Exploring Nature in Winter

Overlooked but Not Absent

For many nature enthusiasts, winter can be a slow season. While most people appreciate the beauty of a freshly-fallen snow, or a waterfall coated with icicles, the lack of wildlife activity can be disappointing. However, winter also provides unique opportunities to spot some species that can only be seen in the colder months. This article will discuss some of those species and where you can find them, and hopefully give you a new appreciation for the season.

Duck-spotting

Birds are some of the most charismatic wildlife that can still be found active during the winter. Winter birdfeeders bring a variety of species out of hiding, such as Black-capped chickadees, Northern Cardinals, and Dark-eyed Juncos. However, one of the best birdwatching opportunities at this time of year is duck-spotting. Hamilton’s location at the tip of Lake Ontario and bordering on beautiful wetlands like Cootes Paradise make it a hotspot for duck species. Many ducks spend the breeding season up north, in the Boreal forest or the Arctic, and migrate south during the winter for a (relative) escape from the cold. The open water and plentiful food offered by Lake Ontario attract many of these ducks to Hamilton. Additionally, Lake Ontario, as one of the Great Lakes, provides ideal winter habitat for oceanic ducks. Lake Ontario’s deep, open water replicates the oceans where these ducks spend most of the year. These factors bring over 30 different species of ducks, geese, and swans to Hamilton during the winter months. There are many ideal locations along the lakeshore that provide great views of these ducks, such as Windermere Basin Park, Lasalle Park Marina, and Van Wagners Beach.

Winter Tree Identification

For those naturalists looking for a challenge, winter tree identification is the perfect opportunity to test your skills. While leaves are rarely the only feature used to identify tree species, they are certainly helpful in narrowing down your options. Identifying trees without this feature relies on knowledge of more subtle features, like bark texture, branching pattern, and bud geometry. Winter is an ideal time to test your knowledge of these features, and this practice can help you when identifying tree species with very similar leaves, even during the warmer months when leaves are visible. Additionally, most coniferous tree species in the Hamilton area hold onto their leaves throughout the winter. If you are not sure how to tell a White Pine from a White Spruce, this time of year is great for growing your knowledge.

Cold-weather Crawlers

One group that is very rarely seen during the winter is insects. Due to their small size and inability to thermoregulate like most mammals and birds, few insect species can survive temperatures around or below 0 degrees Celsius. However, there are some unique exceptions to this rule. One example are winter stoneflies. These insects spend their larval period in rocky streams, but emerge as adults during winter and begin walking around on the ice and snow around these streams looking for mates. It is thought that these insects are able to survive zero and subzero temperatures by producing anti-freeze compounds that prevent ice crystals from forming in their bodies and therefore protecting their cells from freezing and being damaged. Other species of insects actually promote freezing inside their bodies, in extracellular fluid. By isolating ice crystals outside of the cells, these insects protect the insides of their cells from being damaged and are able to survive freezing temperatures.

Another species of winter-adapted insect is the American Winter Ant (Prenolepis imparis). This unique species of ant is adapted for foraging and feeding during the cooler months from the beginning of Autumn to the end of Spring, and are the only ant species in the Hamilton area that can be seen active during the winter. By focusing their foraging efforts to the colder seasons when other insects species (particularly other ants) are less active, American Winter Ants are able to avoid direct competition for resources. In fact, this species seals off the entrances to its nests during the summer and does not forage at all until the Autumn. American Winter Ant colonies are able to survive through this period using corpulent workers, which are worker ants with especially flexible abdomens that can swell to store food; sometimes more than twice their body weight. Once Autumn begins and these food stores have been used up, these corpulent workers return to their original state as regular foragers. American Winter Ants can be seen foraging on rotting fruit, dead arthropods, and honeydew from aphids.

Despite the apparent lack of wildlife activity during winter, there is evidently still much to see. From oceanic duck species to snow-loving insects, winter is as exciting a time as any to step outside and get interested in nature. Put on some gloves and a hat and see what you find!

References:

Menninger, H. (2011, February 24). Winter stoneflies sure are supercool. Scientific American Blog Network. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/winter-stoneflies-sure-are-supercool/

Williams, J. L., & Lucky, A. (2017, February). Prenolepis imparis (Say). Entomology & Nematology Department – University of Florida. https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/ants/Prenolepis_imparis.htm