Rose Pogonia

Rose Pogonia - Small Wild Pink Orchid 

Rose Pogonia

The Rose Pogonia (Pogonia ophioglossoides) is a beautiful small pink orchid found in New Brunswick.   It grows in the eastern half of North America from Texas to Newfoundland.  It prefers very wet habitats, usually bogs and often is found growing on floating mats of vegetation.  It can be found in bogs, fens, marshes, meadows and swamps.  It prefers full sun and blooms from July to early August here in New Brunswick.  

Rose Pogonia Showing Typical Habitat

Rose Pogonia is sometimes called Snakemouth.  It grows 20 to 30 cm high (8 to 12 in) and from a distance is seen as light pink dots in thick vegetation.  The flower is small, about 2 cm long (3/4 in), light pink with yellow in the centre.  The single flower grows on the apex of a stem with one clasping leaf attached about halfway up.  There is a green bract just under the flower which can look like a leaf.  The sepals of this orchid are also light pink and look much like the petals.  

The flower of this orchid is known as 'irregular' (not radially symmetrical).  Its petals are dissimilar in shape, size and colour.  Its lower central petal is called a lip or labellum due to its lip shape.  It has a fringed edge, shows dark purple or deep pink mottling and has 3 rows of white and yellow, prominent hairs.  This feature distinguishes this small orchid from our two other small, pink, wild orchids; Arethusa bulbosa and Calopogon tuberosus.

Rose Pogonia Showing Bearded Lip

The Rose Pogonia is pollinated by bumblebees.  As the bee inserts its head into the flower looking for pollen and nectar, the pollen from the anthers of the plant stick to the bee's head.  The bee then transfers the pollen to the next orchid it visits.  The fruit of this plant is an upward-facing green capsule which turns light brown.  When it splits open it shows its tiny seeds.

Rose Pogonia

The Rose Pogonia got its name from Latin and its appearance.  The term 'pogonia' means 'beard'; 'ophio' means 'snake'; and 'glossa' means 'tongue'.  'Eidos' means 'like'.  So, a bearded plant with a snake-like tongue.  Another one of its common names is Adder's-mouth Pogonia which is a reference to Adder's Tongue Fern whose name is similarly derived.

Eastern Bluebird

Celebrating Our Eastern Bluebirds

Eastern Bluebird - Male

I am writing this post today to highlight our resident Eastern Bluebirds.  We have lived on this property for 50 years and this is the first year we have had resident bluebirds.  We have seen the odd one pass through over the years during migration but we have never had a pair settle into one of our many bluebird boxes.  But that is not all!  After the first pair settled in and started laying in late May, a second pair arrived and busily got started on their nest!

It has been fun to have two pairs warbling from perches around the yard early in the morning and during the day.  The males have been singing from the top of their boxes, from the top of the clothesline pole, from the trellis and often from the roof of the house.  We feel very privileged to have them share our yard.  

Eastern Bluebirds - Male and Female

We were away for about 10 days in late June and all was silent in the bluebird houses when we returned.  We had obviously missed the fledglings.  We were sorry about that because young bluebirds are very cute.  See the photos below.  They are spotted like their cousins in the thrush family, robins and thrushes.  

Eastern Bluebird -  Juvenile

Eastern Bluebird - Juvenile

Annual care for our bluebird houses includes a thorough cleaning in the spring.  Last year's debris is dumped, the boxes are sprayed for parasites and then they are filled with about 3 inches of wood shavings and chips.  Any necessary repairs are also done to the boxes themselves.  Our boxes are around a large field and are mounted on poles or stakes about 6 to 8 feet off the ground.  They generally face east.

Bluebirds build a loose cup nest of grass and plant material in a natural tree cavity, old woodpecker hole, fence post or bird box.  They lay 4 to 6 light blue to white eggs which they then incubate for 12 to 14 days.  The female does the incubating.  We noticed that the male stayed around for a few of the early incubation days but then disappeared.  He returned when it was time to feed the chicks.  Bluebirds eat insects, earthworms, invertebrates, berries and other fruits.  They like to hawk insects from low perches.  We have stakes marking flowers and young shrubs around our yard and they often sit on those. 

Eastern Bluebird - Female

One thing I noticed was how inconspicuous the female is.  Her colours, though noticeable enough, blend in very well often making her look like a sparrow from a short distance.  She knows how to blend in with the environment both in her appearance and in her actions.  They were somewhat trusting of us and our movements around the yard, but wary enough to get out of the way when we were mowing grass or moving through.  We loved having them as neighbours.

Eastern Bluebirds - Female and Male

After the bluebirds had fledged and moved on we were sorry to see them gone.  Well, sixteen days ago on a Monday morning the first thing we heard was the familiar warble of bluebirds!  A pair was busy checking out our boxes again.  The male was thoroughly checking out two different boxes and the female was busy going in and out to see if they met with her approval.  A lot of chatter accompanied these inspections.  We thought they were settling into one box and a couple of days later they moved to another.  Now they are very busy with that box and are obviously preparing for a second clutch.  How lucky we are to have them here for a second round.  Each morning and several times during the day we hear the male singing and see both moving around the box.  Carry on, beautiful blues!

