A late May walk in the Sydenham River Nature Reserve

The Nature Reserve is about an hour’s drive west of London, Ontario. Here are some of the plants that were seen in this large area of floodplain forest.

Running Strawberry Bush (Euonymus obovata)

Twinleaf (Jeffersonia diphylla)

Green Dragon (Arisaema dracontium)

Moneywort (Lysimachia nummularia)

American Gromwell (Lithospermum latifolium)

Cut-leaved Toothwort (Dentaria laciniata)

Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis)

Rugel’s Plantain (Plantago rugelii)

Chinquapin Oak (Quercus muehlenbergii)

Wild Blue Phlox (Phlox divaricata)

Canada Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum canadense)

Cream Violet (Viola striata)

A grove of Kentucky Coffee Trees (Gymnocladus dioicus)

Kentucky Coffee Tree with Pileated Woodpecker damage.

Blue-winged and Golden-winged Warbler Hybrid

Though most warbler species do not hybridize, these two do.

Other birds on the property which I have seldom or never seen during Toronto walks were:

Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Black-billed Cuckoo, Red-Headed Woodpecker, Yellow-throated Vireo and Cerulean Warbler.

Miles Hearn

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