so they only use this mighty defensive weapon as a last resort.

Striped Skunk

Skunks will give you plenty of warning before spraying. The first thing they will do if you approach too closely is grunt and stomp their feet on the ground. This is skunk-ese for “don’t come any closer”. If you mistake the skunk’s meaning and continue to approach they will turn their body into a U-shape with both their head and rear end pointing at you. This means “GO AWAY NOW!!” Of course, if you don’t follow this blatant body language don’t be surprised if no one wants to come anywhere near you for the next few weeks. The mechanics of the spray are fascinating in their own right. There are two glands that each squirt out a stream of oily, yellow-green fluid. About a foot behind the skunk the two streams collide in mid-air and turn into a nauseating mist. When the skunk sprays, they are typically aiming for the assailant’s eyes. If the mist gets into your eyes it can cause burning blindness for 15-20 minutes, which is more than enough time for the skunk to make an escape.

Getting ready to spray

Don’t fear that your Rondeau Events update is at an end. Laura Penner is graciously taken over as writer in chief. I hope to see you all next summer. Until then, have a fabulous year.

Fragrantly Yours
Kip

2010-08-23T15:46:00.010-04:00

Hello Everyone

It’s sad to think that the summer is coming to an end, but not everything about the end of summer is sad. All I’ve got to say is that the end of summer means BABY TURTLES!! Ryan Bolton, one of the researchers in the park has been incubating turtle eggs all summer and now they’ve started to hatch. Raccoons, skunks and other nest predators take a huge toll on the turtle nests in the park. The odds of an egg making it to adulthood are very low, less than 1%. Ryan’s work helps to give the turtles a better chance by at least getting them to the hatchling stage. Over the course of his work here, he has helped thousands of eggs hatch. But even with all his help, there are still turtle eggs that do it the natural way and hatch in the wild. If you are really lucky you’ll get to see some tiny turtles, the size of a twoonie, making their way across roads and down the beach to the water. So keep a wary eye out as you are driving around and if you see any give them a helping hand on their journey.

Ryan Bolton with baby Map Turtles

But baby turtles aren’t the only reptiles that made the Rondeau headlines this week. We also had a visit from Reptiles at Risk this past weekend. They taught our visitors about the many snakes and turtles that live within Ontario. And to top the whole thing off, everybody who wanted to, was able to hold a snake and discover for themselves what they really feel like. And let me tell you, the staff definitely took advantage of that experience because you don’t often get the chance to hold a Northern Water Snake.

Two snakes climbing a tree at the Reptiles at Risk Program

There is another treat at the end of the summer – fall flowers. When most people think about wildflowers it is usually Spring that springs to mind. But there really are some beauties that flower this time of year. One of my favourites is Blazing Star. For me, these plucky little flowers looks like little purple torches that are come hither signs for a lot of our butterfly species. Blazing star has several flowers along a tall flower spike. Unlike many other species with flower spikes, the flowers at the top bloom first and slowly move down the stem. In the middle of their blooming period you can have seeds forming at the top of the stem and flowers blooming at the bottom.

Monarch on Blazing Star

Buckeye on Blazing Star

Orange Sulfur on Blazing Star

Blazing Star isn’t considered an important food source for mammals like deer, but as far as humans are concerned it has a rich history in medicinal uses. The Native Americans used a tea from the roots to treat dysentery and applied the tea to the outside of their horses before a race, claiming that the treatment increased their speed and endurance. The European settlers used the tea as a diuretic and gargled it to help sore throats. In my opinion, the coolest common name this plant has ever had was Rattlesnake Master for its use as a poultice to treat snakebites.

Blazing Star

Field of Blazing Stars

Blazingly Yours
Kip

p.s. Although I didn’t mention it this week, our pond and waterfall in the bird garden are up and fully functional. I’d like to send out a big thank you to S. I. Water Gardens for all their help and donations.

