Rondeau Provincial Park & The Festival of Flight

Boardwalk along Tulip Tree Trail

Photo by Andrew Almeida

For many different reasons, Spring happens to be one of my favourite seasons.  One of those reasons is the influx of birds that are migrating north during this time of year.  Every year birds in brilliant breeding plumage will migrate north to their breeding grounds.  It's pretty incredible the distances that these small creatures will travel.

Yellow Warbler

Rondeau Provincial Park happens to be in a flight path used by birds during their migration, making it a hotspot for bird watching.  The height of songbird migration tends to be the first three weeks of May.  Rondeau Provincial Park celebrates this with their annual Festival of Flight which was held this year from May 1st to May 21st.  During this time, there are special bird related activities and events scheduled such as hikes, birders' breakfasts and lunches.  My husband Andrew and I decided to visit Rondeau for the first time and take in the sights and sounds of the park during this peak migration time.  We were not disappointed!  The moment we stepped out of the car we were greeted with a mingling of songs from different bird species.

Chipping Sparrow

When we first arrived at the park we headed straight for the visitor centre.  To get there is a drive through the park along it's main road.  Once there, we parked the car and went inside to look around.  They had a board up of all bird sightings and their locations.  This was a good way to check out what had been seen within the last couple of days and where.  What makes parks like Rondeau in bird migration flyways special is that they tend to be pit stops for birds that have travelled over many distances and over open water (in this case Lake Erie) and need a place to stop to rest and feed before continuing their journey north to their breeding grounds.  Many of these songbirds only stay a little while and then continue on their way.  Some species do breed in the park but many do not.  The visitor centre has many displays of the different species of animals found within the park.  There are also feeders and a garden set up in the back for bird watching.

Boardwalk along Tulip Tree Trail

Photo by Andrew Almeida

Our first trail was the Tulip Tree Trail, a 1.2 km loop trail through forest which is right off the visitor centre's parking lot.  It is a great little trail with many boardwalks and offers the best opportunity for viewing the endangered Prothonotary warbler which nests in this location.  If patient enough, you may just see it fluttering about just off one of the boardwalks.  We did manage to get a few glimpses of one but unfortunately were not able to get a good photo.  Many birds were seen and heard along this trail.

Blue Jay

From the Tulip Tree Trail, we crossed the road and walked the boardwalk to the beach area.  It was pretty but quiet.  Besides some swallows flying around, not much more activity happening.  We walked back to the car at the visitor's centre and decided to head out to the Marsh trail.

Boardwalk to the Beach

Photo by Andrew Almeida

Buried picnic tables on the beach

Photo by Andrew Almeida

On our way we stopped at the Spice Bush Trail as there was one parking spot available.  This is a 1.5 km loop trail through forest and marsh.  It has several boardwalks and is another great trail for bird watching.  Like the Tulip Tree Trail, there were many birds seen and heard.  There were also trilliums and a few other wildflowers.  It's a nice, easy trail to do. 

Boardwalk along Spice Bush Trail

Photo by Andrew Almeida

Black-Throated Green Warbler (Female)

After completing this trail, we crossed the road to walk along Bennett Avenue.  This road is closed off to vehicular traffic.  It is forested on either side and has benches along the middle where one can sit and watch the birds fly from tree to tree.  It was a nice little walk and offered some great opportunities to see more birds.

Nesting American Robin

We then decided to head on over to the Marsh Trail.  This is a 7 km trail one way along a gravel path. 

Marsh Trail

Photo by Andrew Almeida

There is a boardwalk and tower part way but the top section is currently closed with no mention of when it will reopen. 

Marsh Boardwalk

Photo by Andrew Almeida

We saw different species of birds along this trail as well as other animals such as a snake, snapping turtle and a few frogs.  We also saw a few large fish jump out of the water. 

Snapping Turtle

Photo by Andrew Almeida

Marsh

Photo by Andrew Almeida

Many barn swallows were present busily building their nests at the tower. 

