ERS 346 Outing #1

Date and Time: 19/09/16 15:06
Duration: 62 minutes
Location: Columbia Lake
Weather: 20, light breeze, cloudy, no precip
Habitat: Lake, Wetland, Shoreline, Mixed Deciduous Forest

Metisse and I decided to drive to Columbia Lake for our first outing. Once we got out of the car, we could hear a Blue Jay calling from a nearby tree. Around the perimeter of the lake, the vegetation consisted of Goldenrod, Cattails, Willow trees, and some species of Aster. There were 5 Western Honey Bees on the Aster. We noticed 2 birds of prey flying high in the sky. Despite having binoculars, they were too far up to get a positive identification. I'm thinking they were Red-tailed Hawks because I had seen several in the Waterloo area a few days prior. We also noted 2 ring-billed gulls flying overhead. Two dragonflies were also observed flying over the lake. Scanning the vegetation with binoculars, I noticed a Great Blue Heron standing still on the edge of the lake. It was most likely looking for small fish in the water to eat. We attempted to get a closer look, but the heron flew away. We walked to the larger portion of the lake and found several bird species hanging out on a spit of land. These included 22 Canadian Geese, 150 Ring-billed Gulls, and 1 Great Egret. I also heard a Killdeer as we were watching the Great Egret. Walking further along the edge of the lake, we saw 3 Double-crested Cormorants swimming in the lake. We also observed another 3 Great Blue Herons as we walked along the edge of the lake. Most of these birds were probably heading south for the winter and were using Columbia Lake as a food source before their journey.

The area of Columbia Lake also contains a wooded area dominated by deciduous trees and a couple of pine trees. Upon entering the forest we saw a fluffy caterpillar, which was later identified as a Hickory Tussock Moth by iNaturalist. In the forest, we found some mammal feces with seeds in it. I'm not sure what species the feces belongs to, but the seeds indicate that it is some type of herbivore or omnivore. Metisse discovered some bones on the ground. We attempted to reassemble the skeleton to see what the animal was. We figured it was some type of bird because the bones were hollow. iNaturalist users decided it was some type of gull. It was most likely predated and brought into the wooded area, as gulls tend not to reside in forests and prefer open areas. We also found some Common Raccoon prints in the mud. On the way back to the car, we spotted a garter snake in the grass.

Posted on November 24, 2019 12:47 AM by