Owl Release!

GOOD NEWS! Out of the blue I received a call from my friend Audrey, to tell me that the injured Barred Owl that we delivered to the Owl Foundation Rehabilitation Centre in Niagara Falls last February was recovered and fit for release. The past news about this owl was that it had a permanent vision impairment and was unreleasable. They monitored and reassessed it and determined the vision was fine. I was ecstatic to hear this young owl would have a chance at life in the wild!



Another trip in a cardboard box



On Saturday October 29, two volunteers transported the owl from Niagara to Port Hope in a cardboard box, where it was picked up by Emily, the young woman who had initially found the injured owl in a field near her home in the country. Audrey and I, and some members of Emily’s family joined her at the site where she found the owl. The idea is to release it where it was found since it will know the territory and find food and shelter easily and it might even have a mate around the area.

The location was good, a hay field adjacent to a wooded hill with a marsh and pond at the base of the hill. The whole area is rolling hills with open fields and woodlots with mixed deciduous and fir trees.

The box was positioned not too close to the tree line, to allow the owl to gain height when flying out. It was feisty and trying to get out of the box before it was opened. Once the lid was off, it hesitated looking at us in confusion for a second before exploding out of the box in a flurry of feathers.

 It flew effortlessly over the field and into the woods, disappearing from site within seconds. Immediately, a flock of Blue Jays could be heard harassing the poor owl. A predator in their midst! Soon the jays moved a bit further away until only one was still calling. We assumed the owl must have moved off deeper into the woods to get away from the mob.

Free at last

It was cloudy and cool with the odd drizzle but this week calls for warmer and sunnier weather so hopefully the owl will get his bearings back, resume hunting successfully and find some good roosts before winter settles in. Ultimately it might find a mate and be nesting come February and rear future generations of owls. All we can do is hope.

Even though owls face many challenges, this one has a chance at life again, the journey so far has been bumpy but for now it continues on a good path and for that I am grateful.

Louise

Autumn seeds and fruit

The days are shorter, nights cooler and the chipmunks and squirrels are working non-stop at stocking up their winter caches of food. I’ve been watching a red squirrel zipping up a Black Walnut tree, loosening the nuts, letting them fall to the ground then moving on to the next branch.





After a few minutes he scurries back down and collects the fallen nuts making several trips to his caches. The food has to last till next spring when new foods become available, since red squirrels do not hibernate and need something to eat during those cold snowy months.

There can be several of these caches in a squirrel’s territory, some underground or in tree hollows or in this case a conveniently located tractor shed with a nice gap below the door.






Yep, the shed is right next to the walnut tree, and it is now full of nuts! The squirrel has also dug an exit hole out the back in the dirt floor, in case a quick escape is needed. Since we store the tractor there in the summer only, this is a great place for the cache, away from snow and predators, this is a smart squirrel! I love hearing his chatter and watching his acrobatics in the trees, how can I resist his cuteness!

The chipmunks on the other hand will stay underground all winter and need to store foods in their burrows, which can be quite extensive.

Our whole yard is riddled with these (free lawn aeration!) and we have chipmunks popping up everywhere, chasing each other and scolding from atop all manner of perches. They also love to groom while on these perches, a most adorable creature.

These days, they are busy collecting maple keys which are plentiful, there is no end to the trips they take up the trees, returning with cheeks so stuffed they can hardly run. Of course they also spend a lot of time under the bird feeders, cleaning up the seeds fallen from above.

More plentiful than anything else are the wild grapes. This must be a bounty year for this plant! The vines, draped over fences and trees, are bearing large clusters of blue grapes that are the size of blueberries. Many animals eat these including several species of birds. The grapes will help sustain winter wildlife.



Wild grapes

 Flocks of migrating sparrows and winter seed-eating birds appreciate and depend on the seeds of native grasses. A few years ago I planted 2 native grass species, Little Blue Stem and Big Blue Stem, and 1 non-native ornamental (name escapes me).

 

Big Blue Stem

  
   



Little Blue Stem





Little Blue Stem seedheads



It’s telling that the Juncos and Sparrows eat the seeds of the native grasses but have never touched the seeds of the ornamental non-native grass. If you are planting grasses, chose the native ones if possible, they may not be as showy as some imports but more importantly they will provide winter food for wildlife. They also are adapted to our climate and thrive with little care. The prairie species that I planted are especially well adapted to the dry sandy moraine soil in our yard. An amazing two-thirds of the plant is actually underground, unseen, its long roots extending deep into the soil to find moisture. I never have to water these beautiful plants.

There are plenty of other wild foods such as birch seeds, acorns, berries, cones. All are important for the winter survival of many species.



