The Last Few Days Amid Rainstorms

 Been quite hot and humid lately, and WET!  Needless to say, the torrential rains continue.  Last night probably record rainfall fell north of here and eastward.  (Toronto was hammered early this morning!). I was at Sarnia this morning and some area roads were flooded and fields turned into lakes.  Indeed lots of crop loss this summer, and I heard a friend of mine could not even get a crop in this year.

Not much to report, as things have been slow or just the same old same old.

Saturday I stopped by Reid CA for a long walk.  Dukes' Skippers are never a problem as they pop up along the trail.

Broad-winged Skippers were in the usual habitat.

Dun Skippers have certainly seen a bumper crop this year.  The Skunk's Misery count had a huge number, and I have been seeing lots elsewhere.

The Rondeau butterfly count was Sunday and it was a complete bust.  I did my usual area in the park of south point trail east and the south end of Harrison.  At least the weather was decent, despite the forecast which did not look good.  If I had known there would be so few butterflies, I would not have bothered showing up!  I ended up with a paltry nine species in three hours.  There was no point in staying any longer.  Summer Azures were in good number, but nothing else.  I never saw a single skipper!

Here is a Slender Spreadwing I photographed along the way.

I went home via Blenheim and stopped by the lagoons.  A number of shorebirds were in, especially in the sprinkler cells.  Nothing out of the ordinary though.

Monday was quite boring as it rained all morning.    After supper I went for a walk at Peers wetland. I came across a Common Buckeye.  They have been scarce so far this year.  It was only my second.

Today, I wanted to walk a portion of the Howard Watson trail at Sarnia.  A good section is between Modeland Road and Blackwell Sideroad.  I did not see as much as I had hoped, but maybe any things drowned overnight with the torrential rains (!).

I walked past what was once the site of the Blackwell station.

Butterflies included a few Wild Indigo Duskywings.

I saw this insect early on, that looked interesting.  The iNaturalist was way off in its initial ID!

Saranca elegans

Grasshoppers were quite active later on.

Some things got away.  At one point, I watched a Royal River Cruiser, but it never landed.  At another spot, I watched a Broad-winged Skipper, but it too never landed.

I did walk about a half km past Blackwell, then back and went west to the viewing stand at Logan's Pond.  I was hoping to see Comet Darner, but no luck.  This was the first place I saw Comet Darner about ten years ago.

Other things were flying including this Slaty Skimmer.

In the pond some turtles were floating around.  I immediately recognized one as an alien, called Red-eared Slider (or Pond Slider).

Also, a black mass was moving around.  It was a bunch of catfish (or bullhead)!

The Howard Watson Trail was once a rail right-of-way as most of you know.  The Grand Trunk Railway opened in 1859 from St. Mary's to Point Edward.  (I remember the rails under the Bluewater Bridge!). In 1882, the Great Western Railway was absorbed by the Grand Trunk, then a spur was built curving through what is now the western edge of Blackwell Trails Park down to what is now the mainline CN (which was the Great Western at the time).

Recent Wanderings and the Howard Watson Nature Trail

 On Sunday I headed down to Blenheim and Erieau to check things out.  This time of year we look for shorebirds, but it seems suitable habitat is difficult to come by with higher water levels and dense vegetation in some spots.

At Blenheim, the ponds are still fairly high, and the sprinklers not all that great.  I found a few shorebirds, including Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers and a few Lesser Yellowlegs along the edges or in the sprinkler cells.

There is a bit of habitat at the Erieau marsh trail, but the only migrant shorebird was a Least Sandpiper.

I then moved on to Clear Creek to check out the old quarry.  Things were quite sparse!  Next Sunday is the Clear Creek butterfly count, so I wanted to see how things were shaping up.  I certainly hope things pick up, as there were very few leps!  Even odes were sparse on this visit.

Calico Pennant

Great Spangled Fritillary

Azure Bluets

Today, I wanted to check out a section of the Howard Watson Nature trail at Sarnia.  The trail follows the old Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) right-of-way from Confederation Line heading northward, curving eastward, and over to the east side of Bright's Grove.

The GTR was originally completed in 1859, running from Stratford to Point Edward.  The line went straight to Point Edward, but a spur was made to curve around old Lake Wawanosh connecting to the Canadian National Line at Confederation.  The line was last used for trains in 1967.  I still remember the tracks at Point Edward that went under the Bluewater Bridge!  (There I go aging myself again).

Site of Blackwell Station

Here is an old map from a previous blog post, where you can see the rail line going straight across just in from Lake Huron:

Here is a modern map from Google where you can see the curve through Blackwell Trails Park and Twin Lakes area.

The Howard Watson Trail was established about 1988 after years of off and on negotiations.

The section I walked today was from Modeland Road to Blackwell Sideroad.  It skirts the north edge two ponds and has lots of wooded area.  The whole trail is actually good for nature as there are many plants both uncommon and common.  An inventory was made by the late Dorothy Tiedje and others I believe.  Indeed it is good for birds and insects.

I was interested in seeing what insects I could find along this section.  I did find some in the rare category!

Royal River Cruisers are found here, which are critically imperiled.  Hard to believe that with all of these I find in my area!  I saw two of them.

Speaking of Royal River Cruisers, a photo of mine was recently included in the Ducks Unlimited magazine.  The DU spring issue of the Conservator had an article on 'Winged Wonders'.

I also noted Double-striped Bluets.

Others damsels:

Stream Bluet

Violet Dancer

Here are some butterflies:

Wild Indigo Duskywing

Northern Broken-Dash

Silver-spotted Skipper

Common Sootywing

Other parts of the trail certainly warrant exploration in the future!

Common Checkered-Skipper