2010-08-17T13:55:00.006-04:00

Hello Everyone

I’ve decided to take up moonlighting as a carpenter. One of the unofficial goals here at the Visitor Centre is to create two new displays per summer. That way there is always something new to see and learn even if you visit every year. The first new (redesigned) display for this year is the bird/butterfly garden. I take absolutely no credit for the wonderful work that has been done. Most of the credit goes to Laura, Brady and Lauren, but all the staff have pitched in here and there. The newest addition to the garden is a tranquil waterfall that cascades serenely into the back of the pond. The sound of running water is very attractive to many species of birds and we’ve already had both American Goldfinches and Indigo Buntings bathing in the waterfall.

Bird Garden Waterfall

However, none of that explains my desire to moonlight as a carpenter. The second display we’ve decided to create is a new tracking display. Although there technically is already a tracking display, it was created quickly to see if it would be a popular display. The goal was always to build a special table to house the tracks, sand and interpretive information. Therefore I decided to try my hand at carpentry. With a fair amount of trepidation I went out and bought a bunch of wood and hid myself in the maintenance yard. After expecting to create something that looked a lot like a grade 3 craft project, I was pleasantly surprised with the results. There is still some sanding and painting to be done (aka covering up oopsies), and it’s never going to win a table beauty contest. All in all it’s looking pretty good and I hope to have it ready for the public in a week’s time.

Tracking Display Table

The other noteworthy occasion of the last week was the melodious music of Allison Lickley. The crowd at her concert on Saturday evening were treated to some beautiful original music and even sang along to some good campfire classics like Black Socks and The Other Day. More than one of us was reminded of a young Joni Mitchell as we listened to her sing. A big thank you to Allison for gracing us with her presence, to the Friend of Rondeau for bringing her in here and to the Grace Anglican Church for letting us hold the concert there.

Allison Lickley

Well I figured with all my ravings about carpentry I should keep the theme going and talk about every carpenter’s need – wood. Not just any wood either, but wood in the form of the highly prized Black Walnut tree. Nowadays, Black Walnut is highly prized for its beautiful grain. But it wasn’t always so, old trees (from the pioneer days) were very straight grained. Most of the Black Walnut back then was forest grown. In the shaded woods, the tree grew much slower and therefore had a denser straighter grain. Today Black Walnut is grown out in the open and it gets a much more varied grain. With the help of some skilled cutting, beautiful grain patterns are exposed that are ideal for woodworking.

Black Walnut

However, my favourite thing about walnut trees is that they partake in chemical warfare. Now you don’t have to worry about tear gas falling from their leaves, but if you are a neighbouring plant beware. Walnuts produce a colourless chemical called hydrojuglone. It is perfectly harmless until it is exposed to the air or oxidizing substances released by encroaching roots of nearby plants. Then it is quickly transformed into juglone. One of the most common effects of juglone is ‘walnut wilt’ where nearby plants will start to turn brown and wilt and eventually die – Black Walnut’s way of saying “go away, this is my space”. But never fear, some plants have found a way to fight back. Asters and goldenrods have joined in the chemical warfare battle by producing chemicals that are toxic to walnut seedlings and thereby ensuring their own continued health.

Walnut Wilt on Tomatoes

Cuttingly Yours
Kip

p.s. measure twice and cut once (I learned the hard way)

2010-08-02T13:47:00.010-04:00

Hello Everyone

They say that gardening is a relaxing pursuit that lifts the spirit. After watching some of the staff work and toil at renovating our bird garden I’m not so sure it’s relaxing. But relaxing or not, it lifts the spirit to see all the great work they’ve been doing. The garden had become overgrown and some non-native species had invaded, so it was high time for a makeover. It might look a little bare right now with most of the plants removed, but with the bird feeders moved, the fence fixed and new paths added; we are just about ready for the replanting stage. And their work hasn’t deterred the birds one little bit. Just the other day a beautiful Indigo Bunting was seen checking out the new digs.

Rondeau Bird Garden

Indigo Bunting

Not only has this weekend brought in August, it has also heralded in our month of guest speakers. We kicked if off with a fabulous program done by WEEP (Wildlife Education and Environmental Program). Based out of the University of Guelph, WEEP helps to rehabilitate birds of prey. Birds that cannot be released back into the wild become part of their educational program and tour Ontario allowing people to see this fantastic birds up close and personal. Highlights included a Great Horned Owl named Einstein who liked to call at men with beards. She imprinted on a man who had a beard and now thinks she is a bearded man and calls to others of her ‘species’. Also present was Socrates the Turkey Vulture who had an unfortunate run in with a car. Although he broke a wing and couldn’t fly, he and was able to survive on road kill for a few days until he was found. Unfortunately, he lost the wing, but still enjoys the high life of touring around Ontario on one of the presenter’s arms.

