Some Insects and Shorebirds To Mention

 Things have been rather slow recently, so lack of subject matter here!

This past Monday was another nice day.  I first went out to the St. Clair River and sat at my favourite park (Seager) for a bit.  A classic laker went by, recalling the days of my youth here watching ships.

Saginaw

Back in the day, this ship would have been known as John J. Boland.

My last stop of the morning was a walk at Peers Wetland.  A family of Eastern Kingbirds was along the trail.

At "Chicken Island" a pair of young Great Horned Owls were making some noise.  They did not nest here, but no doubt nearby.

Tuesday morning, I walked Rondeau's marsh trail....mainly for exercise! Early on I noticed a Broad-winged Skipper.  It was in an awkward spot, but I took a photo anyway.  Getting late for them.

There were a few migrant warblers and other birds to keep me busy.  Best bird was a Louisiana Waterthrush.  Only seen briefly though.

Great Egrets

In the afternoon I needed another walk and went to Reid C. L.  A late Appalachian Brown was along the trail.

Also noticed some Giant Swallowtail pupae.

Looked like they were on buckthorn though.  Their foodplant is Hop-Hornbeam (Ironwood).

Thursday I went down to Keith McLean C. L. first thing.  There were a number of shorebirds, the best bird being a Red Knot.  A bit distant in poor light, as usual!

It was still there today.  Seems an annual thing.

Friday there was not much in the way of nature as I was focused on picking up my new car!  Pretty much wore out the old one.  Same type of car, but everything changed and is all digital.  I have to learn all over again!

Saturday morning, the target was the Hudsonian Godwit that was found at Keith McLean C. L. the day before.  I think I missed that one last year, so I had to go.  (It was still there today).  As usual, too distant in poor lighting, which seems to be a theme lately.

Here is one at the same location a number of years ago which was more photogenic.

Today, I first went to Blenheim Lagoons.  This place has not been producing of late, and today was no exception.  But, one has to look!

I continued on and went for a walk at Hillman shorebird cell.  Looking for insects of course.

Hackberry Emperor

Viceroy

Common Checkered-Skipper

Twelve-spotted Skimmer

Peck's Skipper

Monarch

The garden was active around mid-day with insects.  Had a checkered-skipper, but after too much fumbling around with the camera, it took off!

Peck's Skippers are plentiful right now.

This insect has an interesting name.

Say's Cuckoo Leafcutter Bee

Things should pick up with regards to birds, so stay tuned.

"Some" Insects, Portly Shorebirds, and "Jack"

 Monday was warm enough for a walk at Reid CA.   This month has just been too cold for the most part with continuous northerly winds, so not much insect life.  The whole month has been the pits for weather!

Odonates included Four-spotted Skimmers which were quite numerous.

A few butterflies included these:

Monarch

Silver-spotted Skipper

Eastern Tailed-Blue

Eastern Giant Swallowtails

And an Asteroid Moth.  Not much to look at, but the caterpillar is fairly attractive.

Tuesday I was in the mood for the long walk out Rondeau's south beach.  Winds were fairly light, but still out of the east (what's new?).

There were a few migrants along the trail.  The highlight was a singing Worm-eating Warbler at one point.  I never got much of a view, but it was singing quite a bit.  Lighting was horrible anyway under cloudy skies.

The walk out south beach started off nicely, with three Red Knots not too far out among other shorebirds.  Always a treat to see these portly shorebirds as they are scarce anymore.

There were in fact lots of shorebirds all along.  The knots and others flushed to way out south beach, and when I got there, a fourth Red Knot had joined them.

Even some Whimbrel were out there.  Two were on the beach for some time, but I did see a flock of about 18 come in as well.

A good variety of shorebirds was out there, including this White-rumped Sandpiper.

Others:

Sanderling

Black-bellied Plover

Dunlin

After that long walk, I checked out a bit of the north end of Harrison trail past pony barn.  Then I was done.  Getting too old for those long walks!

Today was a dismal day weatherwise with off and on drizzle.  I did get a fairly long walk in at Reid CA early before the weather turned really gloomy.  Too early and cool for many insects, but I did get this Eastern Calligrapher.

A couple of passerines were in the yard this afternoon.  Both a female Magnolia Warbler and a Blackburnian Warbler took advantage of the facilities.

Probably the drabbest Magnolia Warbler I have ever seen!

In the history department on this date,  the small freighter Jack was torpedoed in 1942 by U-155 about 100 miles southwest of Haiti.  37 lives lost out of 63.  The vessel was built at Lorain, Ohio in 1919.

It was a visitor to Wallaceburg in 1925, as shown here at the sugar factory.

