Mainly Insects But Other Things Too!

 As the summer rolls on, I continue go somewhere locally every day.  Birds are migrating through and I have seen a few different warblers recently.  There has not been much variety in insects, but here a few recent finds.  Some butterflies are doing well such as Eastern Tailed Blue and Northern Crescent.  There was an explosion of crescents this past week!

Common Ringlet

Crocus Geometer Moth

Eastern Tailed Blue trio

Peck's Skipper

katydid species

skipper with a silver spot

Comma of the east

Eastern version of tailed-blue

Common Whitetail

Dog Day Cicada exoskeleton

Living cicada, probably Linne's

American Pelecinid Wasp

Eastern Pondhawk (female)

Yesterday, I went to Mitchell's Bay first thing and walked both the south nature trail and the north nature trail.  I rarely get to the north version for various reasons.  The north side is different, with lots of open marsh there.

Looking towards St. Anne's Island

This time of year, Purple Martins have gathered to roost in various locations.  The Walpole Island complex marshes are known for one of the largest gathering/roosting spots around.  I could see several hundred from the north trail.  Here is a view of one of the closer groups.

The north end is good for viewing marsh birds such as Common Gallinule.  There was a family unit in view yesterday.

A few shorebirds were here as well.

Today I went a bit farther afield and visited Strathroy sewage lagoons.  An Eared Grebe was reported (the day after I was there of course!) on Friday.  I took a chance that it was there again this morning, and it was.  I missed Eared Grebe last year, and I was not going to miss it again for this year's list!  A bit too distant for decent photos though.

Still lots of shorebirds there, including the Wilson's Phalarope and a Baird's Sandpiper.

While in the Strathroy area, I checked out Clark Wright CA.  There were a few migrant birds there to keep me interested.

Heading back west, I decided to swing down to Wardsville Woods.  A nice little pocket of birds included Canada Warbler, Black-and-White Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler and Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.

Warbler without chestnut sides

There were a few butterflies to check out along the trail.

Pearl Crescent

Peck's Skipper

Great Spangled Fritillary

I photographed this wasp, which I think is a Pitted Mason Wasp, new for me.

Very few odonates....again!

Continuing on, I realized it was the time of year that we check for Smoky Rubyspots.  So down the road I went and stopped at the Tecumseh Monument park along the Thames River.

There was not much, but a couple of smokies were along the edge.

Only a few of its cousin, the American Rubyspot, were there as well.

Always a good spot for mussel hunting here too.  Pimpleback is quite common here.

Also found a mucket and a deertoe.

Mucket

Deertoe

I did not spend much time with mussels, so probably missed something good.

Tail of the Shrew

 (I could not think of another catchy title!)

Short-tailed Shrew (deceased)

I suppose the highlight for me this week was going to see the Black-necked Stilt at Strathroy.  An early Black-necked Stilt showed up at Strathroy lagoons earlier this week.  As you recall, a pair successfully nested there last year, which was Ontario's first successful record of this species.

I arrived early on Tuesday morning, under gloomy skies and a stiff cold wind.  I met up with Paul Nicholson and we soon spotted the stilt.

A number of waterfowl were in the other cell which we observed while walking around it.  Here, an Eared Grebe has been present for some time.  It was difficult to spot, as it spent more time below the surface than above!  With that, weather conditions, and distance, I was unable to get an sort of a photo.  However we did see it well in our scopes.

Farther south in Middlesex, a Smith's Longspur was photographed near Melbourne a couple day's previous.  We went to look for that, but it had long since departed.  I have seen a couple of them in Ontario, so not a huge disappointment.

There has not been much to see in the way of birds lately in my area.  Seems like a slow spring from what we are sometimes used to from the past.

Yesterday, I went for a long walk at Reid CA and looked at plants.  Some are still yet to bloom or pop up.

I found some Bloodroot, which is scarce at Reid.

Large-leaved Bell Flower was about to bloom.

Some others:

Dutchman's Breeches

Wood Anemone

Dwarf Ginsing

Wild Ginger is very abundant throughout Reid, but I did nto photograph any as it is just coming up.

There are other plant to look for of course, some yet to come.  I did see Skunk Cabbage once, but I doubt I could find it again!  Twinleaf is there, but I have not seen it yet this year.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at Reid CA

Today, I went down to Rondeau.  Not a lot of birds yet, but I guess exercise is always good!

More White-throated Sparrows are showing up, and Ruby-crowned Kinglets seem to out-number its golden counterpart.

My last walk was a bit out marsh trail a little past the old tower area.  Still nothing of note there either. Kingfishers were competing for territory.

Rain the next couple of days...supposedly!

Algoma Transport at Port Lambton

Other Notables Around Rondeau

 On May 11, I checked out Erieau for the Eared Grebe which was found a few days previous.  It was still there, but I had to walk to the end of the pier to see it! Not one in alternate plumage though.

While there, I got word of a pair of Black-necked Stilts at Blenheim sewage lagoons.  As it was not far away, that was my next stop. One cannot pass up on Black-necked Stilts, even though I had seen six already this year!

These creature are obviously becoming more frequent each year.  Numerous locations recorded them this spring.

There was not too much of note in previous days, but I did see another Yellow-breasted Chat.  They seem to be rather plentiful this year.  We can only hope some stay to nest!

While near the pony barn on the 10th, we caught sight of a Long-tailed Weasel running around.  It was doing quite a bit of running around, so difficult to focus on.

Friday we saw another, but at the end of south point trail west.  It was carrying a dead bird, likely a Starling.

Swainson's Thrushes were numerous during my visit, as they often are.

Had a nice look at a Hooded Warbler one evening.