Another Long Walk and a Surprise at Reid CA

 Friday I was up for a long walk at Rondeau Park.  Weather was not perfect (nothing new), but I wanted to walk the entire trail once this spring.

I found the usual birds, but no surprises.  One goal was to get Least Bittern.  I only heard one!  Usually that walk will produce 6 or 7 on a good day.

View out Marsh Trail

A Northern Waterthrush seemed out of place well past the Long Pond trail, but remained unseen.

Saturday turned out more seasonal and sunny for a change.  I made my usual rounds early in the morning.  I came across a Ring-necked Pheasant at one point, but it was in a known spot.

They are difficult to find anymore.

But by mid-day, I was up for a walk at Reid CA to see what was around.

I happed to meet Jessica Linton upon arrival, as she and her partner had just looked the place over in prep for some possible work there in opening up an area.

I walked the main trail and around the back field as usual.  Up to ten species of butterflies was nice to see since there have been very few due to the unseasonal weather this month.

Highlight was the sighting of a couple of skippers.  At first I thought just the expected Hobomoks, but I had an inkling they were something else.  They were quite flighty, so I never could get a photo of the underwing which would be the clincher.

I took some photos and moved on.

It was not until that evening when I had time to review photos, and they appeared to be Zabulon Skippers.  As usual, I am overly cautious and put them up on iNaturalist as Zabulon.  I was just not sure since Hobomok Skippers are quite similar.

Sure enough, they were Zabulon!

It was last summer that I discovered two or three at Reid, as a first record for there.  So, maybe they did something right!

Here are some other butterflies:

Easter Tiger Swallowtail

Grey Comma

Juvenal's Duskywing

Silver-spotted Skipper

I also look for other insects along the way, and there are lots to be see at Reid over the season.

Fragile Forktail

Springtime Darner

Skimmer with four spots

Golden-backed Snipe Fly

Cross Potter Wasp

Today, the weather went right back to crappy!  It was more like late October this morning with strong northerly winds, cold and drizzle.  So, not much happened.

This afternoon was much better.  A Bay-breasted Warbler has been in the yard the last couple of days gearing up for the journey north.  Photos taken at distance through glass.