More Butterflies at Point Pelee

American Painted Lady (one of several today)

I had planned to go to Point Pelee today, quite some time ago.  Interestingly, Bill Lamond, Kevin McLaughlin, and Alan Wormington had a fabulous day yesterday and that got my hopes up for a good day.
One of my targets was Common Checkered-skipper, as a few had been reported recently.  I managed to get one on my last stop at the old maintenance area in the park!
I have only seen one ever before and that was a brief look two years ago on West Beach Trail.
I arrived at the park early, really too early for butterflies so I looked for some birds.  There were a few warblers here and there and not much flying off the Tip area.  I saw only one flock of Bonaparte's Gulls flying east.  Another Osprey was flying down the west side. 
I walked back up West Beach Trail from the Tip, zig-zagging from the knapweed on the beach to the trail.  I continued all the way to north of Black Willow, then back to the V. C. parking lot.

Hackberry Emperor

Hackberry Emperors were in big numbers along this stretch, as well as Common Buckeye.  I probably saw roughly 225 Hackberry throughout the day.

Fiery Skipper

South of Black Willow I saw my first Fiery Skippers of the day in the knapweed--three in total there.
After lunch I checked out south of NW Beach.  The only productive spot was the old parking lot where  I found at least four Fiery Skippers.

I went back to West Beach Trail from West Beach to the Tip again.  More butterflies were out by then, not surprisingly.  I found some more Wild Indigo Duskywings in  the usual area.
Two more Fiery Skippers were in the knapweed.

Henrietta O'Neill was heading south on the trail, so I stopped to talk to her.  She had a couple of Gray Hairstreaks--something I have missed all year!  She also mentioned that the old maintenance area was good and some Wild Indigo Duskywings were there at some Crown Vetch.

Wild Indigo Duskywing

My last stop was that area.  I found the Crown Vetch patch, but no duskywings at first.  I went further on the trail and a Fiery Skipper caught my eye.  Almost at the same time, I caught sight of a Checkered-skipper!  They are tiny.

Common Checkered-skipper

Moving a little further, I scanned a patch of knapweed with my binoculars and saw a Wavy-lined Emerald Moth.  I have seen them before.

Wavy-lined Emerald moth

In this same patch, I briefly caught sight of a Gray Hairstreak, finally.  It did not stick around for a photo though.
On the way out, I checked the Crown Vetch again and managed to see one Wild Inidgo Duskywing.

Wild Indigo Duskywing on Crown Vetch

No doubt there will be more excellent days of with butterflies at Point Pelee this year!