#Ontario species

[vormoranox]

Native plant enthusiasts in Ontario, Canada, this is for you.

Leaving Facebook, I miss the Ontario Native Plant Gardening group. I couldn't find any communities on alternative social media so I'm working on making my own. Although Facebook will always be the mecca for the older generation of gardeners, I think it's worth forging some communities elsewhere, even if they're smaller, for those of us who deleted Meta apps. There's benefits to small communities, too, like less off-topic spam and less bad advice.

The Goal:

To create a space to share pictures, information, resources, news, and ask questions, get advice, help newbies get started, and trade seeds and plants, specific to PLANTS NATIVE TO ONTARIO, CANADA.

Gardening of highly cultivated or exotic plants (e.g., most garden veggies and herbs) is off-topic; while it may be discussed incidentally, posts/activity that is totally focused on it will be removed. Discussion of removing invasive plants is also allowed, while promoting the planting of invasive plants is not allowed.

Links:

Discord: DM me (@vormoranox) for link because I don't want to invite bot spam by posting it widely here.

BlueSky "custom feed" (like it and pin it): https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:c4bxovkrkuszkrw6m25tyiix/feed/aaac75apohl

Reddit (VERY barebones as of Feb 2025, setting up a subreddit is kind of crazy and I've only basically picked the name and effectively nothing else and I'm very new to this): /r/OntarioNativePlants

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Earlier this winter, when Toronto resident, K.J. McCusker was out observing nature, he saw something unusual soaring above the city. “That bird is really big. It can’t be what I think it is. No. It can’t be,” he thought to himself. There’s a good reason McCusker couldn’t believe his eyes. There has never been a documented bald eagle pair – nesting in Toronto — until now. “Total miracle… being here for twenty years, you just don’t see eagles and I come from a place where you see eagles, from out west, so we see eagles all the time and I just remember hanging out in ceremony with some people and saying like, why don’t you ever see eagles here,” said McCusker.

Continue Reading

Tagging @politicsofcanada

[jonnysinsectcatalogue]

Flatheaded Mayfly - Stenacron sp.

If the many insect species within the order Ephemeroptera were easier to identify simply by looking at pictures, I'd have many species to share here from my trips to Muskoka. Given their lifecycle, water is essential to the development of Mayflies; they inhabit water as hungry nymphs, and skim over the lakes as fleeting sub-adults and adults in search of mates. This genuinely makes cottage country a perfect location to find Mayflies and observe them. Maybe even catch a few if possible... if only to use as fish bait. In any case, when they're not flying out over the lakes, they're being drawn to cottage lights in the dead of night, allowing for some much needed close-ups of their features. What strikes me in particular about this individual is its head and eyes: the head is relatively flat, so much so that the compound eyes practically extend out of the head (akin to flattened protrusions), rather than be fully enclosed onto the head. If this sounds somewhat jumbled, I apologize. A closer look at Picture 4's head should hopefully clarify but I mean. Given these features, my photographs and a few comparisons made to other similar finds within the area, I'm of the opinion that today's find belongs to the family Heptageniidae (Flatheaded Mayflies).

This individual's features are similar to that of Mayflies sorted into the Stenacron genus, so if I were to offer up an identification, I would lean towards Stenacron interpunctatum, but this is just speculation on my part. According to Bugguide, it seems that an identification is nearly impossible unless you can get an accurate look at the Mayfly's mouthparts. However, it may interest you to know that the mandible assessment for identification only applies to the Mayfly Naiads (nymphs). Adult Mayflies meanwhile have vestigial mouthparts, and as a result, they cannot feed; all their energy is spent finding a mate near or over the water. While they do not eat, they can still intake liquids during their imago (adult) stage. Knowing this, identification has become a much greater endeavor than expected, but perhaps a revisit of this specimen using macrophotography would shed some light. Other Stenacron (and similar genera) species must be ruled out, so this cottage insect find will be labelled as "Unidentified" for now. If more conclusive information is found, this post will be updated as soon as possible with the identity of this delicate insect.

