Some Recent Winged Things

Thought I would get up a blog post, but nothing too interesting has happened lately so there is little subject matter.  The days are getting too short!
Looks like it is shaping up to be an interesting late summer and fall for butterflies after a dismal spring and summer.  Some rarities or uncommon leps have been reported, especially at Point Pelee.  A White-M Hairstreak was seen last week, some Little Yellows, Pipevine Swallowtail and today, Variegated Fritillaries.

Variegated from the past

White-M from the past

I went to Point Pelee yesterday, but more for birds.  Turned out to be better for butterflies though!  Goes to show how unreliable weather forecasts are anymore! They constantly change.
There was nothing noteworthy in birds at the Tip.  I miss those days of good "Tip Watches"!  Been a long time since I have experienced one.
I checked out west beach trail.  Some Fiery Skippers were seen.

There were a few American Snouts here and there.

Common Painted-Lady was everywhere.  On the way home some roads were littered with them.  I saw only one American Lady.

American Painted-Lady

Common Painted-Lady

A quick check of Hillman Marsh shorebird cell area revealed a few Common Checkered-Skippers.

As everyone knows, Monarchs are having a tremendous year.  There are hundreds everywhere.  A few days ago, there was one every two minutes going through my yard late afternoon.

Today, Saturday, turned out to be a beautiful day.  I met up with Steve Charbonneau at Rondeau Park.  We checked out south point trail and found a good variety of birds, especially warblers.  We also checked a bit of Harrison south of maintenance where we found an excellent pocket of warblers.

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

Hardly any thrushes today.  Some like feeding high in Sassafras trees though1

We stopped by McLean CA as well.  There were fewer birds this week, but some Soras are still skooting around.  Common Gallinules did well there this year.  I counted 19 today.

On the mudflat, only a few shorebirds were present including a Long-billed Dowitcher in company with two Short-billed.

I stopped by Blenheim lagoons as well.  Most shorebirds were in the middle cell.  Nothing new though.  Lots of yellowlegs--Lesser, Medium and Greater.

My spidy-sense says that one of these days soon, something really good will show up.  Unlike last summer, there was little in the way of rarities this year.