Recent Happenings

I was out and about this past weekend, but did not find anything special to photograph. I spent the better part of Saturday giving my boats some TLC after a long period of neglect.
On Sunday I went to Rondeau to check for butterflies and early fall migrants. The Yellow Warblers were plentiful, and some were likely migrants. Nothing else of note there.
At Blenheim Lagoons, I finally got to look at some shorebirds. Conditions were good, and I eventualy picked out a female Ruff. They seem to be fairly regular this time of year. I have seen at least four there over the years. The two others of this species I have seen were spring birds just outside of Wallaceburg in 2006, less than a week apart! A male showed up just north of town, then I found a female at another location near where I work. This bird is shown in the photo.

Today I stopped in at Reid CA and found a couple of Dukes' Skippers. Although I may have spotted one there last week, I was acting on a tip from a friend. I did not have my camera at that time, but I went back later with the camera, and of course could not find them! These are large dark skippers of sedge areas.

I looked at some of the Broad-winged Skippers as well. I found one worn Edwards Hairstreak. The hairstreaks are almost done for this year, as they are single-brooded.
An American Lady caught my eye on the mud as well.

More Giant Swallowtails are out, so another brood must have emerged. Monarchs are more plentiful as well.

More Butterflying

The weather on Sunday was iffy with on and off rain. I tried to get out in between the rain storms, and managed to get a good walk in at Moore WMA. This is one of my favourite spots as it has a variety of habitat and covers a very large area. I saw a number of Coral and Edwards Hairstreaks, a couple of Striped and one very worn Hickory. Fewer hairstreaks are out now, and indication that summer is reaching the midpoint.

EDWARDS HAIRSTREAK

There were a lot of Northern Broken Dash skippers and some other species. Some of the skippers are difficult to ID as many look so much alike!

I was unable to check Reid CA due to the rain, but managed to get there after work on Monday. I wanted to check the old oxbow where there is extensive sedge and buttonbush. My goal was to see some Broad-winged Skippers, and I was not disappointed. There were several in amongst the sedges. These are unique butterflies in that they are slow and weak fliers and fly mainly within the sedges. I went back on Tuesday with my camera to take photos.

Earlier in the season I saw the sedges and knew this would be a good spot for Broad-winged Skippers. I even have visions of finding Duke's Skippers which is not out of the realm of possiblity, either here or in another similar habitat.

On the way there this evening, I spotted a funnel cloud to the north. It actually got fairly long and narrow. After a while, it quickly disappeared.

Some photos:

Eyed Brown (above), hummingbird moth (below)

Giant Swallowtail (above), Dun Skipper (below)

Clear Creek butterfly count

The 2008 Clear Creek butterfly count was held on July 19, a week later than usual. This count was started by Mathis Natvik in 2000 and straddles the Chatham-Kent/ Elgin border. There are some interesting habitats, including abandoned railways that are excellent for butterflies.

This year we achieved 48 species. The average over the years is 45, with a high of 50 in both 2003 and 2005. A new addition for this year was a Pipevine Swallowtail. Many records were eclipsed or smashed this year. Sulphurs were in full force today, with Clouded setting a new high. Orange Sulphur broke the previous record of 427 last year with a new high of 637.

There were 8 Hickory Hairstreaks this year, a new high. Last year there was only one recorded by my party which was a first for the count. All were worn. Eastern Tailed-Blue was at 82, smashing the previous high of 24 from last year. The biggest jump was Summer Azure at 1222. The previous high was only 61 in 2001!

Our party spotted the only Snout of the day along the old railway near Highgate.

Eastern Commas were plentiful, with a tally of 17, and two Gray Commas were seen today. There was only one other Gray Comma ever in 2006.

Painted Lady seemed to be everywhere, and 85 were recorded today. The previous high was 51 in 2001.

In the skipper family, Silver-spotted was all around with 166 in total. The previous high was 134 in 2003. Twelve species of skippers were tallied in total, including 5 Long Dash, a new high.

Butterflies this Weekend

On Saturday I went to Point Pelee hoping for something good (not to be!). Overall, butterflies were scarce. De Laurier and the old maintenance compound were devoid of butterflies! I did find other thing in other areas. I first walked down the East Beach from Shuster Trail to catch the morning sun. It was more out of the wind. More things were towards the Tip. I did encounter a Dukes' Skipper. It was large and dark anyway! I have always found them at the end of Shuster Trail in the sedges.

A Buckeye was a nice find near the Tip on the East Beach. It was a first for the year and are certainly one of the prettiest and most spectacular to see. A photo is at the top of this post.

Lots of Hackberry butterflies were on the west side on my return to the VC.

Sunday was the annual Rondeau count. Things looked gloomy at first with clouds and early rain, but then the sun came out. So did the butterflies. I covered south point trail as usual (since 1990), and we came up with 25 species. Average is just over 22. Nothing outstanding, but after I turned in results, a Snout was found in the VC parking lot. The Snout is rarely seen in the park. I did not take my camera along, as I find it a nuisance on a count. We had a high of 17 Banded Hairstreaks, the only one of that family today. An Eyed Brown and an Appalachian Brown chasing each other was an interesting discovery. An Eyed Brown is shown below, but I cheated with that photo. It was taken at the Tip of Long Point a year ago. A couple of Tawny-edged Skippers together was decent. We did get a Hobomok nearing the end of its cycle.

Total species for the count was a respectable 38, considering three major areas were not covered.

The Butterflies Continue

A perfect weather day today, and some butterflies were out. I came across the first Striped Hairstreaks of the season at McKeough CA. Needless to say, the hairstreaks were in incredible numbers where-ever there was milkweed beside woodlots.

Tawny Emperor was a nice find today.

Tawny Emperor

Southern Hairstreaks are still out, but quite worn. They have been seen at a second location.

Some photos....

Striped Hairstreak

Southern Hairstreak with white spots instead of orange

Holiday Highlights

Spent the morning and early afternoon looking for butterflies. Lots to see--this has been an excellent year! Highlights included two more Baltimore Checkerspots and a Bronze Copper. Skippers included Delaware and Little Glassy Wing.

Some photos.....