Veery

Veery - A Summer Resident 

Veery - Probable Juvenile

The Veery (Catharus fuscescens) is a common summer resident here.  It is heard much more than it is seen because of its beautiful voice and its preference for thick underbrush.  It is a shy species and not well known to the casual birder.  It is a summer resident to British Columbia across southern Canada to western Newfoundland, south to Colorado and Minnesota, eastward to New England and south in the Appalachians to Georgia.  It winters in central and southern Brazil.  It is a remarkable flier during migration and has been recorded to fly up to 160 miles (256 km) in one night.  It can fly at altitudes of up to 1.2 miles (1.9 km).

The Veery is a member of the Turdidae family along with other common family members in NB; the American Robin, the Eastern Bluebird, the Hermit Thrush, the Swainson's Thrush.  The Veery is the least spotted of all our resident thrushes.  It is uniformly reddish-brown above with faint spots on the upper breast.  It has a very weak eyeing and a pale face.  It has a clean white belly and light gray flanks.  There is sometimes a weak brown lateral throat stripe.  The juvenile bird is lighter and the eastern race is more reddish-brown.  The bird shown above is likely a juvenile but the exposure may be a bit washed out.

Veery - Adult

The photo above shows the faint eyering and the gray on the face.  Note the horn-coloured bill and the dark culmen (top part of the bill).  The Veery is 18 cm long (7.3").  

The Veery prefers dense habitat in moist deciduous or mixed woods.  It builds its nest on the ground or low in bushes or shrubs.  The nest is made of grass, stems, twigs and moss and is lined with soft bark and leaves.  The nest is placed on a platform on dry ground in a sheltered area.  Incubation is 10-12 days and is carried out by the female.  The 3 to 5 eggs are blue in colour.  Veeries eat insects, spiders, berries and other fruit.  They normally are seen foraging on the ground and in trees, swooping down from a branch to capture prey or gleaning food from branches and foliage.  

For identification, the Veery would have to be distinguished from the Wood Thrush which is not normally here.  The Wood Thrush is larger, has a reddish-brown head and prominent dark spots on its breast, sides and upper belly.  The Hermit Thrush and the Swainson's Thrush do not show reddish-brown on the head and back.  The Hermit Thrush has a reddish-brown tail and the Swainson's Thrush has no reddish-brown at all.  

This discussion of the Veery cannot end without mentioning its magnificent voice.  It sings in the evening and the early morning with a slow, flute-like downward spiralling melody which some say sounds mournful.  It is extremely beautiful.  It is hard to put it in human language but Sibley describes it as veerr veerr veerr.  It may be trying to say its own name (given by us humans) but its beautiful melody cannot be adequately described by our inferior language.  Take a walk in the woods along a stream in the early morning or evening and listen for this remarkable songster.  

Red Trillium

Red Trillium - In Three Colours

Red Trillium

The Red Trillium (Trillium erectum) is a common New Brunswick flower found on hardwood slopes and in rich woods.  It is found from Ontario to Nova Scotia south to New England, Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and in the Appalachian Mountains to Georgia and Tennessee.  It has many common names including Purple Trillium, Stinking Benjamin, and Wake-Robin.

Red Trillium

The Red Trillium is our most common trillium.  The flower has a foul odour which attracts carrion flies which pollinate the flowers.  That is how it got another of its names, Stinking Benjamin.  The trillium was named for its anatomy - everything arranged in multiples of 3.  It has 3 leaves, 3 petals, 3 sepals, etc.  These are arranged in a triangle.  The flowers are about 6.3 cm/2.5" wide.  The petals are maroon or reddish brown.  The sepals are green.  There are 6 stamens.  The large ovate leaves are net-veined which is unusual for the lily family.  Most Liliaceae members have leaves with parallel veins.  After flowering, the plant produces a red berry.

The trilliums have been reclassified as a result of molecular phylogenetic studies.  They are have been moved from the Liliaceae family to the Melanthiaceae family along with some other lilioid species.  

Red Trillium - Pink Morph

According to Hinds in Flora of New Brunswick, the Red Trillium has been reported in numerous colours and in monstrous forms.  This post is a result of finding some of those unusual colours.  At one location in Keswick a friend and I found several Red Trilliums.  As we searched further we found a pink morph as shown in the photo above.  Further searching revealed also a white morph as shown below.  

Red Trillium - White Morph

Red Trilliums are early spring wild flowers and a delight to find when on a spring walk in the woods or along a stream.  Their name, Wake-Robin, implies an awakening of the landscape in spring and the red colour is named for the European Robin.