Wednesday Wanderings

butterfly of the spring!

I had to take advantage of the warm weather late today.  The crazy invasion of butterflies continues!
Hundreds more of Red Admirals all over today.  Probably more than that of a week and a half ago.
I thought the best place to observe both birds and butterflies this evening was the McKeough CA and diversion channel north of here.
FOY birds included flycatchers of Eastern Kingbird and Great-crested.  Not many warblers to see except Yellow-rumped, Nashville, Black-throated Green, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow.

There were a lot of Question Marks.

Of note, I saw my first Monarch of the year.  Later I saw another!  Both quite fresh, but undoubtedly from farther south.  Mourning Cloaks were plentiful today.

Mourning Cloak

Along the causeway, I noted Common Painted Lady butterflies.  Never got a good photo of one though!

Painted Lady

As well, I was tickled to see a Common Buckeye.  Earliest I have seen one.  An idividual was reported today at Point Pelee by Henrietta O'Neill.  According to Alan Wormington, that one was record early for Ontario!  I had it in the back of mind today that the floodway would be a good spot to get an early Buckeye.  Sometimes hunches come true!

 Common Buckeye!

At Brander Park today, a Blue-winged Warbler was new for there for this year.  I found it again later in the day.

Blue-winged Warbler

Not as many birds as yesterday, but more Nashville Warblers.  Warbling Vireos were in various places today, and more Baltimore Orioles were around.

Nashville Warbler

Just as I got in this evening, Steve Charbonneau reported 3 American Avocets at McGeachy Pond, Erieau.  There is now exposed mud and finally after many years it looks like a good spot for shorebirds.  It was looking that way this past weekend, and I expected some Avocets to show up there at some point.

Swimming Pigeon!

Here They Come.....

A warm day today! Some more new birds and butterflies came in. Not too many up this way, but likely more along the north shore of Lake Erie. This is likely the first good migration day.
I had virtually nothing at Port Lambton this morning which surprised me.
North of Wallaceburg I had my first Baltimore Oriole of the year as well as a Black and White Warbler.

Red Admiral

There was a noticeable influx of Red Admirals today. It is an immigrant butterfly. I had a couple at Reid CA this evening and at least five were in the yard till dark. They just kept flying around and chasing each other. Others in the province noted an influx today as well.
At Reid, the first butterfly was an American Painted Lady.

American Painted Lady

There were several Juvenal's Duskywings, but I could not get a really good photo. They are not much to look at anyway. Many of the duskywings look alike, but you can see the differences.

Juvenal's Duskywing

I had a total of six species of butterflies, including a Clouded Sulphur which was new for the year.

At home birds in the yard included White-crowned Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Red-breasted Nuthatch.

Birding Pinery and Kettle Point

Kettle Point (last year)

I joined the OFO trip starting at Grand Bend today. The Pinery and Kettle Point area is an always interesting place for birding especially in the fall. It is good for finch types and waterbirds, and sometimes Townsend's Solitaires. Quite a number of solitaires have been found in Pinery this time of year.

On the way up there, I spotted a Golden Eagle southwest of Arkona--the only Golden Eagle of the day!

Our fearful leader, Maris Apse (wondering where everyone went!)

At the parking lot first thing in the morning, we had a couple of small flocks of White-winged Crossbills fly over. A good start to the day!
On the waterfront, the lake was fairly calm due to an easterly wind. We spotted three Red-throated Loons and a Common Loon. One Red-throated was fairly close. Last year we had a Pacific Loon here.
At Grand Bend Sewage Lagoons, a large number of ducks were present. Many species including a couple of Long-tailed and the surprise, a White-winged Scoter. The scoter is not a duck one usually sees on a sewage lagoon! We also had a lone small goose that appeared to be of the Cackling type.
Next stop was Pinery Provincial Park. Not many birds were to be found. A couple of Purple Finches, the usual Tufted Titmice at the feeders and some raptors overhead. We did come across a Ruffed Grouse. Three Red-headed Woodpeckers were visible in the burn out area.

feeder setup with Tufted Titmouse

an elusive Ruffed Grouse

The beach at Ipperwash produced four species of gulls and a Killdeer plus another White-winged Scoter. As well, a small raft of Black Scoters were offshore.

gulls at Ipperwash Beach

At Kettle Point we saw a large flock of Black-bellied Plover and one Dunlin on the reef. Two Bald Eagles were seen here. Later on the other side of the point we saw a couple more Bald Eagles and more Red-tailed Hawks.

At Cedar Cove, (a place I did not know existed!), there were many gulls and ducks. A Lesser Black-backed Gull (adult) was here and a couple of Hooded Mergansers to add to the list. I counted about 30 Horned Grebes out on the lake and another Common Loon. I heard White-winged Crossbills on the hill. This is a great spot for spotting birds on the lake!
Here, was a Painted Lady butterfly--a nice find for this late in the season. I did see some sulphurs (both types) on the west side of Kettle Point as well today.
It will be very warm this week, so more butterflies will be out I would think.