Butterflies Today...NOT!!

I had plans today to check Point Pelee for butterflies.  All week the weather forecast looked really good, but....late Thursday "they" decided it was going to rain on Saturday.  Worst possible day for rain as the Sarnia boat show was on as well.  Second year in a row!  Hopeless....

I went to Pelee anyway.  As I drove by Hillman, the Dickcissel was singing away on the wire.  I first saw it July 5 and had not heard anything about it since.
This time of year I like walking out Shuster Trail and heading down the east beach and back up west beach.
There was not much in the way of precipitation as I headed down the trail, but then it really did rain as I got to the sand.  I kept going and just south of the pilings I kept watch on the lake under a tree.
Of note, one adult Little Gull flew south with a few bonies.
After it let up a bit (not really enough) I started walking again.  A large mass of gulls got up from the Tip area as some tourists spooked them.  Some landed beside Sparrow Field.  I picked out 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls.  One was a first summer and the other two were second cycle birds I think.  I did not look too hard in the drizzly weather!

The Tip was virtually tipless today, so I walked back west beach trail getting thoroughly soaked.  I had already written off butterflies for the day, but amazingly I saw some.  First was an American Lady.

I got up to six Summer Azures, and off Black Willow was a Red Admiral.  I was trying to look at gulls there as there were hundreds.  About 7 or 8 Black Terns were out over the lake at that location.

At Northwest Beach I checked off a Monarch, and that was it for leps today.
It might have been a good day for butterflies if the sun was out!

Working my way home, I stopped at Wheatley Harbour in hopes that a Brown Pelican was on the rocks. No such thing there.

Might as well listen for the Dickcissels east of Wheatley too.  They were there as usual.

I got a tip from the Nethercots that some shorebirds were in at Stewart Wetland near Wallaceburg.  Before going home I went straight there.
FOY Stilt Sandpiper, two Solitary Sandpipers, two Lesser Yellowlegs, three Least Sandpipers and a Short-billed Dowitcher were the notables.

Solitary Sandpiper #1

Killdeer, Least, Solitary, Stilt

lone dowitcher

On to better things tomorrow....