Pelee Insects Plus a Bonus Dickcissel

I thought today would be a good day to go to Point Pelee mainly for insects.  On the way there, I drove by Hillman and heard a Dickcissel singing. In past years, there have been some there along Rd. 37, but this was the first one there for the year.
It was perched on a hydro wire on my way back, so that allowed a photo opportunity.

In Pelee, I walked out Shuster Trail and down the east beach.  Things looked pretty good for butterflies, especially farther down.  Abundant stands of Common Milkweed attracted several species.  There are also a couple patches of dogbane, but there seemed to be little in those.

Monarchs have been scarce in the last year or so, but I saw a few.

A couple of worn Great-spangled Fritillaries were also at work.

This skipper may be a Dun.

I was happy to see some hairstreaks as well.  About a half dozen Banded and two Striped were in one area.

Lots of bees and flies too!

There was Red-spotted Purple as well.

Needless to say, several Hackberry Emperors were flitting around.

At the Tip, nothing noteworthy in gulls.  Where are the Lesser Black-backed like they were last year? Several Bonaparte's Gulls were there, including a flyby mature adult.
The only two ducks were scaup.  One of each!  A Lesser and a Greater male.

I headed back up the west side, but was disappointed by the fact that there were practically no butterflies. Lots of dragonflies though including mostly Blue Dasher and Black Saddlebags.  Lots of Spot-winged Gliders and I saw a Wandering Glider as well.

Spot-winged Glider

There were a few Carolina Saddlebags in the mix.

Some Halloween Pennants were nice to see.

Several other common dragonflies included Widow Skimmer, Twelve-spotted Skimmer, Eastern Pondhawk and Green Darner.