When possible chose native trees and shrubs that bear fruit or seeds edible by wildlife when doing plantings. These are hardier and easier to care for. You might also get the pleasure of observing wild birds or other species from the comfort of your home, feasting on the bounty in your yard.

Louise





















More fascinating insects!

There is definitely a smell of fall in the air, a spiciness, leaves are turning colours, the daylight hours are shorter and the nights are cooler. I always feel a little sad to see the end of summer, migrants leaving and songbird voices quiet. Sunsets are spectacular right now, something about the light gives more saturation to the red and pink hues.

I have a cast on my foot so have been doing a lot of sitting outside and it’s stunning to see the diversity of insects flying around, and in particular wasps; small parasitic wasps, those that hover, striped, plain, large, and even some bright green ones. Yes, they are at times annoying when food is around but if you ignore them or stay calm and gently shoo them away they are not aggressive and leave. Don’t panic and flail or swat or squeeze them as they might sting in self-defense, and you can’t blame them for that. I have never been stung and we have several species nesting near our deck. Insects are part of the web of life, we need them but they don’t need us, remember this.



Organ-pipe Mud Dauber nest



Some wasps are particularly nice to have around, take for instance the Organ-Pipe Mud Dauber Trypoxylon politum that has built a lovely nest on the cedar shake wall at the back of our house, near the roof, sheltered from the rain. It’s an architectural gem, really looking like organ pipes. I marvel at the design and the many trips carrying bits of mud the wasps must have taken to build it.  These wasps are large and black, are very docile and are not known to sting humans and best of all their main food source is spiders, which we have plenty of. I am pleased to have them living near us and helping keep our spider population in check.

  The Black Swallowtail caterpillars on my parsley survived to the last instar and then moved out to find a place to pupate. I have yet to find the pupae. 

Black Swallowtail last instar



   

Milkweed Tiger Moth

Yesterday I discovered 15 very pretty tufted moths on Common Milkweed plants in the front flower garden.


Milkweed


They are the larvae of the Milkweed Tiger Moth Euchaetes egle. They feed on Milkweed and Dogbane plants and like the Monarch Butterfly, the toxic chemicals from the milkweed are retained in the adult body. However instead of a visual warning of their unpalatability which would not be useful at night, the moths emit a click to deter bats from feeding on them. So much complexity!

Another exciting discovery was that of a large moth that looked like a piece of bark. I noticed it on the brick wall, it must have been disturbed from a hiding spot to end up in the open in the daytime. After some research, it was determined to be a nocturnal Bride Underwing Moth, Catopala neogama. The underwings were not showing but they would be a bright orange-red colour with black stripes. The moth was at least 2.5 inches long and 1.5 inches across and very convincingly looked like a piece of bark from a distance. The larvae feed at night on the leaves of Walnut or Hickory or Butternut and occasionally Oak tree species. We have a large Black Walnut tree near the house so perhaps it was the host tree. This morning the moth was gone, so I am lucky to have seen it.

If you are observant and curious, you will likely come across all sorts of interesting life forms and learn something new.

Louise





A humble harvest of garlic

Two posts in a row! It was a rainy day yesterday so I devoted some time to my neglected blog. I’m excited about my little garlic harvest so I wanted to share the story.

Last fall I planted a couple rows of garlic in my small vegetable garden (we have lots of space but I don’t have the strength to do a big garden!). I did this just before November frosts hardened the ground. Unexpectedly we had a warm spell in late November and the garlic started to sprout and I feared it would die when winter set in. So when the snows came I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. In the spring, I was thrilled to see the garlic growing.





We left for a 6 week vacation at the end of May so the garlic was on its own to survive. My philosophy for gardening is that if a plant can survive on the rain and sun and fertility of the soil, then it was meant to be, otherwise it has no place in my garden. I don’t water anything except potted plants. I try to stick to native species and drought-resistant plants that can grow in dry sandy conditions as we live on a drumlin (glacial deposit) and the ground does not retain water. I’ve added mulch and compost but it has not made a huge impact.




 

When we returned home in early July, the garlic had grown but it was in sad shape competing with the weeds. Since no one had been around to prune the scapes, the tops were setting little garlic bulbs above ground. Usually this means the bulbs in the ground will be small.

I had no time to deal with them until the end of July by which time the green tops were drying up. I quickly dug them up before they disappeared completely. Most of the bulbs were tiny but it meant I had a lot of little cloves to plant in the fall.

I untangled the plants and left them to dry for several days in the hot dry sun, bringing them in at night to keep the dew off. After 1 week they were dry and ready to sort.

The tiny bulbs I reserved for planting in the fall and the bigger ones I put aside to braid. This was my first attempt at braiding. I set up a small table outside and on a lovely sunny day and made 3 full braids following instructions I found on the internet. It’s pretty easy if you are used to braiding hair.

