Point Pelee Butterfly Count! And Other Notes

 This past Saturday a butterfly count was revived at Point Pelee and surrounding area.  I always used to attend this one, but it was discontinued at least ten years ago.  It has always been in early August, making it a "fall" count.

I was joined by Keith Burk and we scoured the accessible areas south of the visitor centre.  Frankly, it was slim pickings!  A continued theme for this year.

We walked to the Tip then headed back the west side.

West beach trail has always been a prime section to look for good things.  There was not much, but Keith spotted a duskywing.  I immediately recognized it as a Horace's Duskywing!

A nice find indeed.

There were some crescents, which are now tricky to ID.  There is the Pearl, but Northern has been declared two distinct species, depending on timing.  Alan Wormington always maintained that there were three distinct species, so I guess he was right!  I am still trying to understand the situation.

The "Northern " complex (at this time of year) is presently called by its scientific name, Phyciodes diminutor.  Here is one I photographed on the count.

There were other species along the way including Dun Skipper.

I did not photograph some such as Giant Swallowtail, Spicebush Swallowtail, Monarch, Orange Sulphur, etc.

We made a second pass on the northern section of the west beach trail.  Things are always changing there, and it was certainly worthwhile.

We found two more Horace's Duskywings in short order.

Farther up the trail, I spotted a butterfly move in the shade. It opened its wings briefly, and I realized it was a Compton Tortoiseshell!  It moved to another branch, but never opened its wings.  However, it was indeed the said species.

There has been a bit of an invasion of this species of late, but it is quite rare in Essex County.  Apparently, there have only been about 17 records, and it is very rare at Point Pelee.

This sighting certainly made the day, after seeing so few butterflies.  Indeed a first for me at Point Pelee.

Keith and I had only 16 species, while the entire count ended up with 39 species.  Our Compton and the Horace's Duskywings were the only ones recorded on the count.

I have been out and about the past week, just not as much as usual, and certainly have not come across much of note.

Silver-spotted Skipper

Monday I came across some neat spiders.  There are lots out there though.  

Spined Macrathena

Arrowhead Orbweaver

Tuesday was quite foggy first thing, as I went for a walk at Mitchell's Bay.

It was such a glum morning, I went home.  But it got a little nicer in the afternoon, so I went for a long walk at Reid Conservation Lands.  

Common Wood Nymph

Common Ringlet

It was a good day for Royal River Cruisers, as I saw about twenty!

I have posted other things on iNaturalist, but there certainly has been a lack of ID participation on that forum of late!

Wednesday was such a glum day, I decided to go the museum to work for a few hours!

Today was yet another foggy morning.  It was quite dense at Wallaceburg, but I went out to Mitchell's Bay anyway.  Better visibility there at least.

It was "museum" all day today, so I was not out.

Some passerines are trickling through from the north, but I have not seen any!

Early August Anecdotes

 The first week of August is about done already!  I was out and about as usual, so here are some photos.

Saturday I checked out both the north shore and south shore trails at Mitchell's Bay.  Nothing of note seen.  The north shore usually has mud, but there was none for southbound shorebirds.  There is some "matting" farther out that might be attractive.

Some Great Egrets were perched and preening.

Swamp Rose Mallow is quite regular in various spots.

Sunday was uneventful, but Monday was a great day to be out in the fine weather.

After a drive along the river, I stopped for a walk at Nicholls Memorial Forest and Wetland at Wilkesport.

Cedar Waxwing

Common Wood Nymph

Then it was a stop at Reid C. L.  Some of the usual butterflies were showing their wear, as expected this time of year.

Dukes'

Peck's Skipper

Spicebush Swallowtail

And of course I never pass up an opportunity to photograph a Royal River Cruiser.

I also saw an unwanted alien in their midst.  This small creature is an Emerald Ash Borer.

I was home by noon, but got word that a Zabulon Skipper was visiting a property near Brigden.  I actually had this species on my mind in the morning, so naturally I headed up to Brigden!

First off, several Mocha Emeralds were flying around.  I had not yet obtained a photo of one this year, so this was my opportunity.

In fact, there were many Mochas flying around the property!  Never saw so many.

The target of the day took a while to find, but there it was. I knew from experience that once Zabulon's find a spot they like, they will stick to it.

While there, we looked at the resident Dukes' Skipper population.

Hummingbird Clearwing moths were working the Bergamot.

Tuesday, I went to Blenheim lagoons to look at shorebirds.  Target was the Red-necked Phalarope duo that was reported the previous day.  They were there, but unfortunately too distant to even attempt a photo.

Lots of other things to look at as well.