There were several vessels in the "poker fleet" such as Ace, King, Ten, Nine that visited Wallaceburg on occasion.

Something Elusive and OFO Convention Weekend

 Warblers are still coming through in good numbers of late.

Peers Parula

And, sparrows are certainly increasing in numbers.

Lincoln's Sparrow

The afternoon before I left for Algonquin Park, I noticed a clubtail fly into the yard.  It set down on a cedar tree, as seen from my bedroom window.  I went outside with the camera, but could not get close to it.  It looked quite interesting!

I took some really crappy photos, and on further examination, I was fairly certain that it was an Elusive Clubtail.  This is an uncommon clubtail not seen often in late summer and early fall.  It can show up anywhere, but more likely along rivers such as the Sydenham or Thames.  I have only photographed some once, and that was at Brander Park, Port Lambton 14 October 2013.  So they can be quite late in the fall.

I put the photos on iNaturalist not expecting any results. A fellow naturalist confirmed it as such, so it will go down as an incredible yard record!

Here is a photo, and take it as you may.

Thursday was quite nice, and I went for some walks locally.  At Wilkesport, I found a Royal River Cruiser.  Getting late for them, and probably the latest one I have seen.

Other insects:

Oblique Streaktail

Comma of the East

Common Buckeyes are not problem anywhere this year!

This weekend was the annual Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) weekend, which was held at Leamington.  Nice to have it close to home!  Next year it will be even closer, at Sarnia.  First time for there, so it will be interesting.

Friday's weather was fairly nice, but very windy as the remnants of hurricane Helene blew in.  A Red Knot was found at the Erieau pier, so I decided that was a good place to start my weekend.  I was just getting things together at home when it was reported, so I then made a beeline to Erieau in hopes that it was still there.  It was, and it was  a nice addition to my year list.  I was worried that I would miss it this year.

It spent quite a bit of time on the leeside of the pier.

Red Knots have taken a nosedive in numbers the last fifteen years or so.  We often just see single birds anymore, if any at all.  I recall when I first started birding, we could get good-sized flocks at Rondeau later in May.  Mostly a thing of the past!

It was very windy at Erieau (and elsewhere), and I stayed for a couple of hours in hopes of seeing something else of interest.  Did not happen though.

A couple of Peregrine Falcons hung around though.

Erieau Pier

It was then off to Point Pelee to start my OFO convention weekend.  

*their logo*

The weather was nice enough to look for butterflies, but I did not seen too much.  This Fiery Skipper caught my eye at one point.

It probably noticed me as well.

I also later saw a Southern Dogface-Sulphur at Sanctuary.  They are getting worn and fewer in numbers.  Strangely, no other bigtime rarities from the south have been seen yet.

I spent other time looking for birds.  Along the way, this melanistic Garter Snake was slithering around on the trail.  I was not in a position to get the whole creature in a photo.

Lots of moths are seen this time of year.  I think this one is a Corn Earworm Moth.  I could not get in a better position to photograph it.  Note the green eye!

With the wind, some lake ships were anchored.  I think this one is the John J. Boland.

With the high east winds, the constantly changing Tip was gone.  Lots of spray over the shallow waters.

Friday evening there was an informal dinner at the Portuguese Club Leamington.  Sarah Rupert's famous bird quiz was once again challenging!

Saturday was another story.  It was constant rain and drizzle most of the day.  As usual, the weather forecast was wrong and we received way more rain than predicted.  The high winds made it quite miserable as well!  I guess I am used to that....

As a result, I did not bring out the camera, so no photos unfortunately.

However, we were all out looking for birds.  I opted to go to the Tip (and get soaked).  Lots of birds were seen, but nothing spectacular.  However, a couple of distant jaegers were seen, and two American White Pelicans put on a show for observers.

At one point, I caught sight of a shorebird flying quickly south.  It turned out to be a Red-necked Phalarope, and I got a few dedicated birders on it.

Later, I spent most of time around De Laurier, where I found a multitude of birds.  Through off and on rain, I actually found it interesting and racked up a good list.

Orange-crowned Warbler (example of one species I found)

I was soaked during the day and had no change of clothes as I did not expect all this rain, but dried out enough to attend the evening festivities.

This year's Distinguished Ornithologist is Mark Peck, well-deserved with his decades of work at the Royal Ontario Museum, shorebirds surveys especially on James Bay and elsewhere, writings, and other things.

The keynote speakers made an interesting presentation on indigenous bird names.  Quite informative!

I went home after the event, rather than stay another night.

The OFO Convention is certainly a wonderful social affair which I enjoy immensely and look forward to it every year.  Next year, I can stay at home to attend the event!