Dusted Skippers to Racket-tailed Emeralds in North Lambton

After yesterday's miserable weather, I took advantage of the nice "weekday" weather and headed up to north Lambton.  Namely, Pinery Provincial Park and Ipperwash Forested Dunes and Swales.  My primary focus was insects, as I had missed some in previous attempts.

I happened to meet up with Sarnia birder-extraordinaire Deryl Nethercott so we spent some time checking the beach accesses.  Prairie Warblers have made a good showing at Pinery this year and they are always along the first dune ridge.  Deryl heard one at P1 and I had one farther down.

We encountered a few skippers, but most were Dusted much to my delight. 😃
I had actually never encountered them before at these locations, but all were in good shape.

In Ontario, the Dusted Skipper is only found in the Pinery-Ipperwash area and is quite selective as to habitat.  They are done flying by the end of June.

After Deryl and I parted ways, I went to a reliable spot for Dusted Skipper not far from the visitor centre.  I found a half dozen right away.

I ended up with at least a dozen of these little bandits (they have white above the eye making them look like a bandit) for the day, which is a high for me!

My next walk was Carolinian Trail towards the southwest end of the park.  Here I encountered several Northern Cloudywings. I expected these here since I saw them last year!

Other butterflies included Common Ringlet.

And, rather late for a FOY, was a Hobomok Skipper.

There was not much in the way of birds on this trail.  In previous years I have had Cerulean, Hooded and Black-throated Green in the warbler department.

I also walked Nipissing trail.  I found a duskywing here of which I am not entirely certain.  Very worn though.

There were few dragonflies.  A Springtime Darner caught my eye.

After a quick lunch along the river, I headed down to Ipperwash.  I checked out Ipperwash Forested Dunes and Swales, a favourite spot of mine.  There is an extensive trail system which one can spend many hours if your are ambitious!

No Acadian Flycatcher again this year!

My primary focus was to see Racket-tailed Emeralds.  I was not disappointed, as I found several scattered throughout.

Some Pink Mocassin flowers were still out.

I did see a couple of duskywings as well.  Sometimes they are not too difficult to ID, but I am cautious again.

One at the very end of my walk, unless I am dreaming, I am leaning towards Dreamy. A FOY, so that was nice.

Things are about a week late this year.  I checked Reid CA on the way home.  Normally the Oak Hairstreaks would be appearing by now.  The Indian Hemp is not even in bloom yet!  Actually there are a lot fewer plants this year. 
The appearance of the Oak Hairstreak seems to correspond with the blooming of the Indian Hemp, so at least a couple of more days...  The place is a mess though with the water.  Boots are mandatory, and even in some spots it is difficult with boots!  I have never seen it so wet.  No more rain till August!

Getting Dusted at Pinery and some Racket (tailed) at Ipperwash

I took today off and went up to Pinery and Ipperwash to beat the weekend.  It was an enjoyable day with excellent weather--something we almost never see on on a weekend.  As usual, the forecast did not look good for Saturday (what is new?).

Before going into Pinery, I checked out Klondyke Road where there is some good grassland and pastures.  Some time ago, a Dickcissel was found here, and it was still singing away this morning.

Other grassland species included Bobolink, Eastern Meadowlark, Grasshopper Sparrow, etc.

In Pinery Provincial Park, I started at Riverside Trail which was always one of my favourite trails in the past.  It was a bit quiet today, but highlight there was a late Olive-sided Flycatcher working the snags along the river.  This spot it almost guaranteed the flycatcher during migration.

My next walk was Wilderness Trail.  Several Pine Warblers and Ovenbirds were singing all along.  In past years, I used to get Prairie Warbler in the first dune ridge along the beach, but not since the 1990's.  Prairie Warblers have returned to Pinery in recent years, and this year is no exception.  However, I did not find any today.  Perhaps I was not in the right spot at the right time?
The only semi-notable warbler today on Wilderness was a singing Blackburnian.
This trail has yielded Hermit Thrush in breeding season in the past, uncommon this far south.

After checking the beach areas, including P9 where the Prairie Warbler were seen, my next walk was Cedar Trail near the VC.  A few butterflies were visible, including Dusted Skippers at the hydro line corridor on the extension trail.  The Dusted Skipper is very rare for Ontario, but only found in the Pinery/Ipperwash area.

A Yellow-rumped Warbler was singing at this location.

Some Juvenal's Duskywings were still flying along the trail.

Next walk was Carolinian Trail at the south end of the park.  Just as I was getting out of the car, a Pine Siskin flew over.  They are occasionally found this time of year in the park.

Highlight for birds on the trail, was a singing Cerulean Warbler near the pond.  No Hooded this year!

Numerous Northern Cloudywings were along the trail.  Most I have seen!

I tried to find Southern Cloudywing, but they all seemed to be of the northern variety.

I may have had Common Roadside Skipper at one point too.

Dragonflies at the pond included Chalk-fronted Corporal and Dot-tailed Whiteface among others.

Nipissing Trail is another favourite of mine.  It is good for both butterflies and birds.  At one point I came across a tiny Columbine Duskywing, but it never settled any length of time for a photo.

