July 31 was the annual Clear Creek butterfly count under hot and dry conditions. I worked the same area as the last two years on or around the provincial nature reserve, along with two others. The count is later that usual, so some species may be missed.
We started at the old quarry when it was a bit overcast, but once the sun came out, it got more active.
Cabbage White was the most common, followed by Azure. One could only hope for a Marine Blue, but we had a few Eastern Tailed-Blues.
We found only one Broad-winged Skipper this year.
During the count, I watched for Comet Darner, and one was still flying!
There were not too many odes this day.
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| Azure Bluet |
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| Violet Dancer |
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| Eastern Forktail (thought this was a neat colour combo) |
The cemetery trail was rather quiet this year, both for butterflies and birds.
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| Cut-leaf Coneflower (or Green-headed) |
We ended the search early in the afternoon at Clearville Park. Not too much was found there.
Our tally was 25 species when we parted ways. I thought that was fairly decent considering the conditions and the way the summer has been.
I am told the count ended up at a respectable 50 species. Also, Dukes' Skipper was added to the list!
Before the count began, I stopped at Tecumseh Monument park east of Thamesville, since it was sort of on the way.
I looked at mussels, but there was not too much variety. Pimpleback, a threatened species, seems to be the most common here.
I found some Mucket as well.
It was too early in the day for odes, but a few rubyspots were flying.
Soon I will be looking for Smokey Rubyspots!
Today there was not much choice, but I went down to Keith McLean C. L. for a look first thing. Rather quiet there! A Snowy Egret, or better yet, a Little Blue Heron should show up soon....
I moved on to Erieau and walked the marsh trail. A bit more activity there, including Yellow Warblers on the move.
One last stop was Blenheim Lagoons where there are lots of shorebirds. Turned out I found the bird of the day! A Buff-breasted Sandpiper was working the berm near the back.
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| Buffy the Sandpiper |
Always nice to see one of those, and sometimes you have to work to get one for the year (or not see one at all!).
The past four days was the Nature Conservancy of Canada's Backyard Bioblitz where one can include iNaturalist sightings in the project.
A couple of things found in the garden:
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| Tule Bluet |
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| American Lady |
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