My BioBlitz at Pike Lake
A Nature Conservancy Canada (NCC) email popped up: "Backyard BioBlitz"! That sounded both appealing and doable without risk of COVID-19 exposure. I checked my calendar and saw that I had limited commitments for three days that week while at a cabin by Pike Lake. I would have a late start and an early finish to the assigned week so I would have to get at it!
Day 1: NCC had an incentive (entry in a draw) for those who made thirty observations so that seemed like a good goal for my project. I downloaded iNaturalist on my cell phone and stepped outdoors. The first two observations were plants that had been identified for me and that I thought I knew...not so fast! They still remain unconfirmed among my observations posted to iNaturalist!
I thought I would do a circuit of the yard but then I needed to go to the dock and so took some photos while I was there, then some more along my return path. Now, did I take a photo of that plant already or not? By the end of the first afternoon, I already had 28 observations just in our yard including a Giant Mayfly that landed on my hand. Doesn’t it know it is almost fall not spring? https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/58056979
Day 2: The next morning I was paddling on the lake by 7:30 am because I needed to be in the city for an afternoon commitment. I didn't get far from our dock! I managed to explore the lake front of only five lots. The first two lined with rocks were not so compelling but the third yielded delight after delight including plants, insects and snails. I discovered a Common Green Darner attached to the blade of Broadleaf Arrowhead with its wings not yet unfurled. There were numerous remnants of its cousin nymphs’ molts as they transitioned from larvae to adult dragonfly and left their empty shells behind. There were two fuzzy caterpillars but with different colouring that are soon to be Tiger Moths. I watched a Bladder Snail stretch out of its shell then retreat into its shell and turn a complete circle with only its tail/foot exposed from time to time. There were Marsh Ramshorn snails and a Giant Pond snail too. A Water Lily Leaf Beetle crawled up onto a lily pad. It caught up to a strider but they seemed to get along. I saw a small roll of material possibly created by the movement of the water but after watching awhile, it did move and did appear to be choosing its direction so I took a photo. The iNaturalist site suggested shrimp as an identity but an identifier soon suggested a caddisfly. That title helped me identify another light brown winged insect that at first I thought according to the iNaturlaist site suggestions could be a grass veneer. A desire for more breakfast than fruit drove me inside eventually where I discovered it was time for lunch not breakfast!
On the way back from the city I stopped by the Silver Buffaloberry bushes edging the neighbouring farm. As I photographed the bright red berries clustered around thorns hidden by the silvery leaves, I remembered that our family after the first frosts in the fall and on a windy weekend, took heavy gloves, a stick, blanket and big pail to what I then knew as Bullberry bushes along the creek bed. (We also took a thermos of tea with milk and a bag of Mom’s cookies!) My Dad would put on the gloves while we spread a blanket under the bushes. Then he would hold a branch carefully avoiding its spines. He hit the branch with a stick causing the berries and leaves, insects and debris to fall into the blanket. This he repeated with several branches. We took the blanket and holding it as high as we could poured its contents slowly into the pail letting the wind blow away most of the leaves, insects and debris. Mom made a tart jelly, straining the juice and pulp through cheesecloth leaving the berry pits and debris in the cloth. Mom served the tart peach-coloured jelly with meats as well as with our breakfast toast. Yum!
Back to the NCC observations. I spied a black and white spider (Genus Eris) clambering over a berry its size and a smaller green insect behind the branch for which I still have no identification. A Tri-coloured Bumblebee explored the Goldenrod near where I stood. Then I walked up the roadside chasing a Cabbage White hoping for a decent photo. I managed to photograph a Green-striped Grasshopper but not the big one showing purple when it flew.
That evening I paddled north in time to get photos of Broadleaf Cattails, Bulrushes, another Bladder Snail and a beaver. I took a short video of the beaver slapping its tail. It wasn’t too happy having company! I never did get a photo of the dragonflies flitting over the water, the fish who splashed nor the frogs who jumped across the water like rocks being skipped nor the Red-necked Grebe who dove before I found it in the camera lens. The squirrel and chipmunk that frequent our yard missed their sittings for a photo too! It wasn’t until after the BioBlitz that I was reminded that I could have added observations without evidence, that is without photos or sound recordings.
I collected some pollution while I was exploring the lakeshore: a deflated superhero beach ball and Molson beer cans. The evidence of our human carelessness is even more concerning now that I have met some of the smaller organisms trying to make their home in Pike Lake.
Day 3: With a warning of rain by noon, I headed out early along a path that follows the border between woods and grasses. This day it was harder to remember what plants I had already photographed. Sometimes, I just didn’t know it was the same plant because the plant had dried or there was no flower or other clear identifier. I found Blue Grama or what I knew as Eyebrow Grass but mostly Brome grass. I was lucky to spy and photograph another grasshopper and a Saffron-winged Meadowhawk.
It was quite exciting after I posted the meadowhawk to see the Libélulas migratorias curators add it and my photo of the Common Green Darner to their observations. Libélulas migratories curators is a Mexican based organization with international participation to track the migration of dragonflies! See Libélulas migratories. The Found Feathers curators also added two of my photos to their collection. See Found Feathers · iNaturalist. I also experienced to my delight, one photo being chosen as someone’s ‘fave’! Not sure that a Water Lily Leaf Beetle larvae would have been my choice as favourite but I was happy to have a decent photo from my cell phone camera!
I noted the option to play NCC bingo cards. In spite of getting carried away with my project and making 168 observations of which there are 104 verified species and possibly 126 different species, I never was able to make a line of five observations on any of the bingo cards. Quite the challenge! My work at home took considerable time as I added observations and tried to make identifications myself. These three days with time outdoors, camera in hand were well spent! I learned lots and had fun doing it!
You don’t have to wait for a BioBlitz invitation! Give another purpose to some of your walks or outings on the lake. Download iNaturalist at no cost and contribute to the record of wildlife at Pike Lake while you do some learning and have fun yourself!
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