Einstein the Owl

Socrates the Turkey Vulture

But don’t despair if you missed this great program because we’ve jam-packed the rest of the summer with guest speakers. Allison Lickley (musician), Joe Crowley (herpetile atlas of Ontario), Ryan Bolton (turtle researcher) and Andrew Cirtwill (musician) will be joining us over the next 31 days. If that isn’t enough for you, we are also hoping to get Dave Beadle to come back this year and “wow” us with the secret lives of moths. Keep an eye on our upcoming schedule to make sure you don’t miss these awesome events.

Since we just covered special guests that everyone wants to see (I hope), I figured I’d cover the other kind of guests – the one you’d prefer to stay away. And what better example of an annoying guest than the wasps that circles your picnic table. They are a few different types that bother us, but the most famous are probably the Bald-faced Hornets and the Yellowjackets.

Bald-faced Hornet

Yellowjacket

These species of wasps are colonial and build big nests either above or below ground. This in itself is a pretty impressive feat as the nest is built from scratch each year. The only wasps to survive the winter are the pregnant queen. When it warms up enough for her to come out of hibernation she starts looking around for suitable materials to start a new nest. Once she finds some wood she likes she’ll tear it off in strips, chew it up, mix it with her saliva and then spit it back out in the form of paper. She uses that first bit of paper to create a row of cells and she’ll lay a single egg into each one. In about 4-5 weeks those eggs will become worker females who will take over the jobs of building and enlarging the nest, collecting food and caring for the larva. The queen is relegated to an egg laying machine. By the end of the summer, there will be up to 400 wasps in a single nest. As the summer winds down two special types of eggs are laid, unfertilized eggs which will hatch into males and larger fertilized eggs that will hatch into future queens.

Bald-faced Hornet nest

Their unwanted guest status comes not when they are out foraging for food for the larva, but when they are out to feed themselves. The larva feed on animal food like caterpillars and flies that they paralyze with their stinger. In the spring and early summer, the adults feed on the same food, but as the summer progresses they feed more and more on nectar and sweet liquids like your can of pop which can lead to those unpleasant interactions we’d prefer to avoid. This switch in diet tends to correspond with the maturing of the males and new queens. Once this happens, the social structure of the nest starts to break down and the worker wasps spend more and more time away from the nest foraging on their own. This is why the wasps seem more numerous as summer draws to a close.

For anyone who has been stung, you’ll know that wasp stings are one of the most painful feelings that come from nature. The reason they feel like your arm is being melted by magma is because wasp venom has a three step process. Step 1, the enzymes break down the cell membranes and let the cell contents leak into your bloodstream. When the cell in question is a nerve cell it tells your brain what is happening by using pain as a communication device. Step 2, a second part of the venom slows down your blood flow which in turn makes the pain last longer. Step 3, a third part of the venom breaks through connective tissue between cells allowing the first part to reach more cells and cause more pain. The whole purpose of this three punch knockout is to convince you (aka nest predators) to leave their larva/babies alone. And surprise, surprise it is a spectacularly effective deterrent for most animals like raccoons, skunks and bears.

Wasp stinger with venom droplet

Although it is easy to panic and swat at the wasps when they invade our picnics, we are better off (and far less likely to get stung) if we just gently brush them away and then cover any food that they show interest in.

Venomously Yours,
Kip

P.S. This has nothing to do with the wasp, but as I was doing the research I just learned that you can train honey bees to sniff out explosive! How cool is that?!

2010-07-28T12:48:00.007-04:00

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

2010-07-23T08:40:00.008-04:00

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

2010-07-13T19:51:00.010-04:00

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

2010-07-05T17:39:00.002-04:00

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

2010-07-04T14:34:00.000-04:00

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

2010-06-05T09:29:00.000-04:00

What’s on at Rondeau
June Events

Visitor Centre Hours
Wednesday - Sunday
10:00am - 4:00pm

Programs:
Saturday, June 5th
A Walk through Time
1:00 pm – Meet at the Visitor Centre

Time changes all things – even nature. Join us to discover
the step by step changes that have gone through Rondeau
over the last 10,000 years.

