More Summer Stuff!

 I made my usual rounds not far from home the last few days.  The summer is waning quickly so I take advantage of any time I get to be outdoors looking for things of interest.

Dukes' Skippers have finally showed up in the "usual" spot at Reid.  I saw two in quick order late Thursday.

Friday I had the urge to go to Point Pelee.  I thought maybe I could look for Marine Blue or something of note.  (I have not heard of any sightings of Marine Blue after mine last Sunday.  I know some went to look though).

I did a watch at the Tip for a while before looking for insects.  The "Tip" goes way out right now!

There were hundreds of gulls, but nothing of note caught my eye.  Only one tern...a Caspian.

Some shorebirds included Sanderlings, Semisands, and an early Ruddy Turnstone.

I then slowly walked up west beach trail.  I stopped to read a nice sign recently erected.

There were more butterflies and dragonflies than I had been seeing in previous visits.  Wandering Glider was the most common.  Most were "wandering"!

Around the "serengeti" tree, a large darner caught my eye. It was a Comet Darner!  I was not able to get a photo though.  There have been a few previous records in the past at Pelee and surrounding area, but this was my first for there.

I stopped briefly at De Laurier parking lot, and found a Common Buckeye at the weather station.  A first-of-year!

My next stop was Hillman Marsh shorebird cell, where I thought it was the best chance of seeing some good butterfly.  It was paltry for leps!  I did see another Buckeye, and added a Common Sootywing.

I went home via Blenheim, and stopped by the lagoons.  A good number of shorebirds were in.  Solitary Sandpipers are in big numbers this summer everywhere it seems.

Another member of the glider family was present....a Spot-winged Glider....on the fly.

Saturday, it was up to north Lambton, as Forest Lagoons is a necessary stop at least once a week this time of year. It is the best place for shorebirds!  There were lots to sort through, including over 100 Lesser Yellowlegs. Again, lots of Solitary Sandpipers.  Nothing of note though.

I moved on to Ausable River Cut CA, but as I arrived, word got out that three American Avocets were at Kettle Point.  Since I had not seen any yet this year,and it was not far, back I went!  Jeff Skevington and James Holdsworth were still there when I arrived, and so were the Avocets.  My favourite shorebird!

A worse-for-the-wear Little Gull was also present.

I went back to Ausable River Cut and looked at mussels.  I added Fat Mucket to my list.

Three-ridged mussel seems to be the most common there.

Not much in the way of insects, but some Wild Indigo Duskywings were flying.

Along the way home, I stopped by Marthaville Habitat Management Area, for my once-a year visit.  Good wetland there.

Slaty Skimmer

Viceroy

One last stop was McKeough CA for an attempt at Marine Blue.  Virtually no butterflies!  Only Flag-tailed Spinylegs.

Today, it was a bit overcast after some much-needed rain overnight.  I stopped by Keith McLean C. L. where I spent some time there.  Shorebirds were quite fluid, as they often are.  There was not much at first, but things came in or flew over.

Quite a few dowitchers were eventually seen, including three rather early Long-billed.  Given the lighting, and distance, etc., my photos were no good for them.

I then went as far as Clear Creek and stopped by the old quarry.  One of my favourite spots!

I immediately saw a Comet Darner, but it seemed to take off.  Another eventually appeared, but as usual it was on the fly.

The sun was partially out when I arrived and there was some activity, but then it clouded over making things very quiet.  Very few damsels (bluets and dancers) now.

Azure Bluet

Violet Dancer

Last stop was Blenheim lagoons.  Lots of shorebirds again, but nothing spectacular.

 

Clear Creek Butterfly Count 2018

Today, Sunday, was the annual Clear Creek butterfly count.  Weather was excellent, at least in the morning.  Along Lake Erie, there were severe thunder storms late morning, so we were lucky to avoid that at Moraviantown while our party searched some sites for butterflies.  I left at noon as skies were not looking all that great.

This count can be quite interesting with many good areas to search, especially old railway lines.  Those railway corridors were my favourite spots in the earlier years, but they have deteriorated to some degree since then.
This is one of the latest counts, so you miss many species.  However, it did quite well last year.  It will be interesting to see what the results are.

Our group (led by resident Darren Jacobs) met around 09:00 at the Tim Horton's/grocery store on the Delaware of the Thames First Nation at Moraviantown.  I had never really checked this area before either for birds or butterflies, although we touched a bit on it in the very first year of this count in 2000.

Wild Bergamot seemed to be the flower of choice today for many of the leps.  We found lots of it!

Giant Swallowtails were in numbers rarely seen, as they were all over the place.  Right now, all places are abundant with them.

Monarchs are doing quite well this year, with higher numbers than in recent years.  I did get a photo of its mimic, the Viceroy.

