Snowy on a Hot Day

I have been making some rounds the last couple of days, but nothing of note until this afternoon.  I was going to a variety store this afternoon, but decided to take the long way around to take a glimpse of the flooded fields along Otter Creek.
On the south side, I saw three or four Great Egrets, but when I got to the north side of the creek, I saw another egret out of the corner of my eye.  I did an about-face as I thought it looked much smaller.  Sure enough it was a Snowy Egret!  I had no camera on hand so I rushed back to the house and came back to snap a few record photos.

Just last Friday, I finally saw some shorebirds there, including some very early Short-billed Dowitchers.  At the time, I predicted something decent will show up here.  A Snowy Egret will do! Something even better will have to show now....perhaps a Limpkin?  There are a couple in Ohio right now.

Yesterday, I went down to Rondeau for the first time in a few weeks.  I wanted to check on the situation for the upcoming butterfly count which is tomorrow.  My area, south point trail, is still flooded of course, and the levels are not much lower than in May.  It is very swampy, infested with mosquitoes and other critters!  There was a bit of a north wind yesterday, so Stable Flies were in numbers as well, which did not help.
There are not many flowering plants other than Common Milkweed either.  I saw very few butterflies, just like most other places this year.

Black-dotted Glyph (moth)

Delaware Skipper

Along the beach, I came across a dead Cecropia Moth.

The White-winged Dove was still up to its antics as I passed by.  Maybe a female will once again show up soon like last year.
On the maintenance loop, I checked for Oswego Tea flowers in a known spot.

Scarlet Beebalm

I stopped by Lagoon Road where a few shorebirds were across from the compost pile.  Included were three Short-billed Dowitchers.
I checked out Blenheim Lagoons as well.  Two more Short-billed Dowitchers were there too.  Seems they are on the move early this summer.

dowitchers

In the afternoon, I was relaxing on the back porch watching the garden. I was surprised to see a Banded Hairstreak fly in.  It was a first for the yard.

Red Admiral on Purple Coneflower

Today, I went up to Sarnia to check a couple of usual haunts.  Dow Wetlands did not have much other than mosquitoes.  I then moved over to the old Blackwell Landfill where a couple of Dickcissels moved in, finally, last week.  I quickly found one singing male.

I eventually managed to get quite close and got full frames shots of it.

I met up with the Nethercott's and we traversed the place.  We came across the two Sedge Wrens which had not been reported lately.  We thought they had left!

Bobolinks are now on the move, and several were at the old landfill.

On the way home, I stopped by McKeough and Reid to look for insects.  Very few....again!  Flag-tailed Spinylegs and Pronghorn Clubtails should have been around, but I found none.  With the high water, there is no edge along the river where they always liked to perch.

At Reid, there were lots of Banded Hairstreaks which probably just emerged.

I guess the Oak Hairstreaks are now done for this year, as I have not seen any for a while.  I also did not see Dukes' Skipper, but some are there.

Pelee White-M and Blenheim Sachem

I tried my luck at Point Pelee today.  I got down there fairly early to look for birds, as there was a stiff south wind blowing.  I thought perhaps something would appear at the Tip.  Lots of stuff moving, but nothing noteworthy.  I was joined by Kory Renaud for a while and we saw tons of swallows heading south.
Two shorebirds showed, but we only saw the tail end of them and they were moving swiftly.

the only goose at the Tip!

Butterflies were a bit scarce today as I moved up the west side.  I cut over to Sparrow Field to try for White-M.  I met up with Mike King, Bob Curry and Glenda Slessor who had just found a very worn White-M, almost not worth counting!  Eventually a "good" White-M was found and we took many photos.

Sparrow field White-M hairstreak

I headed over to West Beach and looked for butterflies.  They were rather scarce compared to last week.  I met Bob Yukich who had been around a couple of days.
Not even a checkered-skipper along the west side!  A few Fiery Skippers though.  No Sachems either.
I next checked south of Northwest Beach.  A couple of checkered skippers there, but not much else. Not a Gray Hairstreak nor a Sachem. A severe drought compared to last week!

Another Fiery

Next stop was behind the Day's Inn.  There was a report of 5 Red-necked Phalaropes there, and sure enough I saw them just off the dock.

Final stop in the area was Shoeless Joe's field.  There were countless checkered skippers, a few Fiery and a few Sachem and a couple of Variegated Fritllaries.

Time still left in the day so I made a beeline for Blenheim.  It has been good lately.  Today there were 7 Red-necked and 2 Wilson's Phalaropes to be found among other shorebirds.  All the phalaropes in pond 5 were spinning. Neat to see.  It has certainly been a banner year for Red-necked Phalaropes with all the reports.

Many Bobolinks were there in the weeds.

Tons of Fiery Skippers and an oddball caught my eye. It may be a Sachem, but not the classic ones I have been seeing.  I thought perhaps a variation on a Peck's, but the more I look at it, Sachem is likely.  Any opinion is welcome.  Likely a first Sachem  record for Blenheim!

I met up with John Lamey while at the lagoons and we had a nice discussion on recent happenings with birds and butterflies.  John recently checked several locations along the Burlington-Oakville area and found Sachems everywhere.  There must be a heck of a lot of them that came into Ontario!