Willet to White-M

Rondeau was the destination today.  Might as well take a chance that a pelican is around.  Yesterday Ric and Anne McArthur spotted a young Brown Pelican from their boat along Rondeau's south shore.  It probably kept going east though.

I decided to walk all the way out south beach this morning.  I have done that several times this year as it is quite interesting and has potential.  The marsh has filled in considerably, but still some spots to view.  I also got a fairly good look at the two islands in the Bay.

I guess the highlight on that walk was a single Willet on the shoreline.  I saw it as I walked back, and it eventually flew over to the mudflat in the marsh.

Several Black-crowned Night-Herons were out there and a few Great Egrets.  Lot of gulls around.

In fact, I checked the east beach of south point as well, and there were thousands.  Gulls to the right of me, gulls to the left of me....

Too many to sort through and I could not pick out anything unusual.

While out south beach, I encountered some Cicada Killer Wasps.  Although I must have seen them there before, this is the first time I have noted them. 

Burrough of one

Next stop was the Blenheim Lagoons.  Lots and lots of shorebirds around the edges of ponds 1 and 2 and back on pond 5.

Highlight here was a total of 8 Red-necked Phalaropes!  Five were in pond 2, and three in pond 5.  Most I have seen ever at Blenheim at one time.

There was also one juv Wilson's Phalarope in pond 1 plus a Black-bellied Plover among others.

Next stop was McGeachy Pond.  A few shorebirds there including another BB Plover.

Along the dike were a few butterflies including checkered skippers.  I found another White-M Hairstreak.  I think this is another due to some subtle differences.  The blue anal spot was more cut off in last week's insect.  This one was in the same general area but nectaring on goldenrod.

A snout was another good find.  I got this stellar photo today.

Snouts are generally rare in the Rondeau area compared to Pelee.

Fiery Skipper--dirt butterfly anymore!

I also slid over to Ridgetown, but just the usual common stuff there.

Today's Insects

Common Whitetail

A couple of things of interest today, as I relaxed on the back porch this afternoon.  A Common Buckeye stopped in the yard to nectar.  It is only the second record for the yard!

As I was watching this, a surprise arrival buzzed around me.  A Cicada Killer Wasp circled the yard for a bit.  Certainly the first one I have seen around here!  I saw it again later.  No chance for a photo on this one though.

(from last year)

I decided to go for a walk up at McKeough.  What do you know.....I found another Cicada Killer Wasp!  I watched it for some time, but it never set down.  I have never noticed them before in this area, but they are certainly expanding. Point Pelee probably has hundreds right now.  In fact I have never seen so many there as I have this summer.

I caught sight of one Flag-tailed Spinyleg along the shore.

Several Royal River Cruisers were around today as well.

Some photos:

More on Cicada Killer Wasps

One of the benefits of this blog is to get information out, and hopefully feedback.  That was one of my original intentions and the recent post about Cicada Killer Wasps paid off.
Today I received some more information with regards to Cicada Killers.  Garry Sadler of Chatham sent me a photo he took in his yard in 2006 of one of these insects.  He did not know what it was until now!  I looked at it and was quite certain it was a Cicada Killer, but sent it to Don Sutherland just to be sure.
Garry believes he has seen them every summer, so next next summer I am sure he will take a good look.

photo by Garry T. Sadler (Chatham, 2006)

Don Sutherland mentioned today that some of the data in that paper he referred to is somewhat dated.  Here is a portion of his email today:

        I contacted the authors of the paper on cicada killers (Sphecius) in

        the Americas and they sent me the specimen label data. It has been

        collected a number of times at Point Pelee, beginning in 1985. Other

        sites for Essex are Kingsville, Harrow and Windsor. Elsewhere:

        Lambton: Pinery; Chatham-Kent: Chatham (1946) and Rondeau; Norfolk:

       Turkey Point and Port Dover (1955); Haldimand: Hagersville; Niagara:

       Vineland (1956) and St. Davids (1932); and Hamilton: RBG in Hamilton

       (no date).

The Cicada Killer Wasp may still be quite uncommon, but perhaps it may be more widespread than we realize.  I am almost sure that I have seen it at Rondeau, but do not remember any particular time.

Point Pelee is one of the most reliable spots to find it in the summer.  Alan Wormington sent some comments the other day which also helped in writing the blog recent post.  One of the things Alan essentially noted is that it has become more and more common since he first noticed them at least ten years ago.

Keep an eye out for them!!

More Filler-Cicada Killers

With spring-like temperatures continuing, some birds are arriving several weeks early.  Or perhaps they never left (or went far)!  I heard that on the weekend, Stan Caveney had a displaying American Woodcock on his property near Port Glasgow.  At Rondeau on Saturday, we talked of the possibility of an early Woodcock.  I don't think any attempted to winter there as none have been found.

American Woodcock being banded at Pinery PP

Yesterday I learned a bit about Cicada Killer Wasps (Sphecius speciosus).  Don Sutherland asked me about my blog entry from this past summer when I photographed one of these insects at Point Pelee.  Apparently, they are quite uncommon in Ontario.  If you go to Point Pelee in the summer you see see lots in the Tip area, but they were not always there.  They have increased in numbers since the last ten years.

Point Pelee NP August 2011

I am not really sure if I have seen them anywhere else, but these sand specialists are also at Pinery Provincial Park.  They are nasty looking insects, but will not really bother you as they go about their business.
This insect will catch a Cicada and kill it to line its nest for food.  I have seen them catch Cicadas, and this photo (taken at Point Pelee last August) shows one holding its prey.
Don mentioned that he came across a recent paper by Coelho et al (2011) that plots 11 spots for them in southern Ontario.  It includes a few sites in Essex and also one at Rondeau, among others. It is not known how accurate some of these are though.
I indicated to Don that I may have seen them at Rondeau, but was not sure since I never paid much attention to them.  Now, I will keep an eye open for them!
To learn more about this insect, see:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_cicada_killer

Cicada exoskeleton

More Dowitchers and Horace's Duskywings

I thought it would be a good chance to go to Point Pelee today and look for Horace's Duskywing.  They were reported last Monday by Bob Yukich, but those seemed to be on the go.
Since Tilbury Lagoon is on the way, I stopped there before 08:00 this morning.  More dowitchers were in!  I counted 12 and some of those were Long-billed too.  The two species look similar at this time, one had to look closely.  4 or 5 were Long-billed.  One dowitcher had a large tumour on its leg.  Very large!

Off to Pelee.  I walked West Beach Trail to the Tip from the VC.  It was windy on the west side, so it was better on the trail rather than the beach.  Nothing noteworthy, but it was early in the day.  Lots of Silver-spotted Skippers were out today.  A few worn Northern Broken-Dash as well.

At the Tip, the sand was covered with gulls, but nothing of note.  Only one Sanderling for shorebirds.

Lots of Cicada Killers and I even found one carrying a Cicada!





On the return walk, I spotted a duskywing flying around.  I knew it had to be a Horace's, but it never settled before I lost it.  I stood at the spot for a while and it reappeared and did sit for a couple of seconds to verify it.  I did get a half decent photo.

About another 100m up the trail I spotted a fairly fresh male working the knapweed.  This one co-operated nicely for a photo.
I saw two or three of this species the last time they were around in 2008.




Later, I talked to Henrietta O'Neill and she said that she saw two yesterday on the count in the same general area (north part of the trail).

I stopped at Tilbury again on the way home.  Same birds basically, but it always seems better first thing or in the evening.