Soggy Saturday and Sweltering Sunday

Yesterday we had heavy rain all day, so there was not much to do! It was highly unusual because it was WAMBO weekend in Wallaceburg and the weather had always been nice for the last 21 years (with the exception of one afternoon of rain in the mid 1990's).
Sunday, I started at Rondeau Park. Not much to report there either. Lots of Common Terns were out on the lake and a couple of Caspian. Hardly any Bonaparte's Gulls. A couple of Sanderling were along the south beach.
Most notable butterfly was Summer Azure. Dozens of them were along south point trail, indicating a fresh brood.
In the dune area I noted one Cylindrical Blazing Star plant in bloom so far.

Summer Azures

My next stop was at Clear Creek in the field beside the woods. Butterflies here included Wood Nymph, Northern Broken-Dash, Monarch, Tiger Swallowtail, Pearl Crescent and Eastern-tailed Blue. I have not seen mainly tailed-blues this year.

Tiger Swallowtail on Swamp Thistle

Eastern Tailed-Blue

I headed farther east and stopped at Southwold Earth Works south of Iona. This is one of my favourite spots to stop while in the area. Conditions were similar to last year, but hardly any butterflies were to be seen here unlike last year. I saw Gray Hairstreak and Meadow Fritillary here last year. Today, I only had Monarch, Viceroy, Spicebush Swallowtail, Cabbage White and perhaps Eastern Comma (flyby).

Birds included a family of Eastern Bluebirds, not uncommon here. In the past I have also seen Red-headed Woodpecker, but not this year.

Next stop was Fingal WMA. I only checked out the tallgrass prairie area and pond. Upon arrival, three Great Egrets took flight from the pond.

Once again, like most places this year, not many butterflies were out. I did see a Great-spangled Fritillary on Wild Bergamot, among others.

I was home by early afternoon, as it was certainly the hottest and most humid day of the summer so far!

Recently I saw a rather late Hickory Hairstreak north of Wallaceburg...