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.
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| Lesser Yellowlegs |
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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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.
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| 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.
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| Broad-winged Skipper |
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| Red-spotted Purple |
Lots of Dukes' Skippers of course.
Took a look in the garden later in the afternoon.
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| 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!
