ERS 364 Outing #1
Time and Date: (19/09/15) | 1030 – 1300
Duration: 150 minutes
Location: Huron Natural Area, Kitchener, Ontario
Weather: Temperature = 160C; Cloud Cover = 100%, Precipitation = Light Rain, Wind = 3 (Beaufort Scale)
Habitat/Vegetation: Woodland, Grassland, and Wetland
I went for a hike with Alyssa McLaren and Raquel Reyes to the Huron Natural Area on September 15th, 2019. We started on the Huron Trail, which was characterized by deciduous trees such as staghorn sumac, red oak, big-tooth aspen, sugar maple, Manitoba maple, and European buckthorn. Along this path, most of my recorded observations were of these tree species, as well as several groundcover species such as the invasive greater celandine. Because this trail is paved and easily accessible, it is possible that this is where this and other invasive species entered the ecosystem, as it received lots of foot traffic and subsequent disturbance.
While we had yet to see any wildlife, there were multiple signs of active species along the edges of the trail. A large nest, later identified as belonging to aerial yellowjackets, was hanging from a Manitoba maple, however it seemed to be abandoned. We also found a white-tailed deer trail heading up from the path and behind a cluster of trees that had a recent hoof print in the wet mud.
As we walked through the forest we came upon a stormwater drainage basin surrounded by meadow habitat and coniferous trees. The pond was ringed with cattails, jewelweed, goldenrod, and phragmites, with duckweed floating on its surface. In the pond was a female mallard, who didn’t seem to mind us looking around. Alyssa found the chimney of a terrestrial crayfish, something I have never seen before, and would have completely missed if she hadn’t pointed it out. As we walked from the shore of the pond up towards the meadow, the soil became sandy gravel, and I found a predated turtle nest. It is likely that, due to habitat loss, turtles have changed their behaviour to live in artificial ponds and nest on their shores, however it is unclear, at least to me, how this might impact their egg clutch survival rate.
We then hiked from the Meadow Trail to the Forest Trail, where the habitat became deciduous trees that were part of an old plantation, which had a wetland to one side. In the wetland were three green frogs, classified as Anurans, resting at the water’s edge. In the forest, I decided to roll over a felled ash log and see if there was anything living underneath. I was in luck! I found my first two salamanders ever, both Eastern red-backs. I believe they were here because of the relatively small dip in the landscape that allowed for water collection, since Urodeles prefer moist habitat and can absorb water from their environment.
Unfortunately, we only saw a few bird species, likely due to the poor weather, including blue jays, black-capped chickadees, a mallard, and a northern flicker, we also heard American crows and white-breasted nuthatches, as well as several other calls that we could not identify.
