Ojibway Tall Grass Prairie

It's always nice when a group of like minded individuals get together and this occasion was definitely a great example of that.

A guided tour of the Ojibway tall grass prairie led by Tom Preney attracted many of the great local naturalists including Russ Jones, Steve Marks and Steve Pike among others. We hiked the trail through this unique habitat that is home to many prairie specialists that I might have walked by completely had it not been for the knowledge of the others.

Steve Pike in the prairie

The main focus of the hike was plants but many birds and insects were also seen. The highlight of the birds were indigo buntings which I had not seen yet this year although they are not rare in Ontario. These are gorgeous birds with brilliant blue body and dark wings.

But back to the beginning now... This melanistic tiger swallowtail was the most interesting butterfly on our walk and it was found a few meters down the trail. Melanism is a lack of pigmentation that leads the creature to be all black. This can be quite rare and I have never seen it in a butterfly before today.

Melanistic Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)

Other Lepidoptera sightings were monarchs, question marks, tiger swallowtails, skippers and a neat geometer moth.

Geometer moth

Skipper butterfly

The prairie plants were blooming and the butterflies were doing their thing! We saw prairie plants such as dense blazing star, wild bergamot, prairie milkweed, tall ironweed, woodland sunflower and many others.

Culver's Root (Veronicastrum virginicum)

The dense blazing star and prairie dock were my favorites. The dense blazing star had stems almost as tall as I am had many bright purple flowers going down them.

Dense blazing star (Liatris spicata)

Prairie dock has a bright yellow sunflower like flower and large rounded basal leaves.These are both plants very unique to prairie habitat and are quite rare in Ontario.

Prairie Dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum)

Prairie dock flower bud

Unfortunately all good things come to an end and the hike couldn't last forever. As the sun was setting common nighthawks darted across the skies and we headed out of the prairie. Naturally we then headed out for a few beers at a nearby pub.

After a nice hike there was naturally some beers.

More on Ojibway can be seen on their website > http://www.ojibway.ca/index.htm