Pictures were taken on May 25, 2024 in Muskoka with a Google Pixel 4. Although Mayflies can be a splendid find over lakes as spring gives way to summer, other strange insects also emerge from the water as adults. Perhaps you may see Stoneflies, Alderflies or Fishflies?

[photos-by-rv]

Plathemis lydia, known as the common whitetail or long-tailed skimmer. Pictured is an adult female.

Eastern Ontario, Canada | June 16th, 2024

[arthistoryanimalia]

Francis FitzRoy Dixon (b. Batticaloa, Ceylon 1856 - d. Ottawa, Canada 1914) Orange-Breasted Green Pigeons, 3 March 1880 Watercolour over graphite on wove paper, 19.5 × 32.8 cm Royal Ontario Museum 2017.66.181.7

[blackswallowtailbutterfly]

Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica)

Blue flowers are relatively rare. Most incline to violet or else are quite small. But Virginia bluebells are a striking exception. All my photos from my garden, unedited.

I'm not kidding. They really are that blue naturally. They bloom in May. Then they slowly decline and the entire plants are gone above soil by the summer. Only to reappear the following spring! The shoots and flower buds are edible. You don't want to take too much, though. As spring ephemerals, they need the energy they make with their leaves during their short growing period. The short bloom period is also why I don't have more photos of them. They don't even bloom every year.

[introvertedswimmer]

I'm regards to my post of a Prothonotary Warbler I recently made a post on Instagram (@introvertedswimmer_photography) where I talked about this endangered species. Here's what I had to say:

Love these cute little Prothonotary Warblers. Despite them being an endangered species under Canada's Species at Risk Act and Ontario's Endangered Species Act, I have seen this bird multiple time in my over 10 years birding career. As someone who always looks forward to seeing this adorable bird yearly, I cannot imagine spring birding without it. Habitat destruction and the draining of the forested swamps is resulting in habitat loss and the decline in these birds. I am calling everyone to help to revive habitats for these beautiful cute birds to prevent them from going extinct and becoming just a memory. Please spread the message and talk to people about this habitat destruction.

[carbombrenee]

Purple wildflowers 1) Himalayan Balsam (invasive) 2) Wild Bergamot (native) 3) Wild teasel (invasive)

[lindaseccaspina]

The Elk of Lanark County

Mike Mulville 2023·  On the way to Perth this morning right by Tyler Lowery house Elk!!–In 1879 the hunters made their appearance on the Upper Mississippi Lake and many stories have been told of the slaughter of both wild geese and duck. The name of Glovers around Carleton Place and vicinity was synonymous with duck hunting Tom, Bill, Bob, Sime and Charlie were all crack shots against feathered…

[reasonsforhope]

"In 2021, scientists in Guelph, Ontario set out to accomplish something that had never been done before: open a lab specifically designed for raising bumble bees in captivity. 

Now, three years later, the scientists at the Bumble Bee Conservation Lab are celebrating a huge milestone. Over the course of 2024, they successfully pulled off what was once deemed impossible and raised a generation of yellow-banded bumble bees. 

The Bumble Bee Conservation Lab, which operates under the nonprofit Wildlife Preservation Canada, is the culmination of a decade-long mission to save the bee species, which is listed as endangered under the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation...

Although the efforts have been in motion for over a decade, the lab itself is a recent development that has rapidly accelerated conservation efforts. 

For bee scientists, the urgency was necessary. 

“We could see the major declines happening rapidly in Canada’s native bumble bees and knew we had to act, not just talk about the problem, but do something practical and immediate,” Woolaver said. 

Yellow-banded bumble bees, which live in southern Canada and across a huge swatch of the United States, were once a common species.

However, like many other bee species, their populations declined sharply in the mid-1990s from a litany of threats, including pathogens, pesticides, and dramatic habitat loss. 

Since the turn of the century, scientists have plunged in to give bees a helping hand. But it was only in the last decade that Woolaver and his team “identified a major gap” in bumble bee conservation and set out to solve it. 

“No one knew how to breed threatened species in captivity,” he explained. “This is critically important if assurance populations are needed to keep a species from going extinct and to assist with future reintroductions.”

