They're Baaack! And A Three Hour Tour

Hairstreaks that is.  Yesterday Banded Hairstreak was found at Point Pelee (Steve Pike), and was apparently record early by one day.  

Today, I was on an outing at Ojibway Park (down Windsor way) and we found some Banded Hairstreaks.  Really though, they are about on schedule.

After getting home early this afternoon, I headed up to Reid CA on a hunch, and after some patience, I found a Northern Oak Hairstreak!

It was a moment of celebration, since last year none were found.  For whatever reason, we could not find a single one.  I spent countless hours in hopes of seeing one last year, but to no avail.  In general, 2023 was a horrible year for hairstreaks and many other leps as well.

The Northern Oak is an early-emerging hairstreak, and today's date was pretty much on schedule and average.  However, my earliest is 13 June 2021 when I found two at Reid.  In 2022 I found one on the 15th.

This hairstreak is critically endangered in Ontario, found in only a few sites.  My discovery of the Northern Oak 'colony' at Reid in June 2008 was a first for Canada.  I also found some at Moore WMA that year as well, for a second colony.  Singles had been seen previously at Point Pelee (14 June 1999), near Black Oak Park (LaSalle, 2005), and a couple of times at Brunet Park (2009 and 2014). So there has to be some sort of colony in that area. Indeed suitable habitat (oaks) is plentiful there.

Subsequently, we found one on Walpole Island 11 July 2015 (identified by myself), and one was found by the Pye brothers at Mosa Forest (Skunk's Misery) in 2021.  There is certainly suitable habitat in both locations.

Back to today, I joined a combined Ontario Field Ornithologists/Essex County Field Naturalists outing at Ojibway Park.  Its original intent was birds, but it turned out to be a nature outing looking at all things big and small.

One could spend a whole day and more in the area checking out the natural areas, but we stuck to the Titcombe path and an adjacent trail for the morning.  It took about three hours.

There are lots of plants to look at, but spiderwort is quite abundant here.

Purple Milkweed, one of the rarer milkweeds, stuck out in a few spots.

At one of the woodland ponds, Common Bladderwort was growing.

There were numerous butterflies, and here a few:

Northern Cloudywing

Silvery Checkerspot

Hobomok Skipper

Little Glassywing

Little Wood Satyr

This duskywing was very worn, so I am not certain as to species (yet)!

It was a perfect day weatherwise and quite enjoyable with what we observed and of course the camaraderie of like-minded people.