One of Those Days....

Shadow Darner

I had a free day, so I toured around!  I first headed over to Strathroy to check the lagoons.  Yesterday an Eared Grebe was present as well as a pair of Red-necked Phalaropes.....but not today.  A big disappointment, but I guess the change in weather overnight sent things flying south.  As a matter of fact, there was not much of anything in all the places I visited today.  Just one of those days.



I next headed over to Port Franks to check out the Karner Blue Sanctuary and the County Forest. Not sure where the birds were, but they were not in Port Franks!  Even butterflies were few and far between.



The Rough Blazing Star is blooming nicely waiting for some insects in the sanctuary.

I saw one skipper which was likely a Tawny-edged.

Leonard's Skipper should be out, but I never saw one.  This is a good spot to find them though.

I walked the County Forest and probably saw two birds and heard only a few others.  One was likely a lingering Acadian Flycatcher.
I looked at other things along the way including fungi.  This forest is actually a good place to find different fungi.

earthstar 

Golden Coral

not sure on this one-rather large!

I headed towards Sarnia and stopped by Perch Creek.  It sometimes is a good spot for birds and butterflies, but, I emphasize sometimes.
The prairie planting were blooming nicely.

At one point I came across a small snake which grabbed a Chorus Frog!

After a quick lunch, I headed over to Moore WMA.  I guess this was the highlight of the day.
After crashing through the tall Ragweed and coming out at the river, I met someone (Jon Boxall) standing on the crossing.  Obviously looking for insects, he mentioned that a friend was ahead on the trail.  He did not mention any name, but I deduced the fellow ahead was Ed Poropat.  (It is amazing what you can know from the trail of eBird lists!).

Jon and Ed enjoying the Mocha

I showed them the little bridge (as above) over the tributary creek, and we stood there for some time, seeing a couple of emeralds fly by.  Of course, they could only be Mocha Emeralds.  Finally, Ed caught one.

It was a male, a bit worn, since it is getting late in the season.

This is the little creek that the emeralds were patrolling.

It has been a few years since I have seen a Mocha at this location, but then I have not looked too hard.  There were very few other dragonflies today.
We did see a Cape May Warbler foraging above the river, just before we left.

A quick stop at Nicholl's near Wilkesport, revealed a couple of Royal River Cruisers to finish the day.

The cruisers are plentiful right now, as I had about eight at Reid CA in about a half hour yesterday.

American Painted-Lady