At the north end of the community, there is a trail and some prairie plantings along the Thames River. (just above "Moraviantown" in the above Google Maps photo).  We checked that out just before heading out for lunch as thunder rumbled to the south.

Note dark skies to the south!

I managed to find a few Tawny Emperors.  There is a lot of Hackberry, the larval foodplant, along the banks of the Thames.

At one point I caught sight of a hairstreak which turned out to be a Hickory.  It is getting late for the satyrium hairstreaks, but Hickory is one that can be found at this time.  I was not able to get a photo before it took off.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Common Sootywing

Our group ended up with at least 24 species in the morning.
Heard that the total species count for the entire day was 43.  Fairly good for this time of year!

Before we met in the morning, I stopped by the Tecumseh Monument area east of Thamesville.  It is a nice spot for a walk and to learn about early history of the area.  Interpretive signs tell about the War of 1812 and Chief Tecumseh who was killed nearby.  The area has a rich history, and significant events happened here during the War of 1812.

Blenheim/Rondeau to Clear Creek Butterfly Count

Oswego Tea at Rondeau

I checked out a few places today, deciding to start at Blenheim lagoons before joining the Clear Creek Butterfly count in the afternoon.
Lots of Least Sandpipers were in at Blenheim.  About 75 of them.  One Pectoral was mixed in as well as about 3 Lesser Yellowlegs.

Mess of Least Sandpipers

That male Canvasback is still at the lagoons!

At Rondeau, I checked out south point trail in advance of the butterfly count for tomorrow.  I first walked along the beach.

Mess of Gulls

The trend continues with few butterflies, but I did find a huge stand of Common Milkweed.  I am anxious to check it out around mid day Sunday.  I was  a bit early in the day, but lots of butterflies were at this stand today.

Delaware Skipper

Northern Broken-Dash

Included were a couple of Banded Hairstreaks.  Hairstreaks are difficult to find in Rondeau, so any hairstreak is good.

Just before lunch, I moved on to Clear Creek and checked out an old quarry.  I was disappointed in finding very few butterflies.  A few dragonflies were around including this Calico Pennant.

After a nice lunch in Highgate, we headed out to the old railway lines (two are side by side).

gravel extraction is going on

One of our favourite spots is just off the old railway east of Johnston Road. It is locally called Taylor's Pond and was originally owned by the railway.  Here we found numerous Coral Hairstreaks among other butterflies.  It is diverse area with lots to see.

Finally a Coral for the year!

Here  there were loads of Butterfly Milkweed.  Most we have seen!

The day's tally was held at the traditional location of Olav Natvik's summer home.  In front of the home is a wonderful prairie-type garden.  However, blooming is behind this year compared to the past.  We found that in many locations today.

Total species for the Clear Creek Butterfly Count was only 40.

Upcoming Butterfly Counts

Common Wood-Nymph

This Saturday is the Clear Creek Count which is named after the Clear Creek Creek nature reserve in east Chatham-Kent.  Mathis Natvik, who was instrumental in getting the NCC to purchase and preserve the tract of land, started the butterfly count as well, back in 2000.

It was another count I started going to and I recall it quite well.  There are some excellent areas including old railway lines through the Highgate and Muirkirk area.  At the time, at least one was still operational, but both have long since been abandoned.  They are not as good as they used to since the gravel beds were extracted and  a few local farmers have taken it upon themselves to expropriate some of the land.
However, some spots are still good with wildflowers and weeds.

Rondeau is this Sunday.  While the weather forecast does not look too good, it will change about 15 times before then, so who knows what the weather will be!
The Rondeau count was another I got into with its very first count.  I had no idea what I was doing back in 1999 with regards to butterflies.  I recall tagging along with Ian Carmichael and others including Jerry Ball if I remember correctly.  It was actually a banner year for butterflies with a couple of Little Yellows for example in our section.

The counts make for an interesting day with comradery  and a get-together at the end of the day in most cases.  Rondeau has a BBQ lunch though.  The Skunk's count always has a lunch at Wardsville then a BBQ at Rodney.

Skunk's Lunch!

Some butterflies are winding down, while others are at peak right now.  Before long, hairstreaks will be getting fewer.  It has been mediocre for them in my area, although as I mentioned the Southern (more appropriately Northern Oak!) seemed to do fairly well.
Speaking of Southern Hairstreak, another was found by Jeff Larson and Paul Desjardins at Brunet Park in LaSalle last Saturday.  It is the third in that area since 2005 and we have surmised in the past that a small colony must exist somewhere in the area.  It is a great area for butterflies, especially hairstreaks.

Striped Hairstreak

I found another Striped Hairstreak today at Reid.  I got there too late in the day to look for sedge skippers. I think they go to bed early!

We found a bunch of these moths in Skunk's Misery.

LeConte's Haploa