Sifting Through The Sedges and Skunk's Butterflies

 Lately I have been seeing various sedge skippers, among other things.  It has been a good year for them it seems.  Perhaps the very wet weather in recent weeks helped them along.

A couple of days ago, I visited private property near Brigden in Lambton County. Dukes' Skippers reside here, as we have seen in previous years.  There was no problem seeing some.

The main reason I went was to look at Mulberry Wing, another sedge-type skipper.  Not often seen, or all that common, the Mulberry is a neat little skipper to see.  No problem in seeing a couple on this visit.

Broad-winged Skipper is yet another sedge skipper which is fairly common.  They have been at this location as well, but we did not see any yet this year.

There were other things to look for on the property too.  In the odonate department, we found a couple of Slender Spreadwings.

I have seen Royal River Cruisers here, but no on this visit.

This Delaware Skipper was in a bit of a worn state.

After finishing up near Brigden, I stopped by Reid CA where the other known Lambton County population of Dukes' Skippers resides (just to get my fill of them for the day!).

I did see Broad-winged Skippers here as well, so that rounded out the sedge skipper search.

Yesterday, was the annual Skunk's Misery butterfly count.  Unlike last year when it was cancelled due to rain, it was a fine sunny day and not too hot.

In the morning, I did my usual route from the west end of Centreville Drive to Dogwood Road.  It was very sparse for butterflies, which all parties duly noted throughout the day.  Normally, this is one of the "bigger" counts with no shortage of butterflies.  Likely a combination of things such as the heat spell in June and perhaps the fact that we were in between broods contributed to the low numbers.

Here are a couple of the common ones I saw along Centreville.

Monarch on Buttonbush

Tawny Emperor on gravel

Northern Broken-Dash on Buttonbush

The lack of butterflies was trumped by a find I made in a sedge patch.  Lo and behold I found a Dukes' Skipper!  Needless to say, it is new for the count history.  With my experience on this species, I had no problem calling it as such.

It was a first for the count, and perhaps Middlesex County (I have to check).

In the afternoon I wandered around the the NW portion of the count circle as usual.  There was a complete lack of butterflies!

There were lots of flooded areas in fields due to the excessive rain in recent weeks.  One held some shorebirds along Mosside Line.  Three Solitary Sandpipers and Lesser Yellowlegs stopped here on their southbound journey.

I stopped by the boat launch out Mosside Line where there used to be an old bridge.  In the past it was one of the better spots for butterflies, but try and find one this day (!).

It is a good spot to look at the river for odonates.  There were no "big" ones flying which I found odd.  Flag-tailed Spinyleg has been seen here among other things.

However, there were bluets and dancers to sort through.  The uncommon Blue-ringed Dancer is here! (but I already knew that)

Others included lots of Blue-tipped, Violet, and of course Blue-fronted.  Needless to mention, Stream Bluets are here as expected.

Blue-tipped

Violet duo

The end-of-day tally was held at the Prieksaitis home south of Rodney.  Tentative species tally for the count was at 49 when I left.  Other parties were still to report in, so that will likely change.

Today, I went for a long walk at Reid CA.  I met up with a couple from Sarnia and we spent some time together.

Dukes' Skipper were no problem as they popped up along the trail as we were walking.

I think all this very wet weather was a bonus for the sedge skippers.

At the "low spot", we had lots to see.  We thought there was a Mulberry Wing here, but maybe not.  Would not surprise me though.  I think I saw one last year here but was unable to get a photo.

Several Broad-winged Skippers were flying among the mosquitoes.

One Dukes' Skipper seemed to be quite sociable!  

It was on her had for a long time also!

It probably would have been happy to go to Sarnia, but she had to leave it there.

I then walked around the back field.  A few Royal River Cruisers were flying as expected.

I encountered my first-of-year Common Checkered-Skipper (overdue!).

Getting back to the "low spot" on the trail, I noticed a large dragonfly.  Turned out to be a Great Blue Skimmer, another rarity for southern Ontario.

I had a couple at this exact-same spot two years ago during an influx.