Saturday, June 12th
Who has the loudest bark?
1:00 pm - Meet at the Spicebush Trail

Our towering trees trumpet triumphantly over our tranquil
trails. Join us discover why trees are the loudest things in
the forest.

Saturday, June 19th
What’s in a Name?
1:00 pm - Meet at the Tulip Tree Trail.

Come discover why this area is known as the Banana Belt and
Carolinian Canada. You might even learn about some awesome
species that live here.

Saturday, June 26th
Carolinian Clatter
1:00pm - Meet at the Tulip Tree Trail

From singing birds to croaking frogs, Rondeau’s forests are filled
with delightful sounds. Come learn about all the creatures that
fill Rondeau with song.

2010-06-04T06:43:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone

May has definitely been fly-a-licious and I don't mean those little buzzing insects that orbit around the potato salad. It's been the month for the flying creatures of Rondeau. Of course that does mean a few bugs. But that's really a blessing in disguise, because it is those insects that the birds are looking for. In spring the birds time their return with the emergence of the insects so that they have plenty of food for their long trip north. Then in the late spring and summer our plethora of insects provides lots of food so that the young can quickly grow big and strong enough to fly all the way south in the fall. So we really thank all the insects for providing us with colourful tapestry that is the spring bird migration.

As far as the birds go we've had a good, but challenging birding season. With the early spring this year, many of the tree leaves were out when the birds arrived. This made it a little harder to see the birds. However, that didn't deter our birders from seeing an amazing variety of birds this year. We had 37 species of warblers. This included a Brewster's Warbler, a Yellow-throated Warbler, a Worm-eating Warbler and of course a veritable army of Yellow Warblers. Surprisingly, the highlight of the month wasn't a warbler, but a grosbeak. We had a Blue Grosbeak hanging out in the campground for about a week and a half. There are usually only about 5 sightings of Blue Grosbeaks in Ontario per year. They normally only come as far north as the southern edge of Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Despite the amazing birds this month, my personal highlight was in a different flying form. While birding along South Point Trail with some family, a large butterfly fluttered into view. We quickly turned our binoculars from birds to the butterfly, hoping it would stay on a flower long enough to figure out what it was. Our wish was granted and we got a good long look at this large black butterfly with bright iridescent blue on the back wings. It was a Pipevine Swallowtail! The first one I've ever seen! Needless to say, I did a little happy dance right there on the trail.

Not surprisingly, female Pipevine Swallowtails lay their eggs on plants in the pipevine family like Dutchman's Pipe. These plants contain poisonous chemicals that don't effect the caterpillars, but make the caterpillars and eventually the butterflies poisonous to predators. It's the same thing that Monarchs do, just with a different plant. Most of the other large black butterflies like Spicebush Swallowtails, Red-spotted Purples, and Black Swallowtails are trying to mimic the Pipevine Swallowtail so that they won't be eaten.

I'd also like to introduce you to some of our summer staff that you will be able to meet this June. Laura (aka my essential right hand) is back again for her 4th summer, running all our school programs and more importantly keeping me in line. Our summer team this year is Trena, Brady, Lauren, Scott, Breanne and Tara. Trena you may have met as she has been the friendly face at the Visitor Centre desk all May (she also has been doing some amazing organizational work behind the scenes to get our work space ready for our new influx of staff). This will be her second summer here and we are glad to have her back. Brady and Lauren will also be joining us in June for their second year. Lauren's great work on our Amazing Race program last year foreshadows great things from her this summer. Brady has been lending his brain and brawn to some of our resource management this May. The new kid on the block this summer will be Scott. We are really looking forward to his new ideas and programs. Breanne and Tara will be joining us in July and I'll tell you all about them when they arrive.

Flyingly Yours,
Kip

An Evening in the forest with LaForest

2010-05-15T14:15:00.001-04:00

The Friends of Rondeau are happy to present this evening at 7 p.m. an all new presentation on SPRING MIGRATION at RONDEAU by our resident bird expert and birding tour guide Steve LaForest.
Coffee, dessert and discussion will follow Steve's presentation.
Cost $10.00 with all proceeds to the Friends of Rondeau

what could be a better way to spend a lovely spring evening at Rondeau!