Least Sandpipers with a Semipalmated Sandpiper

Lesser Yellowlegs

Wednesday, I felt like going farther afield, and ended up at Strathroy.  I first stopped at Cuddy Woods CA northwest of the village.  I had never been there before, but it is a neat little place.  A number of Common Hackberry trees are here.

It has a pond, and the north end is muddy.  The local Black-necked Stilts have frequented this spot, but I was obviously too early in the day for them.  (They showed up later!).

My next walk was Strathroy CA within the village.  I did not see much of interest there, and things that I did, did not co-operate for the camera!

Scene along the Trail

On the way home, I stopped at Shetland CA boat launch to look for odes.  Very scarce!  I did see a Blue-ringed Dancer, but like everything else this day, did not co-operate.

A couple of Flag-tailed Spinylegs were on the riverbank, but even they were facing away.

Only saw one Violet Dancer whih remains un-ID'd on iNaturalist (many tend to shy away from IDing damselflies on iNaturalist! even when they are obvious)..

The usual Blackstripe Topminnows were in the area.

In the garden at home this moth was new for my list here.

Juniper Geometer Moth

Today was museum day, but I did go for a walk first thing at Mitchell's Bay.  Somewhat cloudy first thing though.

Those Shiny Bog Flies were still around.  Although secure in Ontario, they are considered imperiled in Canada overall.

End of July Sightings!

 Here we are at the end of another month!  Still no rain, and it does not look good.  Everything is burnt to a crisp.

Lots of shorebirds are moving through, but nothing of note.  I made a couple of visits to Blenheim lagoons in the past week.  Lesser Yellowlegs are in big numbers, but sorting through them, there were no novelties.

Lesser Yellowlegs

Middle pond has some edge!

This past Sunday was the annual Clear Creek butterfly count.  Unfortunately for the first couple of hours it was cloudy, so there was little activity.  Eventually the sun came out and things picked up at the old quarry area.

Question Mark

We did not find Broad-winged Skipper this year despite three of us looking.  Last year we even saw a Dukes' Skipper there, which was a new location.

View of upper pond at back

Rayfield managed to spot our only hairstreak of the day, a Hickory.  And it was well worn.

There were very few odonates, and bluets have been scarce lately.  I only saw one, an Azure Bluet, which people tend to be afraid to ID on iNaturalist.  Not a good photo, but enough to go on.

There were a number of Summer Azures, and this one seemed to have quite a bit of black on it.

A few Giant Swallowtails were flying or posing.

We later moved over to the Bury Cemetery trail which was productive. 

Northern Pearly-eyes were plentiful here, in fact we had 22.

A Common Sootywing was a nice find at the cemetery.

We were done there during the noon hour and it was getting hot.  We were basically done the count by then.

Monday was a non-event day and not much going on.

Tuesday I went to south Chatham-Kent and last stop was Keith McLean C. L.

Black Swallowtail

Water levels are getting shallower, so there might be mud there soon for shorebirds.  A Short-billed Dowitcher was there in shallow water where the "island" is, so I know it is not deep!

Prairie-type plants are in bloom now, including Prairie Dock.

Wednesday I spent some time at Reid C. L., finding the usuals.

Broad-winged Skipper

Red-spotted Purple

Lots of Dukes' Skippers of course.

Took a look in the garden later in the afternoon.

Mexican Grass-carrying Wasp

This one is one of the leafcutter, mortar, and resin bees.  I put these things on iNaturalist, but there seems to be lack of participation lately on that forum.  I can only guess since it is not confirmed.

Thursday I went for some walks first thing before going to the museum.  Spiked Blazing Star is coming into bloom at Wilkesport.

This morning, I went to McKeough first thing while bird activity was good.  I just found out yesterday that a Blue Grosbeak was there about three weeks ago.  I saw that list, but it was first put down as a Purple Finch.  I had no luck in detecting a grosbeak there today.  Alerts do not come through like they used to on the Discord channels.

Drove around quite a bit afterwards. I found a large group of Sandhill Cranes at the south end of Port Lambton.  It is that time of year they start gathering in the fields. There were 62.

Stopped at Reid again.  There were quite a few hairstreaks to my surprise.  At least ten Banded and a couple of Hickory.

Dukes' were numerous as usual.

Saw this Painted Lichen Moth fly in at one point.

I went back to McKeough for one last stop.  I was hoping for some odonates, but they were few and far between.  Managed one Flag-tailed Spinyleg.

I was hoping for Pronghorn Clubtail, but no luck. I even missed them last year.  Wonder what is going on with them, as they are regular at McKeough.

A Painted Lady was in the same area.

Like many odes, Eastern Amberwing is scarce this year.  I saw my first for the year here....long overdue!

Might be some rain this weekend, but not enough to do anything.  Who knows, weather forecasts are usually wrong!