FWG blog

What was happening at the FWG in June 2006

June 26 (from Colin Freebury) - I'm sure you've noticed the herons stalking prey in the pond. I've been trying to get a picture of one of them in their famous stalking pose, where they stick out their neck parallel to the water before seizing a frog.

Recently, I've noticed them using a different technique - after spotting a target, they sort of hop and flap a few feet to snatch the prey out of the water. To get a photo, you have to be ready to shoot the second it decides to launch a strike.

Even more interesting is trying to identify what this heron managed to catch. Until I looked at the pictures, I assumed it must be one of the many frogs populating the surface of the pond these days. Now I see that the prey was possibly a fish, although it doesn't seem to have a fish's tail. What do you think it is?

June 25 - Hot summer weather means lots of insects and we have a wide variety at the FWG. Pictured below are Macrodactylus subspinosus or Rose Chafer beetle; an unknown, probably nymph stage, on milkweed; a meadow plant bug (Miridae family) on timothy; a 7-spotted ladybeetle on dock; a Banded Hairstreak butterfly; and a blister beetle (Meloidae family) on vetch.

June 19 - We all love baby photos, and this one of a young kestrel is no exception. Colin Freebury heard it calling its parents while he was cutting burdock last Friday. The parents called back from a tree near Prince of Wales Drive, possibly saying, "you're on your own now, better catch your own dinner."

Young tree swallows are still being fed by attentive parents - as shown in this sequence that Colin captured on film - so please don't get too close to the bird boxes near the pond or in the fields.

Grasses at the FWG, mid-June
Photos and scanned images by Christine Hanrahan

This sequence of photos of Reed Canary Grass (Phalaris arundinacea, non-native), above, shows how different the seed head can look at different stages, and even from plant to plant. The photo below was added much later (on 6 July). Now mature, this grass will look like this for the rest of the summer. There is quite a difference between this and when the inflorescence was opening up.

Quack Grass (Agropyron repens, non-native) photo (above) and scanned stalks (at right).

Meadow Foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis, non-native) at various stages of blooming.

Smooth Brome (Bromus inermis, non-native) is quite distinctive - in the 4 photos below - with its long smooth seed capsules.

Orchard Grass (Dactyllis glomerata, non-native), blooming at left and shown in a group above.

Timothy (Phleum pratense, non-native) in photo above and scanned image at right.

Path Rush (Juncus tenuis) is not a grass at all but belongs to the Juncacea - the rush family. It is very common in the Ottawa area and throughout eastern North America. Scanned image at left and photo above.

June 7 — We just found out (thanks to Bev Wigney, who photographed them at her farm) that this is the larva of a Trirhabda beetle also called skeletonizing leaf beetles. There are many more than usual on our goldenrods this year.

1 June — The recent warm weather has brought out the butterflies around the FWG. This Little Wood-satyr was spotted today (1 June). Also seen in the last few days: Monarch, Spring Azure, Silvery Blue, Inornate Ringlet, Canadian Tiger Swallowtail.

And birds found a place to cool off in the stream below our Amphibian Pond. First a Cardinal, then a Starling, then two Robins (one shown above) took a quick bath.