Today's Tour: Ups and Downs

 Today I toured around parts of three counties.  Starting off at Blenheim sewage lagoons revealed a number of birds, especially shorebirds.  Most were expected birds, but four Wilson's Phalaropes were notable.  They moved around quite a bit, always too far for the camera!

The place was loaded with young Spotted Sandpipers, plus a couple of Solitary Sandpipers mixed in.  In the sprinkler cells was a FOY Stilt Sandpiper, an adult.

They are rare in spring migration, and I never did catch up with the one at Hillman shorebird cell.

A Wilson's Snipe was beside it.

Notable was a Horned Grebe, but some do show up this time of year.  It never co-operated for a good photo though.

Next stop was Clear Creek nature reserve.  I wanted to check out the old quarry for odes and leps.  Comet Darner was on my mind, but despite searching for two hours, I never saw one.  They do tend to show up later here, so there is still a bit of time.

In fact, there were not a heck of a lot of odes here, but that is the case this year in many locales.

It is a good spot for butterflies, and hopefully the weather will be decent on Sunday for the Clear Creek count.  Who knows, as the forecasts are useless!  As usual the forecast was wrong today...it turned out to be a very nice day!

Hickory Hairstreak

I saw several Broad-winged Skippers here, but they never settled down as they worked through the phrag.

Another spot to check for Comet Darner is the Storey Wetland at Pearce P. P.  I arrived there in hopes of seeing them as I did last year.  However, the countless Common Green Darners never turned into a single Comet Darner!

Calico Pennant

My next stop was Wardsville Woods.  It too was rather quiet.

Nearby, I walked the trail off Sassafras Road in the Mosa Forest.  A couple of lingering hairstreaks were noted among dozens of Northern Broken-Dash and Dun Skippers.

Banded Hairstreak

Striped Hairstreak

Great-spangled Fritillary

Lots of hummingbird clear-wing moths were in the burgamot.

I headed towards home, but thought a stop at Moore WMA was worthwhile.  Thankfully the water levels are way down and one can cross the river.

Not much in the way of mussels this time around.

Deertoe

Mapleleaf

I searched for Mocha Emerald to no avail.  Dancers included Blue-fronted, Blue-tipped, and Variable and Stream Bluets.

Stream Bluet

Blue-fronted

Blue-tipped

Not as many odes as usual, but that is the trend this year.  Only one Royal River Cruiser was briefly seen just before I left.

Oh well, it was nice to be out on a sunny day, as I did not expect that since I made the mistake of listening to the weather forecast!