August Anecdotes: Bugs and Birds!

 The summer is certainly passing by very quickly it seems!  Taking advantage of every day, I always go somewhere in search of interesting things.

Wednesday I stayed in the local area.  An early morning walk at Peers Wetland revealed some resident birds.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Naturally, I went to Reid CA as well!  No migrant birds that I could find, but the usual insects were easily found.

Dukes' Skipper

Broad-winged Skipper

Lance-tipped Darner

Royal River Cruisers were too busy "cruising", so no photos this day!

In the afternoon, I stopped at the old work shop at Port Lambton to see how things were going.  Nearby at Brander Park, I came across this Orange Mint Moth.  They are very tiny, but an attractive creature that I always liked.

Thursday, I headed Rondeau way, first stopping at Keith McLean C. L.  There is little shorebird habitat there this year, but a puddle beside the field had a few birds, including Gimpy, the Short-billed Dowitcher.

Lesser Yellowlegs

In a last minute decision, I went into the Park.  Actually I had not been there since around the first of June!  I opted to walk out marsh trail, which was easy walking since they had gone through with a Bush Hog in the not too distant past.

It took a while before I came across some migrant warblers, but the first one I looked at was a Prairie!  Unfortunately, I was looking into the sun, and there were too many branches in the way to get a photo. Nice to see them in fall migration.

Also saw a few Cape May, a Bay-breasted, Tennessee, and a redstart.

Like many places, things have really grown in.  This rainy summer certainly has helped in that regard.

Dock at the old half-way parking lot

Some butterflies were seen, including three species on part of a dead fish.

Viceroy, Spicebush Swallowtail, Tiger Swallowtail

Friday, it was down to Hillman Marsh for the long walk, which I always enjoy.  Potential for something good is always there....but not when I am it seems!

At the boardwalk area, I decided to make a quick check for Dukes' Skipper in a certain spot.  Well, that did not take long!

During the long walk, the Dukes' cousin, Broad-winged Skippers, were indeed plentiful.  I saw at least 25!

Some other leps:

Bronze Copper

Common Checkered-Skipper

Couture Dyke is not part of this walk, but one can look over that way in the distance.  I could see lots of egrets.  Too bad I did not go there after my walk, as on my way home, there was word of a Snowy Egret!  In fact, a second one was seen that evening.  Cannot get 'em all!

Always looking for anything interesting, I photographed these flower flies.  Turns out they were Long-nosed Swamp Flies, which I had never looked at before.

Today.....you guessed it, I had to go back to Hillman Marsh to try and see a Snowy Egret.  I checked Couture Dyke first, but there were no egrets in the marsh.  Several were on the sand spit though, with hundreds of gulls, terns and cormorants.

While there, I got word that one of the Snowy Egrets was near Hillman bridge.  Next stop was the bridge, where I could see the Snowy Egret in the distance.  Mission accomplished.

small white spot is a Snowy Egret!

I took the long way home, and stopped at Blenheim Lagoons.  A good number of shorebirds were present, including two Wilson's Phalaropes in the sprinkler cells.

LEYE !

The Baird's Sandpiper was still present, and in fact there may have been two.  The birds moved around quite a bit.

That was it for running around today.  WAMBO is this weekend in Wallaceburg, so I visited with many people along the waterfront.  Many of my "projects" were in the show!

Noticed this tiny insect in the garden today:

Pennsylvania Ambush Bug