2010-05-14T21:59:00.000-04:00

Hi Everyone!

Spring Migration is well underway at Rondeau. In the week that we spent in the Park the weather went from hot and windy to thundershowers and windy to cold, wet and windy, back to temperate and windy, to pleasant but windy (and maybe wet)...if you didn't like the weather just wait for 5 minutes and the wind would change direction and bring a change.

The picture above, taken on the Spicebush Trail, pretty well sums up the leaf out, which was estimated to be about 1-2 weeks in advance of our "usual" spring foliage during migration. Needless to say it makes the viewing of our migrants much more challenging...a good year to practice "birding by ear" perhaps? Despite the abrupt changes in weather the warblers et al began to arrive, last week was a bit slower at times than expected but this week has been excellent with 27 species of warblers accounted for across the park today. We have had some excellent "rare" bird sightings as well including a well documented female blue grosbeak, prothonotary warbler, prairie warbler, orange crowned warbler, a yellow throated warbler and a yellow breasted chat on territory at the south point.

The photo above, of the yellow warbler with its translucent wings fanned out, to me demonstrates the fragility of these tiny creatures who travel thousands of miles from their winter homes in order to arrive here in Canada in time to set up housekeeping and raise a family...or maybe 2 broods if they can manage it. Spring migration is truly a magical time to be cherished and enjoyed for the few short weeks that the birds are passing through in large numbers.

A sighting of a Hooded Warbler brought a number of birders to the Tulip Tree trail hoping to get a glimpse of him - we could hear him calling but seeing him in the thicket took a bit of time and patience. I know his appearance added to the life list of a few of the watchers - happy day!

Along with the accelerated leaf out up in the canopy, the forest floor was blooming as well, many spring wildflowers were showing off their beauty making for even more pleasant walking through the forest. This Red Trillium variant was spotted on the Spicebush trail.

and this unusual White Trillium was on the Tulip Tree trail.

Most of the birds we come to see at Rondeau only stay for a short while to recharge their batteries on their way to other destinations. Rondeau is a wonderful park to enjoy year round and there are many unique species of birds that make it their home, either just for the summer or for their lifespan. Near to our campsite a yellow shafted flicker pair were busy putting the finishing touches on their nest, we could hear them tap, tap, tap, tap and then see them pitching bits of shredded wood and sawdust out the hole. If you look closely you can see bits of sawdust on the females beak.

Mr Flicker is just about to enter and inspect the new "digs"

and with that I will say Goodnight and Good Birding at Rondeau!

Programs at Rondeau in May

2010-05-04T09:26:00.000-04:00

In addition to all our birding hikes, we also have a program each weekend on various topics about Rondeau at no charge. We invite everyone to come out and learn all about the unique aspects that make Rondeau the special place it is.

Sunday, May 9th

Mother’s Day Wildflowers
1:00 pm – Meet at the Spicebush Trail

Bring your mother out to enjoy nature’s bouquet of wildflowers and learn fun facts that will add a little colour to your day.

Saturday, May 15th

Tree-tastic
1:00 pm - Meet at the Visitor Centre

Rondeau is full of unique trees with fascinating histories. Join us for an inTREEsting hike that will get you twitching about trees and learning how to identify the different species.

Saturday, May 22nd

Carolinian Conundrum
1:00 pm - Meet at the Tulip Tree Trail.

Join us to explore one of Canada’s rarest forests and meet some amazing species that are found nowhere else in Canada. Discover why Rondeau is one of the most unique parks in Ontario.

Saturday, May 29th

Hoots Who: The Night’s Chorus
7:30pm - Meet at the Visitor Centre

Ever wonder what goes bump in the night? Rondeau nights are filled with cool creatures and wonderful sounds. Join us to discover a few of them as we prowl for owls and other night inhabitants.

Friday May 7th, 14th, and 21st

Absolute Beginners Birding Hikes
1:00pm at the Visitor Centre

Never birded before? Join Ric McArthur to learn the ABCs of birding and get hooked on a lifelong passion for birds. Please bring a pair of binoculars if you have them.

