![\"Photo](\"http:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/BlackSwallowtailPlantRattrayOnNaturalCrooksDotCom.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nBlack Swallowtails Seek Parsley, Carrots, Dill, Celery, Queen Anne\u2019s Lace and Each Other<\/h2>\n
Near the junction of Jack Darling Park and the Rattray Marsh is a lookout with two benches facing the Lake and the Toronto skyline. Goldenrod and asters grow in profusion here and I spent a memorable fall afternoon watching Nashville Warblers darting among them. Today, I was watching Black Swallowtail butterflies instead.
\nTwo of the ones I saw were males. They have the double row of vivid yellow spots making them easy to identify at a distance. (The females usually have much smaller, subdued spots and much more noticeable blue patches near their body at the bottom of the hindwings.) These two males were actually perching a couple of feet apart down a narrow footpath to the water\u2019s edge. When one lifted into the air, though, the other quickly rose too in a battle for this chosen territory. Circling each other up into the sky for a few seconds, the one male gave up and flew off. The victor then started patrolling a patch of open ground.<\/p>\n
Once I realized that it was going to stay here and patrol, I stayed still and watched as it flew. It perched briefly on a lilac\u2019s blossoms at one edge of the open ground and fed for a few seconds. Then it was up and back and work moving in an asterisk shape of lines across the claimed patch of land to its far sides and back.<\/p>\n When it settled, I would take a few photos. Each time hoping it would land closer and for a longer time. It wasn\u2019t interested in resting, though. It met what I believe was a female, for they danced up for a second, then both descended into the vegetation out of sight for a minute. When my male came back, he was alone, so I never got a good glimpse at the other Swallowtail.<\/p>\n Ten minutes after I stopped to stand along the narrow footpath in the Swallowtail\u2019s territory, my patience was rewarded. Exhausted from chasing off rivals, possibly from a romantic encounter, and only partially restored by two trips to the lilac blooms to feed (and two to just investigate without stopping), the Black Swallowtail settled on a perch to rest. I stepped cautiously closer, taking photos along the way, trying not to make it waste energy by flushing it. (I knew it wasn\u2019t particularly interested in me, though, because it had flown within inches of me several times earlier without distress.) Once I got a few photos that I hoped were clear, I edged back away, leaving it to choose when and where to fly.<\/p>\n Lots of families were walking their toddlers and terriers around the boardwalks at the Rattray. In flagrant violation of the \u201cplease keep on the paths\u201d signage, however, the White-tailed Deer were splashing through the creek and stopping to munch on interesting fresh growth along the banks. One group I saw appeared to be an adult doe and her year-old daughter.<\/p>\n From the Knoll path, I had a close-up view of a group of 4 ducklings. Their mother was watching intently from a different shoal quite close by. A male Mallard was slightly further up stream but I don\u2019t know if he was keeping the mother company or not. Generally the females raise the young on their own.<\/p>\n This particular day, several hundred Inchworms, or Cankerworms, had decided to spin down from the tree tops on their annoying little webs and land on the board walk near the Knoll path. As they tend to do, they then looked for something to climb back up and they mountaineered up to the top of the hand rail. There, to their dismay, the route up ended. So they measured their way along the railing seeking in vain for the next upwards leading tree trunk.<\/p>\n Among the many dark and light coloured inchworms, I found this one other type of caterpillar speedily walking along the railing. I’m not sure what type it is; if you know, please leave a comment at the end of the article. (To see the Comment text box, you may have to click on the title of this article to open it in its own window.)<\/p>\n UPDATE: There is a good chance that this is a Banded Hairstreak caterpillar, based on a guide book I was perusing at the Credit River BioBlitz.<\/p>\n Late spring wildflowers lined the paths and boardwalks at the Marsh. The white spikes of False Solomon\u2019s Seal promised a good crop of berries for the chipmunks later in the summer.<\/p>\n Yellow Avens always look scruffy to me but the individual blossoms can be attractive when they are newly opened. Later on the plants will have annoying seeds that stick to clothing.<\/p>\n The small five-petalled pink blossoms of Herb Robert lighten the shadier spots under the trees. It\u2019s a type of wild Geranium and its fruit is a Schizocarp. Who knew? (That just means that the fruit splits into pieces when it\u2019s ripe, with each piece holding a single seed, or so my dictionary says.)<\/p>\n This Fleabane could be Daisy or Philadelphia or even another breed. I didn\u2019t think to look closely at its leaves and other telling features so it shall remain somewhat nameless.<\/p>\n I did see some birds while prowling around but I didn\u2019t change my lens. So there is a Carolina Wren in this photo that I heard cheerfully belting out its song\u2014but it may be difficult to see it!<\/p>\n It was interesting to watch these middle-finger-sized fish defend a small territory on the bottom of Sheridan Creek from all other fish. Unfortunately, this view using the close-up lens makes it even harder to guess what kind of fish they are, though.<\/p>\n No matter what lens I look through, the Rattray is a great park to explore on a sunny spring day. I hope I get another chance to visit this week.<\/p>\n Related Reading<\/strong><\/p>\n Join In<\/strong> Most Warblers may have winged their way north-ward but there are still hundreds of fascinating colourful creatures to admire in southern Ontario. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,11],"tags":[25,273,5,531,213,43,39,532,534,530,22,130,67,533],"class_list":["post-4909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-focus","category-rambles","tag-birds","tag-black-swallowtail","tag-butterflies","tag-cankerworm","tag-carolina-wrens","tag-caterpillars","tag-fish","tag-fleabane","tag-herb-robert","tag-inchworm","tag-insects-2","tag-mallards","tag-white-tailed-deer","tag-yellow-aven"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4909"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4909\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8426,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4909\/revisions\/8426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>
\nThose two fuzzily-focused butterflies are both male Black Swallowtails.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nThis male has been through some rough times: he’s missing a “swallowtail” and has holes near the upper wing tips.
\n<\/em><\/p>\nDucklings and Deer: People Aren\u2019t the Only Families Enjoying Saturday at the Rattray<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nInchworms Bonanza<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nWildflowers Brighten Up the Boardwalks<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nA Closeup Lens Makes for Distant Views<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nSimilarly, you can sort of recognize the outline of this Cooper\u2019s Hawk tending its young but mostly because we know that\u2019s whose nest it is.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n\n
\nDo you have a favourite park to visit in June? Please share your views with a comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"