Setting My Sights on Prairie

On Sunday I was in the Dundas area for work and decided to check out the Ancaster Rifle Range Quarry prairie (a mouthful, I know).  The site is owned and managed by the Hamilton Conservation Authority and was burned in April of 2015.

Despite being mid-March, I was able to do a bit of botanizing.  Round-headed Bush-clover (Lespedeza capitata) appears to be doing very well here, although at this time of year the dark lumpy wands do tend to stick out.  I was looking into some Breeding Bird Atlas background information for a project nearby in Hamilton today and saw Northern Bobwhite came up.  Although likely an escapee, I have heard that Bush-clover and other legumes have been/are traditionally a large part of their diet, particularly through the winter when other food sources are more difficult to come by.

The quarrying, and perhaps to some degree the elements, have exposed some interesting aggregate formations.

I put my hand on this rock, let the brain dig deep back to my Geomorphology of Southern Ontario class in university, and said "clastic".  I knew their was a reason I took that course!  Actually, looking back at the field and lab components of that course and how it changed my understanding of landforms (and vegetation communities) I really did get alot out of it.  I appreciated my time spent in 'a professor who will remain unnamed''s classes, that is until a few years later while tending to a demonstration prairie garden I designed and installed outside of the Faculty of Environment, each plant grown from locally collected seed, the composition tasteful yet somewhat natural...he walked out of the faculty door one day on his way home, looked at me working diligently to remove dead stems, and said "Bunch of weeds". Sheesh.  You bet I ramped up plug planting the following year!  If you ever visit the University of Waterloo check it out!

The cordate and slightly toothed leaves of Sky Blue Aster (Symphyotrichum oolentangiense)

Still a bit early for Early Goldenrod (Solidago juncea).  I couldn't find any signs of growth at the ground level but this goldenrod species is an early bloomer among the composite world.  The 'elm-shaped' inflorescence is a good ID feature to help distinguish it.

The bare stony areas are largely dominated by hawkweeds and fleabanes but a few other interesting species like Poverty Oat Grass (Danthonia spicata) could be found.

A nice view from a high point looks across the swaths of Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans) with smaller amounts of Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) and Canada Wild Rye (Elymus canadensis) also present here and there.  Beer can free and a couple bucks in my pocket!

Another highlight on the day was a leucistic Red-tailed Hawk I spotted off of nearby Powerline Road.  Pretty tough to miss a white hawk flying in front of a spruce hedgerow 20m in front of you!