Rondeau Butterfly Count Day

Another very hot day for the Rondeau count.  It seems that it is always  very hot for this count!  Numbers were rather low for most species this year.  We had 20 species for south point which is rather low.  Perhaps the fact that many species were early this year had some bearing.  All the Great Spangled Fritillaries were worn when normally they are fairly fresh.  Hairstreaks were absent.
It seemed better than yesterday though, as we had lots of butterflies from the start.  The highlight was a Little Yellow for us.  Last time we had this species was 2001 when there were four.  That was a good year for numbers and species.

Little Yellow (worn)

I have been doing this count since its inception in 1999.  I was just getting into butterflies and had no clue what I was doing.  I remember a Little Yellow on that one.  I went around with Jerry Ball and the late Ian Carmichael and others.  I learned a lot and seemed to get hooked!

Today we finished our area in record time, so there was extra time in the afternoon.  Maris Apse and I went out Marsh Trail with the Kulons to look for sedge skippers.  There are a lot out there!  You would not know it until you get right in the sedges with them.

Mulberry Wing 

Mulberry Wings were there by the dozens.  We also saw lots of Broad-winged Skippers and Dion Skippers.

Broad-winged Skipper

I did not get a photo of a Dion.
These skippers are very weak fliers and seem to disappear in the sedges. I notice female Mulberry Wing are much larger than males.