To start their experiment, scientists hand-selected wild queen bees throughout Ontario and brought them to the temperature-controlled lab, where they were “treated like queens” and fed tiny balls of nectar and pollen. 

Then, with the help of Ontario’s African Lion Safari theme park, the queens were brought out to small, outdoor enclosures and paired with other bees with the hope that mating would occur. 

For some pairs, they had to play around with different environments to “set the mood,” swapping out spacious flight cages for cozier colony boxes. 

And it worked. 

“The two biggest success stories of 2024 were that we successfully bred our focal species, yellow-banded bumble bees, through their entire lifecycle for the first time,” Woolaver said. 

“[And] the first successful overwintering of yellow-banded bumble bees last winter allowed us to establish our first lab generation, doubling our mating successes and significantly increasing the number of young queens for overwintering to wake early spring and start their own colonies for future generations and future reintroductions.”

Although the first-of-its-kind experiment required careful planning, consideration, resources, and a decade of research, Woolaver hopes that their efforts inspire others to help bees in backyards across North America. 

“Be aware that our native bumble bees really are in serious decline,” Woolaver noted, “so when cottagers see bumble bees pollinating plants in their gardens, they really are seeing something special.”"

-via GoodGoodGood, December 9, 2024

[builder-4-hire-new-home-packages]

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[serpent-of-hope]

*Propaganda, fun facts, and owl pics under the cut

BARN OWL:

Last year's winner and our current reigning champion, the Barn Owl is back to defend their title! What makes the Barn Owl so popular? Their haunting face? Their screeching cries? Their vast range - nesting on every continent save Antarctica, vastly increasing their chance of being your local owl? Only you can say! And only you can secure the Barn Owl's victory for another year!

PYGMY OWL:

Meet the pygmy, an owl species so small that they are better called owlets! Don't underestimate these hunters, they're locked in a standing war with the songbirds - the owls swallowing the songbirds up and the songbirds retaliating by mobbing the owls in large flocks.

SNOWY OWL:

Known by many names: the polar owl, white owl, and Arctic owl among them, this is the largest North American owl by weight. Most snowy owls are barred with dark brown markings (like the one pictured here). If you see a pure white owl, it's a sure sign you've found a mature male.

EURASIAN EAGLE OWL:

Swooping in to riotous demand, behold the Eurasian Eagle Owl!

To all those mortally offended by the accidental exclusion of the Eurasian Eagle Owl last year, please accept this offering, of a link to Episode 100 of the very excellent podcast Beyond Blathers, bringing you 48 delightful minutes of Eurasian Eagle Owl facts and stories:

SAW-WHET OWL:

The most common owl in North American forests, the saw-whet owl calls through the evening skies with a high-pitched call like a saw being sharpened on a whet stone - hence the name.

SPECTACLED OWL:

The smart-looking Spectacled Owl makes its home in mature rainforest, though they have been known to venture into the desert for food. You'll know these owls by sight, thanks to their distinctive mask, and by sound, making a vibrating call like someone shaking a thin sheet of metal.

SCREECH OWL:

As the name suggests, you'll hear these owls before you see them, and you might think you're being haunted if you do! You might also be able to track them by their owl pellets - regurgitated packets of undigestable bones, fur, and feathers - littered around their nesting sites.

BARRED OWL:

You'll know Barred Owls when you hear them, calling "Who cooks for you? Who? Who? Who cooks for you?" through the dark of night. Compared to other owls, Barred Owls don't migrate. Fossils of this bird dating back 11,000 years have been found in Ontario

GREAT HORNED OWL:

Also called a tiger owl, a winged tiger, or a tiger of the air, these birds are fierce predators, capable of besting other raptors - including the barred owl. They are so strong, that it takes 28lbs of force to open their claws.

BURROWING OWL:

As the name suggests, these owls prefer nesting in the abandoned burrows of other underground-dwelling animals to roosting in the trees! though their nests may be pre-owned, these owls have been known to decorate with bottle caps and bits of foil or paper. By the same grounded preference, you're more likely to spot one running after its prey than flying, making good use of their long legs.

LONG-EARED OWL:

With a permanent expression of someone who just caught got doing something they're not supposed to, these owls are indeed sneaks, opting to claim nests built by others rather than constructing their own. But for all their sneaky ways, Long Eared Owls are among the friendliest, roosting in groups of up to 150 members.

BLACKISTON'S FISH OWL:

Standing at 70cm tall, the Blakiston's Fish Owl reigns in Northeast Asia as the largest living owl on earth. True to their name, they eat mostly fish and have no trouble diving from the skies in pursuit of a trout, pike, salmon.

[addicted2wasps]

A chart I made a while back showing the difference between the 3 black-and-ivory coloured Yellowjacket species we have here in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Left: Vespula consobrina (BlackJacket)

Middle: Dolichovespula arctica (Parasitic Aerial Yellowjacket)

Right: Dolichovespula maculata (Bald-Faced Aerial Yellowjacket)

[jonnysinsectcatalogue]

Red Aphids - Uroleucon sp.

The numerous red clone insects have returned to the blog with fresh images... but I forgot to identify the plants they were sprawled on. Regretfully, this makes an identification unlikely (for now) as these skittering Plant-Parasitic Bugs of the Uroleucon genus are associated with either a specific or somewhat specific range of host plants that they feed on during their lifecycle. Without identification of the plant, I can only speculate on which particular Aphid specie is featured on the blog today. As such, I will revisit the area later this year in the summer and see what I can find. If I'm being completely optimistic, perhaps the descendants of these Aphids will be found there as well! We'll see what the future brings, but for now, we look at the past and see what we can learn from these soft-bodied insects. On the identification front, there is some hope as the plants photographed here have sharp leaves and flowers with long, thin, yellow petals, giving them a strong resemblance to false sunflowers. Those particular flowers are the host of the Red Aphid known as U. obscuricaudatum, but it will take observation to confirm.

Similar to the last time this genus of Bugs was seen, there's also the possibility that this is an aggregation of U. pseudambrosiae or another specie among the nearly 100 Aphid species within the Uroleucon genus (except for U. erigeronense, since that one is clearly a green Aphid). In complete honestly, I'm also not sold on U. obscuricaudatum the more I look at the pictures. While I'll need better close-ups to confirm, the cauda for these Aphids isn't the right color. For these Aphids to be U. obscuricaudatum, their caudae (singular cauda) should be a curved with a dark color, but I'm not seeing that here and getting ahead of myself. In the case of Aphids, a cauda is the protrusion at the end of their abdomen. It's not a stinger or an ovipositor, but rather it's the final abdominal segment and it can be curved, knob or dome shaped. As for why Aphids have this protruding tail, its to aid them during their feeding. As it consumes plant juices, an Aphid will lean forward while feeding and will excrete honeydew out of its rear, and so it will flick the honeydew off of them using its cauda, ensuring the sticky fluid sits somewhere else. Other Aphids may instead kick away honeydew with their hindlegs, while other may simply allow it to drop upon the plant. It's possible that the lattermost strategy is useful for the Aphids who are tended to by the foraging worker Ants as it makes honeydew collection more simple.

Pictures were taken on August 17, 2023 with a Google Pixel 4. Do take note of the swollen individuals in Picture 2 and all the shed exuvia in Picture 7.

[photos-by-rv]

The Eastern Pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicollis) is a delightful dragonfly found primarily in lakes, ponds, and streams across Eastern North America. While always green-faced, females and male juveniles have a vibrant green thorax + black abdomen with green spots, and adult males become a powdery blue colour.

[herpsandbirds]

do you by any chance have them rare pictures of mudpuppies? like the "can't find those on google" kind of rare?

RARE AND FORBIDDEN MUDPUPPY PICS?!?!

So look, I don't know what's rare, but I will show you a couple of photos that i have not run across before. Let us concentrate on the Common Mudpuppy...

Common Mudpuppy (Necturus maculosus), family Proteidae, New York, USA

This individual was photographed and released.

This is a species of paedomorphic/neotenic salamander, keeping the their larval aquatic traits (gills).

photograph by cinnamon325

Ontario, Canada

photograph by addesij

Ontario, Canada

photograph by keevilm