Water Woes to Reid Ramble

As this wacky weather continues, I got an unexpected day off today.  The amount of rain Sunday afternoon was absolutely ridiculous!  We do not need any more rain the rest of the year!  Water levels rose at least six inches at Port Lambton since yesterday afternoon.  As a result, the shop was flooded and surrounded by water.  Needless to say we are fed up with this high water!

At least the day was nice so I went up to Reid CA and took a long walk.  I ended up walking around the edge of the back field, something I have not done before.  It was rather pleasant with lots of insects and plants along the way.
There is quite a bit of Gray-headed Coneflower and Wild Bergamot attracting insects.

Snowberry Clearwing on Burgamot

Several species of common dragonflies were seen.

Widow Skimmer

My goal was to get a photo of a Royal River Cruiser, so at one point an individual posed quite nicely.

Closer to the gate, I saw a couple more Royals, and also looked for Dukes' Skippers.

I managed to see one hairstreak in the two hours I was there.

Giant swallowtails are out with a fresh brood lately.

More Tiger Swallowtails too.

Back on July 5, we did the Skunk's Misery butterfly count.  Total species came in at 48.  Species totals were down needless to say, but some species were in record numbers.  The Emperors, especially Tawny, was at an all time high of 966.

Banded (402), Hickory (136) and Striped Hairstreaks (27) were in record numbers.  Coral, Acadian and Edwards' were absent.

Common Wood Nymph was at a high of 358.

There were lots of missed species including Common Buckeye and Milbert's Tortoiseshell, and several skippers.

The coming Sunday will be the Clear Creek count so hopefully the weather will co-operate.

Late Saturday afternoon, I spotted a tiny Common Checkered-Skipper pop into the yard.  It was a first-of-year.  It did not stay long!