At the end of the trail, was a Blue-winged Warbler.  The odd song (almost Golden-winged like) caught my attention at first.  However, good looks were obtained it appeared to be a Blue-winged.

It was early afternoon by this time, and after a bit of relaxation beside the Ausable River, I headed over to Ipperwash to check out the Dunes and Swales trail.
It was quiet for birds at this time, but I was more interested in insects.  I did come across what was possibly a Beaver Pond Baskettail, but the most numerous dragonfly was Racket-tailed Emerald.  I had this species as a target today, and I was not disappointed.

They are rather uncommon in Lambton, but indeed common at Ipperwash.

A pair of Aurora Damsels caught my attention along the trail at one point.

Birds included a Black-and-White Warbler right at the start, a couple of Pine Warblers and a Magnolia, which is uncommon, but somewhat regular in the area at this time of year.
There seems to be no Acadian Flycatcher here this year.  A swampy area with hemlocks is where it is usually found.

At the end of the the walk, I came across a Dreamy Duskywing to cap off the day.

It was time to head for home, as I was tired from all the walking.  (Somehow, I do not seem to be as young as I used to be!).

Pink Mocassin Orchid

Sloughs, Swales, Dunes and Duskywings

I took Friday off since the weekend weather was soon to come.  The day was nice and sunny except for the prevailing east winds (not good for Rondeau!).
I visited Rondeau Park, but birds were rather few.  As I mentioned earlier, I believe that many birds overshot the Lake Erie shoreline this year and birding has been better farther inland or farther north.

The park remains flooded in many areas with the only trails that one can wear shoes are Spicebush and the maintenance loop.  South Point trail is completely flooded on the east side and ordinary rubber boots will not cut it!  Hip waders would do nicely.
The sloughs are overflowing!

Friday morning I parked at maintenance and walked down Rondeau Road across Bennett and back up Harrison.  The Eastern Screech-owl was back on Water Street at its leafy hideout.

No doubt more birds are yet to come as many breeding birds were not present in numbers.  There were very few Red-eyed Vireos.  Among other things, I have not yet seen a cuckoo!  Unprecedented for this date for me.
Some flycatchers are in, but no doubt more are to show.

Eastern Wood-Peewee

I found a variety of warblers in my walk, but not in any numbers.  I did come across 4 different Prothonotary Warblers, one being way up Harrison north of the VC.  This one has been there over a week.
Black-throated Greens I have found scarce this year.

An American Woodcock was along Harrison Trail.

Being rather discouraged, I left the park well before noon and headed over to Hillman Marsh.  Things are always changing there, so it is worth a try.  Unfortunately I did not see anything of note.  The Little Gull and Wilson's Phalarope that were there in the morning were not to be seen in the shorebird cell.

Today, just like clockwork, it was cloudy and rainy.  (I just copy and paste this phrase each week).  I needed a change of scenery so I headed up to Ipperwash and Port Franks.  It was far more productive than a visit to Rondeau!  My first walk was at Ipperwash Dunes and Swales, a truly unique natural area.

The series of dune ridges and low swales create a nice habitat.

I found a good variety of warblers there, plus other birds.  Sandhill Cranes nest here, and fresh colt was accompanying its parents.  I was not able to get a clear photo though.

The best warbler here was a singing Connecticut in a thick area.  Despite some effort, it did not show its face with bold eye-ring!
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was here and likely nests.

It was an enjoyable walk despite the cloudy skies.

Usually an Acadian Flycatcher here!

Next, I moved over to the Lambton Heritage Forest at Port Franks.  This is one of my favourite spots as it is a large tract of forest.  I was not disappointed here.
Acadian Flycatchers breed here and I found at least 3 this day.  They tend to be around concentrations of hemlock trees for some reason.
Hooded Warblers are regular here and I heard at least two.  Normally there are more though.
I found a good variety of warblers, and in good numbers.  Many were migrants, but a singing male Cerulean was likely a resident.
I got quite a ways down the trail when it started to pour rain.  I found a large hemlock tree to stand under until the rain passed.
Red-eyed Vireos were quite numerous today.  Yellow-throated Vireos nest here and I found at least five individuals.
It was a joy to spend a couple of hours here looking for birds despite putting up with weekend weather.

The third walk was at L-Lake trail.  At the start, a singing male Hooded Warbler greeted me.  Much farther along the NCC trail, there was another singing male.

Where the second Hooded was, an Acadian Flycatcher was present--in the same spot as last year.

One needs to know bird songs and calls to seek these things out!

The NCC trail parallels part of the trail system at the Heritage Forest along a meandering creek.

old oxbow

A couple of benches are along the way, including this one.  I remember Delmar Ellis from my earlier days in Lambton Wildlife.

By this time, there were breaks of sun, so I headed over to the Karner Blue Sanctuary.  Here we have  one of the best spots to find duskywings.  It was not an ideal day, but I did find a few including Juvenal's, Dreamy and Sleepy.
At one point I likely had an elfin, but it got a way on me.

Sleepy Duskywing

Juvenal's Duskywing

Also, there were a couple of dragonflies, including Springtime Darner (our earliest mosaic darner).

Despite the weather, it was quite an enjoyable day in one of my (many) favourite natural areas.

Forster's (not Forester's) Tern