I spent quite a bit time lately looking for insects, as it can be interesting. Yesterday I headed to north Lambton first thing in the morning. Stopped by Forest lagoons and things are looking good for shorebirds. Water levels are low, so that should attract southbound shorebirds. Nothing of note.
I wanted to check out Ipperwash Forested Dunes and Swales, especially Cedar trail. It skirts the wetland where one can find various odonates. I saw nothing of note, but perhaps early in the day was not the best time. There was a variety of odes, including this spreadwing. Possibly Elegant.
Some "whitefaces" were on the lilypads. This one is either a Frosted or Belted Whiteface.
Heading back south, I stopped by the Shetland CA boat launch, which is a great place for odes. In this small section of river, there is a wide variety!
There was a multitude of dancers, including Blue-fronted, Blue-tipped, Blue-ringed, Powdered and Violet. I did not see Dusky here though. Lots of Stream Bluets here as well, plus a Familiar Bluet.
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| Blue-ringed Dancer |
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| Violet Dancer |
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| Powdered Dancer |
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| Blue-tipped Dancer |
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| Blue-fronted Dancers (?) |
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| Stream Bluet |
It is a good spot for Flag-tailed Spinyleg, a distinctive dragonfly with a huge club.
I saw one Royal River Cruiser here, but it was a flyby. Several other common species as well.
A day's outing is not complete without a stop at Reid CA! It is time for Dukes' Skippers, so I looked in the usual spot to no avail. I decided to check my "other" spot on the property, and lucked out with one.
In the old oxbow, I found three Broad-winged Skippers.
I saw a couple of Banded Hairstreaks, which have made a very bad showing this year. Oak Hairstreaks were done at least a week ago!
Today, I did one last-ditch bird atlas walk at McKeough. I walked from the dam to highway 40 and back. Nothing really much in the updrade department, but I did find a hatch year Eastern Phoebe. Seemed to have skipper in its mouth!
Some Cedar Waxwings were around, and this one was too close to get entirely in the photo.
It was still a bit early in the day, so I saw very few odes and leps. They are scarce this year anyway!
Next stop was Moore WMA, where I spent quite a bit of time looking at mussels, hairstreaks and odes.
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| Mapleleaf |
I went to the "upper" part where I used to go all the time many years ago. It sure has grown in. It was alway good for hairstreaks.
I went down to the creek from there, and followed it back to the river crossing. It goes on forever! I did a lot of bush-wacking hoping to find a Mocha Emerald or something, but no dice. Shows how scarce things are this year.
However, when I got back just past the river crossing, I flushed up a dragonfly, which I was pretty sure a Mocha Emerald. I lost sight of it though!
I came across this Blue-tipped Dancer, which was very purple. Colours can vary.
Several Hickory Hairstreaks were along the river's edge. Moore has always been good for Hickory.
Before going home, you guessed it, I stopped at Reid CA. The place is so fascinating to me, I cannot resist!
No Duke's Skippers, again. Some Banded Hairstreaks were along the trail.
I only went as far as the old oxbow and stood there for the better part of an hour. I caught sight one small sedge skipper which I am pretty sure was a Mulberry Wing! Unfortunately I was not able to get a photo before it took off. It would be a new species for my list there, bringing butterflies and skippers to 56 on the property.
I did see a couple of Broad-winged Skippers.
While there (and I saw these yesterday), some hover flies caught my attention.
This one comes up as a Virginia Hover Fly (or Yellow-jacket Hoverfly or Virginia Flower Fly), which is fairly uncommon. Not entirely certain, as it has not been confirmed on iNaturalist as of the time of this writing. We did find one of these at Karner Blue Sanctuary in August 2019 while doing the bioblitz.
Off to Rondeau tomorrow for the butterfly count!
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