 

 One braid has the largest bulbs and the other two are made up of smaller bulbs but I was pleased with the result.

 

 Last winter all I could find in the local grocery stores was garlic grown in China which I refuse to buy so I look forward to eating organic home grown garlic this winter and maybe next year the crop will be better!

Enjoy the harvests of summer!

Louise

Summer butterflies, moths and caterpillars

With the heat of summer come butterflies, moths and their caterpillars. They are found anywhere, from meadows to woods, roadsides and city gardens. Some are large and exotic like the Tiger Swallowtail, some plentiful and small like many Sulphurs and Whites.



Tiger Swallowtail on Chives

Most of you will be familiar with the orange and black Monarch butterfly. Several Monarchs have laid their eggs on Common Milkweed growing in our yard.



Monarch Butterfly



Pair of Monarchs mating



Milkweed is the host plant for the Monarch butterfly caterpillar.The caterpillars live and feed off the host plant until they are large enough to move on to a nearby shrub or plant to pupate.



Monarch buttercly caterpillar on Common Milkweed



Monarch early stage pupae




Monarch butterfly late stage pupae

These last fresh summer Monarchs to emerge will be the ones to migrate en masse on those gossamer wings all the way to the mountains of central Mexico where they will overwinter in an old growth forest. Those who survive winter in Mexico will start the journey north stopping to reproduce another generation along the way before they die. The offspring will carry on northwards stopping along the way to reproduce then die. It is the later generations of butterflies who finally reach us to complete the cycle. An amazing migration!




 

 I dare not pull out the precious Milkweed that has sprung up amongst the lilies and grasses in the garden. It is threatened by herbicide use, habitat loss and invasive species such as Dog-strangling vine. Milkweed flowers are one of my favorite summer wildflowers; the soft pink globular flower heads emit a heady sweet aroma that scents the air all around.  A small patch grows near our bedroom window and the delightful intoxicating fragrance permeates the room during warm summer evenings. No commercial air freshener can match that! The sweet nectar attracts a host of other insects too.  This late in the season, the flowers have faded and great big green seedpods have developed ready to burst out thousands of fluffy seeds to be borne on the breeze and hopefully settle elsewhere.

Another spectacular summer butterfly is the Black Swallowtail Papilio polyxenes, a large black butterfly with tail-like projections at the base of the wings with white, orange and blue markings. For a photo and more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Swallowtail

 The host plants for the caterpillars are in the carrot family which includes Queen Anne’s Lace, Dill and Parsley. I am currently watching 2 Swallowtail caterpillars developing on my parsley plant. They started off as little black caterpillars with a white band across the middle, looking a bit like a bird dropping, this is the first instar (phase).

Within 2-3 days of munching on the plants the caterpillars shed their too-tight skin. With each shedding, the caterpillar is larger, colours more vivid and the pattern is more pronounced until it reaches in the final instar. Soon it will leave the parsley to find a suitable spot to pupate.

Black Swallowtail caterpillar second instar

Black swallowtail third instar



Polyphemous moth caterpillar



Yesterday a big green fat caterpillar came wandering by while I was sitting in a favorite chair on the front porch (having an organic wild untidy garden has its benefits). After snapping a few photos, I did a quick computer search to identify it and found it to be the caterpillar of a large silk moth: Polyphemous Moth Antheraea polyphemus.

The hosts for this species are trees such as Oak, Maple and Birch and we have plenty of these in our yard. For a photo and more information about this beautiful moth check out this site:    http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Antheraea-polyphemus.

Other recent caterpillar finds in the garden:

Toadflax Brocade Moth Calophasia lunula  caterpillar

 Several caterpillars were feeding on a large Toadflax plant. They are a species imported from Europe decades ago for control of this invasive plant. http://bugguide.net/node/view/76334/bgimage for a photo of the moth.




Toadfl



Pandorus Sphinx moth caterpillar



Pandorus Sphinx Moth Euphorma pandorus caterpillar

Final instar, found feeding on Virginia Creeper. I’ve also found one feeding on Wild Grapevine which we have in abundance. For photo of moth check this link http://bugguide.net/node/view/3937



a tangle of flowers



When reading about all these caterpillars, I found that many are considered pests. I suppose if you had enough of them they could wreak havoc on host plants but I have never found this to be the case. Perhaps the many birds and bats and other natural predators found in my wild tangled organic garden help keep these in check. I see Robins making trip after trip to the nest with beaks full of caterpillars, worms and other insects; Baltimore Orioles, Warbling and Red-eyed Vireos pick insects and tiny caterpillars off leaves; Eastern Bluebirds, Phoebes, Pewees, Eastern Kingbirds flycatch from strategic perches and Big Brown Bats swoop through the yard at nightfall. They are surely helping to keep everything in balance….

Louise