The first butterfly of the day was a Common Painted-Lady. I think this is the first one I have seen this year.
I briefly stopped at Clear Creek nature reserve, but maybe it was too early in the morning for many insects (besides mosquitoes!).
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| Blue Dasher (f) |
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| Hobomok Skipper |
Into Elgin County, I went as far as Port Stanley S.T.P. No shorebirds there either, but a number of ducks present including a couple of Green-winged Teal and Black.
A brief walk around the prairie area of Fingal WMA was not too exciting!
I decided to head up to Wardsville Woods for a walk where one is guaranteed some butterflies there. Today I saw the first Great Spangled Fritillaries of the year among the other butterflies.
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| Great Spangled Fritillary |
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| Peck's Skipper |
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| Common Ringlet |
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| Remnant of Mosa Hills Golfcourse |
Skunk's Misery was just up the road, so I checked that out too. Lots of Hackberry Emperors and anglewings along the roads. As usual, excessive roadside cutting had taken place earlier. The butterfly count there is in two weeks, so hopefully no more cutting!
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| Hackberry Emperor |
I heard a couple of Hooded Warblers singing along the way, but it was getting to be early afternoon, so somewhat quiet for birds. Mike Nelson was looking for butterflies as well, just coming back from the Strathroy area where he located a couple of Upland Sandpipers.
I headed straight west and stopped north of Wallaceburg in hopes of finding the first hairstreaks of the year. I did find some, but only two. They were the best one could hope for!
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| Southern (Northern Oak) Hairstreak |
The Southern Hairstreak is an early one and today's sighting coincides with the the first time I found them back in 2008 (June 22).
This last stop made my day!
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| They're baaaack!! |
Appalachian Brown was also out (saw the first ones of the year today).
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| Appalachian Brown |
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