That was all for today, as it was terribly hot and humid by this time.

Out And About (Again!)

 Friday I checked out Point Pelee, starting with a lakewatch at the Tip.  Nothing unusual showed up, but there were lots of gulls and a few shorebirds.  I was putting in time before I looked for insects.

Sanderling

I then checked several areas for butterflies, but for a while it was overcast, not helping matters.  I did not come across any rarities.  I think it will be a good late summer and fall though!

Giant Swallowtail was the most common native species.

It started to get very hot and muggy, so I went over to Hillman Marsh for a long walk before it got too unbearable.

I did find a good variety of butterflies, but still no rarities.

Broad-winged Skipper

Common Buckeye

Eastern Tailed-Blue

Today, I went up to north Lambton, starting at Forest lagoons.  Lots of shorebirds in to sort through, but no rarities.  Lesser Yellowlegs have dwindled in numbers, but more peeps were in.

What to do next?  I went up to Karner Blue Sanctuary and the Liatris plants are just coming out.

Cylindrical Blazing Star

Rough Blazing Star (blooms a tad later)

I always look at the Ebony Spleenwort nearby too.

It is a bit early for Leonard's Skipper there, so looked at a few other species.

Wild Indigo Duskywing

Crossline Skipper

probably Crossline

It was completely dead for birds!  I heard only one Red-eyed Vireo, lol.

Before leaving the area, I walked L-Lake trail and it too was dead for birds!

It was getting too hot, so I headed back south and stopped at McKeough.  I had hopes of finding another Marine Blue, but no dice.  I found a Common Sootywing in that location.

One last stop was at Reid CA, where I stumbled upon the find of the day.  Two Great Blue Skimmers were patrolling the old oxbow!  I recognized them right away.

This is a first record for here as far as I know.  Reid is alway good for insects, rather than birds!

While standing there, I did see a Dukes' Skipper (getting late for them), but it eluded the camera.

I managed to photograph one of my friends as well, a Royal River Cruiser.

By this time I was beat by the heat and humidity.

Bob O'Link

Skunk's Misery Butterfly Count July 3

 Yesterday, a number of us diehards participated in the Skunk's Misery butterfly count.  As expected, butterflies were rather sparse but we beat the bushes in any case!

I did my usual route starting on the west end of Centreville Drive.  It was a bit overcast to start, not helping matters, but eventually the sun came out and things picked up.

I ended up with 29 species by the end of the day (I also check out the NW part of the circle in the afternoon).  My highlight was a surprise, when I found a Dion Skipper in a sedge patch along Centreville.  It was a new one for me on the count!

Eastern Commas were by far the most common species on my route.

I eventually found a Grey Comma later in the afternoon, which was the only one for the count.

Hairstreaks were quite scarce compared to last year.

Striped Hairstreak

I found three Compton Tortoiseshells in the afternoon. A nice-looking butterfly!

I looked at other things, of course!

At the county line along Watterworth, there were very little wet areas left, but a single Great Blue Skimmer was patrolling one spot.

One of my good spots in the past (but not this year!) was at the boat launch near Aughrim.  I  looked more at odes than anything.

There were quite a few Stream Bluets here, as well as Blue-fronted Dancers.  Some Blue-tipped Dancers were visible too.

Blue-tipped Dancer

Before heading to the BBQ and roundup, I checked my favourite trail off Sassafras Road.  I know that was not checked, at least well in from the road.  There is a little creek here I like to check for odonates.  I found a few Great Blue Skimmers.  Although rather plain-looking, they are an impressive dragonfly.

We met at the end of the day at the Prieksaitis place south of Rodney as usual, but this was the first time in three years for obvious reasons.  It was nice to be back to normal and meet with like-minded naturalists!

Before we had dinner, Silver the cat found us a Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillar!

The count ended up at 49 species, which was not too shabby.  Numbers were low in each though.

Next butterfly count is Rondeau, this coming Sunday.  The last few years have been mediocre, so one can only hope something of interest shows, and the weather co-operates.

I found lots of Michigan Lilly yesterday