Barn Swallow

Barn Swallows

Barn Swallow

Barn Swallow

Rondeau Provincial Park does have several more hiking and biking trails that we just did not have the time to do during this visit but hope to return some day to explore more of the park.  It is a great place to visit, especially during the spring and fall migrations where it offers great opportunities for viewing songbirds and waterbirds.  Just one word of caution, please take precautions to protect yourself from ticks.  There are signs in the park warning that ticks carrying Lyme disease have been found at the park and I found a tick on me. 

We visited Rondeau only for a day as we had planned to spend a bit more time on our next stop, Point Pelee National Park and the Festival of Birds.  Stay tuned for my upcoming post and photos from this amazing park!



Further Reading:
https://www.ontarioparks.com/park/rondeau/activities

Importance of Pollinators

In a nutshell, pollination is the process by which pollen is transferred from a flower's stamen (male reproductive organ) to the stigma that sits atop a flower's pistil (female reproductive organ).  Pollination is responsible for plant reproduction and for the survival of species, both for the plants and the animals that depend on them.  It is a critical process for the production of fruits and seeds that many animals, including humans, feed upon and enjoy. 

Hoverfly

This is a female Toxomerus geminatus, a very small species of hoverfly. This one is less than 1cm long.

For the majority of flowering plants, pollinators are responsible for transferring pollen from one flower to another.  They do this while going from flower to flower drinking the nectar and gathering pollen.  Pollinators are responsible for approximately 1/3rd of the food we eat.

Hoverfly

Plants have become specialized in attracting the pollinators to their flowers.  They use scent, colour and shape.  Some have become so specialized that they have certain adaptations to attract specific pollinators to their flowers.  For example, some flowers emit a particular odor to attract carrion flies.  These flies are tricked into laying their eggs in these flowers picking up pollen as they do.  They then carry this pollen on to the next flower that they visit to lay more eggs depositing the pollen gathered previously onto this new flower and pollinating it in the process.  The fly's offspring end up starving to death as the plant offers them no nutrition.  Some other plants use sexual deception to attract their pollinators.  These flowers will release pheromones and mimic the females of certain bees or wasps tricking them to visit the flowers.  These poor insects visit the flowers anticipating meeting a female but instead they pick up the flowers' pollen and carry it off to the next flower that they land on thinking.

Cabbage White Butterfly

Pollinators come in varying sizes and forms but all share in this very important function.  Insects such as bees, pollen wasps, ants, flies, butterflies, moths and flower beetles are common pollinators along with bats and birds (especially hummingbirds).  But, there are lesser known mammalian pollinators such as monkeys, lemurs, possums and rodents.  Even some lizards are known for pollinating certain plants.  Every single pollinator is important but some more so than others.  For instance, bees are considered to be the main pollinator but hoverflies come in at a close second.  These insects depend on nectar and pollen for their survival and go from flower to flower to obtain them.  This in turn pollinates flowers during the process.  (For more on bees and their role in pollination, please visit my blog post "Buzz About Bees".)  Ants on the other hand only drink nectar from the flowers, occasionally picking up some pollen and depositing it on another flower if they visit one.  Moths are important pollinators in their own right, they are the main pollinators for the tobacco plants.

Hoverfly

Sweat Bee

All pollinators, like many other animals, suffer from similar issues:  habitat loss, disease, climate change & pesticide use.  All these factors are causing a decline in their numbers.  But, we can help increase their chances of survival and in turn ours as we are so greatly dependent on them by avoiding the use of pesticides, planting and growing native plants in groups, keeping a section of our gardens natural with undisturbed areas of fallen leaves and open soil for puddling (used by many insects, especially butterflies, for sucking up the liquid), nesting, sheltering and overwintering. 

Hoverfly

Another photo of the female Toxomerus geminatus.

Resources & Further Reading:

https://www.ontarionature.org/protect/campaigns/pollinators.php

http://cwf-fcf.org/en/resources/encyclopedias/fauna/pollinators.html

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollinator