August 13 2012. Normandale ON. Feeling a little starved of in-the-field time I visited a favourite forest preserve today. I’m working on fern identification skills and this particular piece of unspoiled forest is one of the botanically richest in Ontario. It is also known as a great birding spot but even it is not immune to the bird doldrums of August.
The fern expedition was a success, I added a couple more species that I think I can now identify if asked, but the quid pro quo is that some fern species that I thought I knew I am no longer so sure of. It’s like getting to know difficult birds like vireos and sparrows all over again. This 6-inch high fern was new to me and I believe it to be a Ternate Grape Fern; but there’s a good chance I’ll change my mind about it another day.
Today’s list of birds was varied and interesting and short enough not to be tedious in the re-telling: A Yellow-billed Cuckoo calling slowly and deliberately: “cowp cowp cowp”. A Red–eyed Vireo high and distant and sounding tired of summer. Blue Jays flitting in the treetops. A couple of Red–bellied Woodpeckers, which for a bird that can seem so omnipresent much of the year, has been quiet for the past two or three months. Today I heard them again, their edgy “Chak chak” contact notes remind of the European Jackdaw. A Pileated Woodpecker, I only heard it to begin with, it was bashing away methodically at a something high above, then I caught sight of movement between branches, its bright red crest and moustache caught my eye and then I could see chips of wood flying as it kept whacking away . Somewhere a young Red–tailed Hawk was calling for food and parental attention and in the distance I just caught the song of an Eastern Tufted Titmouse.
The Bird of the Day was an Ovenbird that watched me carefully from about 10 feet overhead. You hear Ovenbirds a lot in spring and early summer, their ringing “Tea-cher Tea-cher TEAcher TEACHER “ song increases in volume with each phrase and comes from the forest floor where they build their oven-shaped nest. But actually seeing an Ovenbird can be pretty hit and miss so it was an unexpected treat.
It was an overcast day and very gloomy at forest-floor level but I managed to photograph some interesting ferns and a rather stunning mushroom. Below is what I think is a Parasol mushroom or Lepiota procera. As to edibilty, my field guide to mushroom lists it as “choice with caution”, and says: “Parasol is a favourite edible among experienced mushroom hunters.” I’ll leave it to them.
