We are back in the hot and humid weather. Birding will be a bit slow this week, but there must be something of interest out there.
Saturday, I needed to go in another direction and ended up at Hillman Marsh and Point Pelee. It was rather "slow" for everything!
I did the long walk at Hillman. No Wood Storks. At "least" I saw some skippers.
At one point, I came across a Great Horned Owl!
After this walk, I decided to check out the west side of Point Pelee. Unfortunately, I did not find anything note. I had to try anyway!
 |
| Carolina Grasshopper |
Later in the afternoon, I checked out the garden at home. A Common Checkered-Skipper was present.
Also saw another Hidalgo Mason Wasp.
Sunday it was down to Rondeau for lack of anything else to do. I walked out marsh trail, but only went so far. There were a few birds to look at along the way.
However, a thunderstorm came out of nowhere and we got rained on for a little while. This was not in the forecast....all week!
In the afternoon it was nice enough to do a long walk at Reid CA. It too, was rather quiet for everything.
Seems to be quite a few Common Buckeyes around, and I encountered at least ten there.
Today, I wanted to check the Sydenham River for odonates. I arrived at Shetland CA boat launch and found two other ode enthusiasts! One was Jon Pleizier, with whom I had recently corresponded.
There was not much flying, but we did see the usual suspects, several of which are imperiled in Ontario. A couple of Flag-tailed Spinylegs were included.
A single Blue-ringed Dancer (imperiled) co-operated nicely.
A couple of Royal River Cruisers (imperiled) were flying, but did not stop.
Common things like Stream Bluet were plentiful, as well as Fragile Forktail and Familiar Bluet.
My goal was to see Dusky Dancer (imperiled) today, but that was not to be at Shetland. It is getting tough to find it seems.
However, I wanted to visit the boat launch at Florence where I had seen them before. Upon arrival, it did not take long to find a single Dusky Dancer! A bit distant though.
Both Rubyspots are here, and at one point I saw one of each, Smoky and American on the same rock. I managed to photograph a Smoky (imperiled).
Jon arrived here as well, and I pointed out the Dusky.
A Powdered Dancer (not imperiled!) was on the same perch at one point.
There was not much at all flying here, but a couple larger odes were flying midriver. One was a Swift River Cruiser. May have been Royal here as well.
The other was a clubtail that looked interesting, but it never came close. I pointed it out to Jon and he managed a photo. (thanks Jon!). We were not sure at first, but I suggested Arrow Clubtail, since they are found here.
The photo was good enough to confirm Arrow Clubtail! Another imperiled species in Ontario. It is found in a few other places in Ontario, but it is certainly not common.
 |
| **photo by Jon Pleizier |
I am quite sure I saw this species here years ago, but never got any photos. It was a highlight for the day's list.
With a bit of time to spare, I headed down to Thamesville. I just went to the Victoria Road bridge again, as the Tecumseh park was a bit farther, and I did not think I would add anything different.
Smoky Rubyspots were numerous here again.
The only other possibility today was Elusive Clubtail, but that may be for another day. They can be found at the locations I visited today. But then, they can be elusive!
*********************************************************************
In the history corner, the Norman B. Ream was launched in August 1906. It later sailed as the Kinsman Enterprise and was retired in 1979. It was sold for use as a grain storage barge at Port Huron, Michigan that year. Sarniaites may recall seeing it across the river for many years.
The Port Huron Museum of Arts and History has an excellent marine section, and was given the rights to salvage the interior of the pilot house. In 1982, my father and I helped in this regard. It was an interesting experience!
No comments:
Post a Comment