Early August Travels

 As the summer wanes, I have been taking advantage of some of the nice weather.  Last Monday I scheduled myself to visit West Perth Wetlands.  I usually stop by once in mid summer to roll the dice on shorebirds.  There were quite a few birds (mainly Lesser Yellowlegs)  but nothing of note.

Regarding shorebirds, I have checked other places recently as well.  Seems to be a bit of a lull in the shorebird department.  I stopped by Strathroy on the way home from Mitchell on Monday, and there was virtually nothing in shorebirds!

Today I stopped by Forest Lagoons, and it was essentially a waste of time.  Not much has been there recently, but hopefully things will pick up.  The water levels need to decline a bit, but will not if we do not stop getting all this uneeded rain.  We are getting drier at the marina, but there is no leeway in water levels as we are at the brink now!  This past week we have been cutting out walls and insulation from the three floods this summer, to dry things out.

Today was one of the nicer weather days.  After stopping at the aforementioned Forest lagoons, I took a long walk (~8 km) at Ipperwash Forested Dunes and Swales.  There was not much in the way of birds, but I did hear a Purple Finch.  Likely they are on the move, as I had one in the yard this afternoon.  Rather strange, as it is the first one this year (probably a year and a half!).

Although not much was seen, it was quite enjoyable.  

Appalachian Brown

Next stop was Karner Blue Sanctuary in Port Franks.  It was exactly a year ago we did a bioblitz there, so I thought it was time to check it out again.  The Liatris species are just coming out in bloom.

Cylindrical Blazing Star

Rough Blazing Star

A few butterflies were around, and I was hoping for Leonard's, but perhaps a tad early for them.

Wild Indigo Duskywing

Peck's Skipper

Northern Broken-Dash

I bumped into John Lamey there, and we talked about plants, including Cardinal Flower, of which I saw lots at Ipperwash earlier in the day.

As Port Franks is nuts with tourists (not sure what they do with themselves!) this time of year, it was time to get out.

For the next stop I had the idea of stopping at Marthaville Habitat near Petrolia.  There is a good planting of prairie stuff there, so this time of year was good.

Spiked Blazing Star

Prairie Dock

Compass Plant

Slaty Skimmer

I made a brief stop at Moore WMA, but it was a waste of time.  The river was running too high with all this ridiculous rain recently.

Last Monday I stopped by and found a few more mussels.  This one is a Pink Healsplitter, vulnerable in Canada.

Last stop was Reid CA where I went for a long walk.  Some Dukes' Skippers are still flying.

One surprise was a hairstreak.  It was a Banded, and perhaps the latest I have seen one there.

I saw a good number of Royal River Cruisers, but none co-operated for photos.  Some Eastern Amberwings were around.

I decided to walk around the back field again, as I find it interesting.  A Bronze Copper caught my eye, which I think is a new species for my list on the property.  My lep list is now at 55 species for Reid.

I was most of the way around, and some Cardinal Flower caught my eye.  It is new for my plant list on the property!

All in all, a decent day.

Shorebirds to Rubyspots

Today, August 5, I checked out some familiar spots during a several hour trek.  First stop was Blenheim Lagoons.  It seems to be peak shorebird time, and I was not disappointed.  Somewhere in the neighbourhood of 300 shorebirds were present!
Most numerous were Semipalmated Sandpipers.



The middle pond has some very good edge where many of these shorebirds were feeding.

I found at least  a dozen species, but perhaps others were present as I found it a bit overwhelming to sort through all of them.

Highlight was a Red-necked Phalarope, first reported a couple of days ago.

Strangely, it was the first phalarope of the year, as Wilson's were scarce this year and I had not yet seen one.

There was no Baird's or Stilt Sandpiper that I could find, but I did see at least one White-rumped.  I had a good look at it, but it flushed as soon as I raised the camera!

I think there is potential for a good shorebird to show up soon!

I headed east and briefly stopped at Ridgetown Lagoons where nothing of note was seen.
Moving eastward, I decided to stop by the old quarry at Clear Creek nature reserve.  It is a good spot for some dragonflies, including Calico Pennant.

Heading northeast, I next stopped at Wardsville Woods.  It seemed a bit quiet today.

A few butterflies were seen including a Wild Indigo Duskywing in the same spot as a couple of weeks ago.

Some Common Ringlets were flying.

I found some Cardinal flower around the ponds, which is nice to see.

Skunk's Misery is nearby, so that was my next stop.  I found a couple of Hooded Warblers along
Centreville Drive, and one female showed nicely.

One of the better trails to walk is off Sassafras Road.  Here I found many butterflies and birds.  Highlight was a White-eyed Vireo, constantly singing.  I could not get it to come out for a photo, but this Warbling showed instead.

A scruffy Chestnut-sided Warbler also made an appearance at the same location.

Two Blue-winged Warblers were also flitting about, while a male Hooded Warbler was chipping the background.



I did find this nice Great-spangled Fritillary.

Last stop was at the old bridge at Thamesville.  American Rubyspots were numerous along the treacherous riverbank.

It is a tad early for the rarer Smokey Rubyspot, but it will show soon.
While there, a Tawny Emperor blew in, but I was not in a good spot for getting a decent photo.

It was an interesting tour in nice weather.  I think Blenheim deserves another visit.....

Recent Photos and Hardy Lake PP

Today I went to Point Pelee. With the strong WSW, I thought perhaps something would show at the Tip. Wrong again! The only interesting thing was a weird pigeon that kept flying out then back inland.
Later, I did find a family of Tufted Titmice along Anders Path. These are rather uncommon at Point Pelee, especially nesting ones. These ones likely wandered from somewhere outside the park.


The usual butterflies were around. Better than last week anyway!

Least Skipper at De Laurier

Some dragonflies are below. Best was Carolina Saddlebags, but I could not get a photo.

female Blue Dasher


female Twelve-spotted Skimmer

male Blue Dasher

******

On my way home from Algonquin the other day, I passed through Gravenhurst and Bala. I stopped at Hardy Lake Provincial Park along hwy. 169. It is a non-operating park, but fairly large with some good trails. I hiked around Hardy Lake (a two hour brisk walk). It has good scenery. At one point you come across an old cabin site--obvious with the vegetation and stone foundation ruins. There were some Walnut trees there (or perhaps Butternut--I did not look closely!) which are unusual for Muskoka.

Below is an Ebony Jewelwing that I came across at one point.

Ebony Jewelwing

The photo above shows three boulders in a small lake, I thought it was a unique scene.

Another scene....

The spot where I found the jewelwings had several Cardinal Flower plants. It was a small stream where the trail crossed.