Rondeau Events

2010-05-01T20:32:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone

Question: What is blue and beige, has red hair and sings off key?

Answer: A park naturalist who has had fantastic month of April!

April has been a great mix of programs, fires and gearing up for our birding eggstravaganza the Festival of Flight.

Our programming held two firsts this month, the first guided hike and our first school group of 2010. Our first hike was a roaring success all about the coming of spring. Nine folks joined me as we discovered 2 species of salamanders, some Pileated Woodpecker holes and some chorusing Wood Frogs. It was a great way to start off what I hope will be our best programming year yet.

For the school group, we had 54 grade 6 students come out and learn all about biodiversity. Although the weather was a little cold and wet, they all seemed to enjoy being scientists and conducting an experiment to see whether or not Rondeau should be made into a SuperMall. Thankfully, the unanimous decision that we should keep it as the beautiful park it is.

April is also our month to set the park on fire. Although fire has historically been considered a bad thing – we now realize that fire is an essential part of some ecosystems. By lighting controlled fires in our oak savannah and oak woodland habitats, we are simulating natural fires that remove invasive species and encourage the re-growth of native plants like Big Blue Stem and Indian Grass. So, don’t be distraught if you see some blackened areas as you walk around the park this month. The blackened ground is chalked full of nutrients to help the native species grow like wildfire and in a couple more weeks you’ll never know there had been a fire at all.

Considering that we are at the beginning of the songbird migration, I figure it would make sense to share the wonder I have for the Yellow Warbler. Alas, this bird is often overlooked here at Rondeau because it is one of our most common warblers. But in my opinion it is well worth taking a bit of time to appreciate this fascinating bird.

As far as recognizing this bird, its name says it all. The Yellow Warbler looks like it was dipped in sunshine from head to toe. The males are distinguished by orange streaking on their chests. Instead of calling to impress the girls, the males sing to declare ownership of a territory that they will actively defend by chasing out interlopers. Their habit of chasing other birds even extends to the females when they first arrive. The only difference is that a female will stubbornly refuse to leave and will start to build a nest instead. The males gradually chase her less and less over the next few days, and shortly before the nest is completed he will mate with her. In other words, Yellow Warblers don’t choose a mate, they choose a habitat that they like and by default end up with the other bird that chose the same habitat.

Yellow Warbler

Yellow warblers are also frequently parasitized by Brown-headed Cowbirds. Female cowbirds find the deep cupped nests of the Yellow Warbler and lay one of their own eggs in it. When the egg hatches, the cowbird nestling is much bigger than the young warblers and is able to get most of the food brought by the parents. This can lead to starvation of the warbler nestlings. On average, scientists have found that about 40% of Yellow Warbler nests have been parasitized. But fear not, Yellow Warblers have evolved a fascinating defence against this parasitism. If the cowbird egg is detected the female will frequently build a new nest right on top of the old one burying the cowbird egg (and any eggs she has already laid herself). If a cowbird parasitizes this second nest, she will repeat the procedure and add a third story to the nest. At its extreme, scientists have found Yellow Warblers nests up to 10 stories high!

So if you are out birding this May (and I sincerely hope you are) don’t overlook this architecturally accomplished bird.

Crooningly Yours,

Kip

Naturalist at Rondeau

Rondeau Migration Report

2010-05-01T12:35:00.000-04:00

The Spring Migration is starting to heat up at Rondeau along with the warm temps we are having. Baltimore Orioles and Scarlet Tanagers which are two of the most easily identifiable songbirds that we welcome back to our backyards, parks and forests have already been spotted.

A Redheaded woodpecker at the Visitor Centre feeders.

Blue Grey Gnatcatchers have been seen in the park and will soon be arriving in droves.

Warblers that have already arrived include...

Palm Warbler (m)

Yellow Rumped or Myrtle Warbler (m)

Yellow Warbler (m)

Blue Winged Warbler

Black Throated Green Warbler

Black and White Warbler

As well as: Pine Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Hooded Warbler

and a Blue Headed Vireo!

The weather report for the next week or so looks like above average temperatures and sunny skies. With favorable winds blowing from the south the migration will be in full swing. Come on out to Rondeau and see what you can find!

