Dickcissels & Dainties & Snakes & Scopes

young birds abundant

Another hot day.  I headed down to Point Pelee today to see what little was around. The main purpose was to pick up a new spotting scope at Pelee Wings!  I decided on a Vortex Razor 85 mm HD (straight).  It seems to be a popular model.  Those bent ones do not work for me!  Now I need to find some shorebirds.
Tilbury Lagoons is useless this year.  I stopped first thing this morning and was not surprised to find the one cell full of weeds (the one that was good last year).  The big pond is too deep for shorebirds, but a good heron could show up I suppose.
The only shorebirds at Pelee were a few Sanderlings here and there besides Spotted.  Not many gulls today, but a lot were at Wheatley on the concrete rubble.
Butterflies were sparse.  A couple of Fiery Skippers and a Variegated Fritillary were along west beach trail.  A Funereal Duskywing was seen by Henrietta sometime after I talked to her on the trail!

Fiery Skipper

Lots of the red-type saddlebag dragonflies today.

A Fox Snake was showing off on the Tip shelter wall. I could not get all of it in with the lens I had, so you have to piece it together.

SNAKE on the wall!!

As I drove by Hillman Marsh, I heard several Dickcissels singing, so I decided to take a walk to the shorebird cell.

Dainty Sulphurs were all along the trail and I probably saw about a dozen.  These tiny butterflies are mostly on the move and difficult to photograph.

There were about four Dickcissels singing away.

Speaking of this bird, I did not find the Port Lambton one this week.  Perhaps it has moved on.  I will check again tomorrow.









If anyone has an idea what moth is the photo from yesterday, please feel free to comment on that or anything else!
I have the new Peterson moth guide by Beadle and Leckie which is great, but I have not found an exact match yet.

Rondeau to Elgin County

I felt ambitious today so I headed down to Rondeau early.  But first stop was at Ridgetown Lagoons.  It has good shorebird habitat at the viewing stand pond.  Unfortunately not much was there.  Just a couple of Short-billed Dowitchers and the usual common shorebirds.
In Rondeau Park, I started at south point trail.  Yellow Warblers are flocking up with other birds mixed in.  I found a nice group of birds that included a singing Black-and-white Warbler.  That was an obvious early fall migrant.

Not much else of note until I heard an Acadian Flycatcher as I drove by spicebush trail parking lot.  Still sticking around since they nested there.  I did not really expect to come across it, but it helps to have your windows down and listen as you drive!

This eagle was being harrassed by Common Terns

I decided to head over into Elgin County.  First stop was Southwold Earthworks south of Iona.  I always stop there as it seems to be a neat place.  I have had success with butterflies there in the past, and today was no exception.  The clover was up and attracting butterflies.

There was a large number of Tawny-edged Skippers and amongst them were several Fiery Skippers.

I spent quite some time there, finding about 20 species!  Lots of Common Painted-Lady there and elsewhere today.  As well, Buckeye were everywhere and in numbers.

I slid over to Port Stanley Lagoons and was rather disappointed.  Water levels high!  Some edge is around pond 2, but few birds were present.
Among other dragonflies, some Red Saddlebags were flying.








Next stop was Fingal WMA.  I always walk around the prairie area at the Ian Carmichael pond.  The scenery has changed there as it is mostly Big Bluestem grasses.  There used to be lots of wildflowers in the past.
Lots of Buckeye here too!





Back in C-K, I walked around the old quarry at Clear Creek.  More weeds than anything!  Some Calico Pennants at the pond.

Might as well go to Blenheim!  Water high here too, but some edge.  A few Solitary Sandpipers were there and a good number of shorebirds at the sprinklers.
Finally got some half decent shots of Red Saddlebags here.

Butterflies included many Fiery Skippers and 2 Little Yellow.  Buckeyes galore here too.

?Unidentified Moth?

More Insects and Shorebird Season

Another week has just about passed.  Too hot and humid to do much, but yesterday evening I got out briefly.  I went up to McKeough Dam to see what was lurking around.  Although late in the day, some dragonflies were still out.  I found one swarm of several species.  I took some time looking at these since there were some "red" ones involved.  Obviously they were Red Saddlebags, which have been reported widely of late.  Both males and females were involved.  I did not get any photos here, but I have seen them about a month ago.


They have even been found in the north at Thunder Bay. (click on Michael Butler's blog [North Shore Nature] on right sidebar).

I am not heavily into dragonflies, but I do watch for them as some interesting ones show up from time to time such as the Great Blue Skimmer from this past weekend.
For dragonfly sightings or to post sightings, go to:  Ont-Odes

Blue Dashers are very plentiful right now.  A couple were in the yard today.

Blue Dasher at McKeough

Peak time for satyrium hairstreaks is passing already locally.  As mentioned before, I did not see a lot this year and I did not find a Southern (Northern Oak) Hairstreak this year despite much effort.  One was seen by Paul Carter over a week ago though.
I found a few Banded yesterday, but maybe the others were hiding due to the heat!

Two butterfly counts are this weekend.  Ojibway is Saturday.  It is one where we find a high number of species in our party (~50+). It will be interesting since things were earlier this year.  Perhaps we will run into a colony of Dainty Sulphurs!  Jeff Larson found some today at his place in Harrow.

Dainty Sulphur (Hillman Marsh shorebird cell)

Shorebirds will be building up in numbers now.  Stewart Wetland near here is (or was) looking good until the heavy rains the last two days, but still has potential.  Good for herons and ibises too!  Still waiting for a White Ibis.  One was found not far away in Michigan last week by Karl Overman.

Ridgetown Lagoon has excellent habitat--better than Blenheim.  The good cell at Tilbury was dry as a bone on Monday, but maybe recent rains have renewed the habitat.