Some North Lambton Insects

 Today, I ventured up to Pinery Provincial Park, and then stopped at Ipperwash Beach area.  Primary goal was to see some of the butterflies and tally some birds on the side.

Well, there were not as many as I usually see this time of year.  The Common Basketail caught my eye at one point.  Looked a bit deformed.

Perhaps it should be called a basketcase!

I did see a few Dusted Skippers, but none co-operated for the camera.  A couple of elfins did not co-operate as well, but I did get record photos.

Hoary

Eastern Pine

There were other more common butterflies and skippers along the way that I did not photograph.  I could have spent more time looking for others types, but time was marching on and it was getting hot.

After Pinery, I stopped by Ipperwash Beach and found a small number of Dusted Skippers.  Seems thee little bandits are scarce compared to previous visits in past years.

It is a rare skipper, only found in the Ipperwash/Pinery area.

One or two Common Roadside Skippers came along as well.

I also walked the Cedar Trail in Ipperwash Forested dunes and Swales, but it was a quiet time of day.  Pleasant walk in any case.

Common Ringlets have shown up this week in various locales.

Yesterday while doing some atlas recording, I came across this young Great Horned Owl.  I knew they had nested in the area though.

It watched me intently as I kept my distance.

Also came across this Pale Beauty moth.

Breeding bird atlas work is the on the main agenda for the next while.  However, the mosquitoes have come out in full force.  As well, ticks are too plentiful anymore.  We never used to worry about ticks, but in recent years, they have exploded in population!

Need some rain.....