As a rule the best time of the day to view a variety of birds is in the early morning when they are actively foraging for food to refuel their tiny bodies after their long trip from their wintering grounds. Don't forget that the Friends of Rondeau are providing "Birders Breakfasts" ($) at the Visitors Centre for those of you who like to get going on the trails early. Come on in and have a bite while watching the action from the large viewing window at the VC.

...this blogger is heading for Rondeau - see you there!

Spring Migration at Rondeau

2010-04-29T23:27:00.000-04:00

The warm winds pushing up from the south are starting to bring the birds into the park and Rondeau is ready for their arrival!

There will be daily guided hikes with Steve LaForest starting Saturday May 1st.

$5 per person

- 7:30 am and 1 pm leaving from the Visitors centre.

- 7 pm hike starts at the Marsh Trail.

- There will be a further hike on Wednesday afternoon at 1 pm meeting at the Blenheim sewage lagoons.

We will also be offering beginner birds hikes for those who are new to this passion of bird watching - if you are a new birder and would like a bit of helpful advice to get you going down the trails, please inquire at the VC .

The Friends of Rondeau will once again be providing "Birders Breakfast" at the Visitors Centre. Coffee, tea, bagels, muffins, soup and treats will be available for a small fee from 7 am to 2 pm daily.

Our 24 hour Bird-a-thon weekend is May 7th-9th. Info at the Visitors Centre.

Join us for a special new program on "Spring Migration at Rondeau" the evening of May 15th at 7.pm at the Visitors Centre. Tickets for this event are available at the Visitor Centre.

Come on out to Rondeau and be the first to fill in a spot on our tally board of bird sightings. What will you see this year at Rondeau?

Rondeau IS on fire!

2010-04-12T19:58:00.000-04:00

Sections of Rondeau are currently undergoing a prescribed burn, access to some areas of the Park may be limited or denied on the burn days, please call the Park for more information if you are planning a visit in the next week or so. 519-674-1750

For information on why this is being done you can read more about the reasons here: http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/AFFM/2ColumnSubPage/STEL02_165767.html
scroll down to the part on FIRE ECOLOGY
OR you can come on out to the park this Saturday April 17th and learn all about it during an informative and fun walkabout with a Park Naturalist.
Enjoy some great photos of last weeks efforts!

What's on at Rondeau April 2010

2010-04-07T15:40:00.000-04:00

Saturday April 3, 2010

Spring's Wake Up Call
4 P.M. meet at the Visitor Centre

Nature is just starting to wake up from its long winter nap.
Join us to explore the first signs of spring along the Tulip Tree Trail.
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Saturday April 10, 2010

Tree-tastic Adventure
4 P.M. meet at the Visitor Centre

Have you ever wondered how to tell trees apart when they don't have leaves? Well, wonder no more! Come out to learn all the tricks of the trade and a few fun facts to boot!
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Saturday April 17, 2010

Rondeau is on Fire!
4 P.M. meet at the Visitor Centre

Fire is a natural and essential part of the ecosystem. Join us on a hike to learn how we use it here at Rondeau to keep our natural ecosystem healthy.
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Sunday April 25, 2010

Spring Wildflowers
2:30 P.M. meet at the Spicebush Trail

The early spring wildflowers have made their appearance but they won't be around for long. Hurry up and join us to take a look at these fascinating plants.

April Visitor Centre hours:
Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 4 pm
For more information please phone 519-674-1768

Signs of Spring at Rondeau

2010-03-30T21:55:00.001-04:00

With another fantastic forecast ahead of us, signs of spring are starting to show themselves all around the park. Although still cool overnight and frosty in the mornings the warmth of daytime sunshine is bringing new life to to the park. A "spring green" water lily leaf rising out of a slough on the marsh trail is reaching for the sun.

This leopard frog lad (or lady) was also discovered during a walk along the marsh trail.

Raptor Show at "Wings of Spring"

2010-03-27T12:49:00.000-04:00

This guy has the coolest job! Stephen Bucciarelli president of Predator Bird Services, with "Jo" a female barn owl.

A closer look....Barn owls are extremely endangered here in Ontario, only being found (in the wild) in a few places in the province. Beautiful, beautiful birds.

