Sunday, August 04, 2013

Laurel Creek Conservation Area

Laurel Creek Conservation Area
Waterloo, ON
4 August 2013

    I enjoyed a stroll through Laurel Creek Conservation Area this morning and found my first Northern Mockingbird ever in Waterloo County. Unfortunately I was unable to get a picture of it! 
    Common Starlings Sturnus vulgaris seemed to be everywhere one looked and they have obviously had a very successful breeding season. From treetop to grassy meadow this species was easily heard and seen.




    The collective term for a gathering of crows is a murder and these American Crows Corvus brachyrynchos were perhaps gathered to discuss matters of life and death in the crow world.





    A Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularia was very cooperative at the water's edge, and I wished I had the skills of my artist friend Barry Kent MacKay to enable me to render the exquisite palette of colours formed by the reflection of the shoreline vegetation.



    A Wooly Bear Caterpillar was crossing the road at a good pace. This is the caterpillar stage of the Isabella Tiger Moth Pyrrharctia isabella, and it has a very interesting life cycle. It hibernates each winter, virtually shutting down its body and protecting its tissues with a cryoprotectant. These caterpillars can re-emerge and hibernate again for several years before finally attaining adult moth status.



David M. Gascoigne,
David M. Gascoigne,

I'm a life long birder. My interests are birds, nature, reading, books, outdoors, travel, food and wine.

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We acknowledge that the land on which we are situated are the lands traditionally used by the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, and Neutral People. We also acknowledge the enduring presence and deep traditional knowledge, laws, and philosophies of the Indigenous Peoples with whom we share this land today. We are all treaty people with a responsibility to honour all our relations.

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