A young bird aficionado is born! Jo was very tame, having been raised from a chick by her "boss". She gracefully put up with quite a bit of petting from the crowd.

As Stephen presented each bird he gave a short talk about them and then let them show off a bit as he answered the many questions that everyone had about these predator birds.

Lots of photo-ops for both the pros and amateur wildlife photographers a the raptor show.

Pandora is a 3 year old bald eagle. Eagles get their full white head when they are about 5 years old so she has a rather "salt and pepper" appearance at this stage.

A Harris Hawk named "Martha Stewart" put on the best show for us. She would fly up onto a tree branch and land (not too gracefully unfortunately due to her ankle bracelets). Stephen would tempt her with a bit of food that he would toss up in the air, she would swoop down, grab it in mid-air, then fly back up to another branch to eat it. She seemed unconcerned with all the humans that she dive bombed on her way to grabbing the treats.

Pandora surveying her subjects.

If you build it they will come!

2010-03-23T16:08:00.000-04:00

The Rondeau Bay Waterfowlers and the Friends supplied all the materials to make a free bird house at Wings of Spring. It was a very popular activity with young and old alike, the area in front of the Visitors Centre was a beehive of industry with many smiling faces seen clutching their new avian abodes.

The White family who are new to Chatham-Kent, having recently "migrated" here from northern Ontario, putting the last 2 nails in their bird house.

Little Ellie was all concentration pounding in that last nail.

Wings of Spring

2010-03-22T16:51:00.000-04:00

This past weekend the Friends of Rondeau sponsored our "Wings of Spring" festival to celebrate the start of spring bird migration. The weather was spectacular (for March) and many people took advantage of the sunshine and relatively warm temps to come out to the park for a visit. The Friends had long distance scopes set up at various stations along Rondeau Bay for viewing the Tundra Swans, ducks and geese out on the water. We also had other fun and informative activities going on in and about the Visitor Centre including an artisan show and sale, bird house building workshops , a raptor show presented by Predator Bird services and a BBQ fundraiser. Many thanks to everyone who came out to the park to support the festival and kudos to park staff, the Rondeau Bay Waterfowlers association and the members of the Friends who worked to make the festival a success!

The Tundra swans fly nonstop from their winter grounds at Chesapeake Bay (near Washington D.C.) to Rondeau Bay. They spend their short time here feeding and resting up for the next leg of their journey non-stop to the Winnipeg area, then on to the high arctic tundra where they need to arrive by May 1st in order to have enough time to nest and raise their young. It was almost impossible to get a photo with more than 1 or 2 of them with their heads out of the water...they come up for air and then right back down again!

New Birds arriving daily....Rondeau is a Winner!

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The bay has been jammed packed with thousands of ducks, geese and swans including merganser, scaup, bufflehead, pintail and canvasback ducks, large flocks of tundra swans having been arriving near dusk to spend the overnight in the bay.
Large flocks of grackles and red winged blackbirds are making their way over Lake Erie and filling the trees along the shore, smaller flocks of American robins are also arriving.
Sandhill cranes and killdeer have also been spotted.

March break Visitor Centre hours

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Open every day from 10 am to 4 pm during March break.

Welcome to Rondeau Park!

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Hello everyone and welcome to the Friends of Rondeau blog where we hope to keep you updated as to what is going on at Rondeau.
This weekend March 20-21st, we celebrate the return of the tundra swans and other migrating waterfowl with "Wings of Spring".
With the beautiful spring like weather we have been having migrating birds are beginning to return to their summer nesting grounds and Rondeau is a major stopping point for rest and rejuvenation.
There will be viewing scopes set up on the pier and on the Marsh trail so that you may have a closer look out onto Rondeau bay to see what might be passing through... or what might be deciding that Rondeau is the perfect place to spend the summer!
The Rondeau Bay Waterfowlers will be once again holding bird house building workshops. Have the kids come on out and build a bird house that they can take home and hang up in their own backyard to provide shelter for a smaller avian family.
There will be a lunch BBQ available both days and hot chocolate available to warm you from your fingers down to your toes should the spring winds cause a chill.
The Marsh building and the Visitor Centre will both be open for the weekend events.