North Lambton Shorebirds to Insects

Heading northward today, I first stopped at Forest Lagoons.  Shorebirds are getting a bit fewer and the the cells are drying up and getting covered in vegetation.

There were still lots of Lesser Yellowlegs and Semipalmated Plovers plus some others.

The last couple of days, two Red-necked Phalaropes have been seen at Forest.  I was there for a good hour and did not see one today.  I thought since it was the weekend, a bird of this calibre had decided to leave.  I was just about to leave, and spotted a Red-necked Phalarope in the distance!  Where it came from I have no idea since it certainly was not in view for an hour.

Quite distant, but I attempted a photo.

I next walked at Ausable River Cut CA looking for anything with wings.  I saw only one dragonfly along the river,  perhaps something like a basket-tail.
Near the end of the trail, I found a decent flock of birds including Blackburnian, Black-and-white, Bay-breasted, Nashville, Chestnut-sided and Blue-winged Warblers.

Blackburnian Warbler

Black-and-white Warbler

There was a good spot for butterflies here, but perhaps it was too early in the morning.  Both Cylindrical and Rough Blazing Star is here--a good spot for Leonard's Skipper.

Rough

Cylindrical

Moving on, I decided to try Karner Blue Sanctuary in Port Franks.  I found a couple of migrant warblers here plus several other species.  There was a large flock of orioles moving through at one point.

Here, we have my go-to place for Leonard's Skippers.  A section where Rough and Cylindrical Blazing Star blooms is a good bet for Leonard's.  Sure enough, I saw two of the creatures.

A lingering Wild Indigo Duskywing was present as well.

Some other leps included a late Common Wood Nymph, and a Hackberry which I though was uncommon for here.

I only got a quick look at the Hackberry.

Later on, I saw a darner fly by and perch on a tree.  Turns out it landed right beside a cicada!  I think it had no idea.  It appeared to be a Shadow Darner.

I saw no Royal River Cruisers in the area like a couple of weeks ago on the blitz.  Recently, James Holdsworth found one on the Ausable at the River Cut CA.  They are certainly uncommon this far north.

With such nice weather (was it really the weekend?), I stopped by L-Lake trail.

It was terribly quiet for birds, but I did come across a lingering Hooded Warbler.
Near the turn of the trail, I saw this fresh female Slaty Skimmer.

At the turn one can go onto the Nature Conservancy property and follow a long trail.  I have never gone all the way.  One used to be able to access at the end, but a bridge had been removed many years ago there.

Along the trail, I found a Northern Pearly-eye.  It is very late in the season for this species.

Northern Pearly-eye is single brooded and usually done by later in August.  I recall a number of years ago I found a very fresh one at the end of August at Moore WMA.  Alan Wormington told me it was a rare second brood!

It was nice here, so I ate my lunch while sitting on a bench!


Since I was driving by Marthaville Habitat Management Area near Petrolia, I stopped in.  I had not been here in a few years.  I think the last time was when I found a White-eyed Vireo here in June.

Compass Plant

Near home, I stopped by Nicholl's at Wilkesport.  I saw one Royal River Cruiser here, so I got my cruiser fix for the day!

At home in the garden, several Peck's Skippers were flitting about.

As well, tiny Fragile Forktails were in the garden.  They are so tiny, hence their name, I guess!

One of Those Days....

Shadow Darner

I had a free day, so I toured around!  I first headed over to Strathroy to check the lagoons.  Yesterday an Eared Grebe was present as well as a pair of Red-necked Phalaropes.....but not today.  A big disappointment, but I guess the change in weather overnight sent things flying south.  As a matter of fact, there was not much of anything in all the places I visited today.  Just one of those days.



I next headed over to Port Franks to check out the Karner Blue Sanctuary and the County Forest. Not sure where the birds were, but they were not in Port Franks!  Even butterflies were few and far between.



The Rough Blazing Star is blooming nicely waiting for some insects in the sanctuary.

I saw one skipper which was likely a Tawny-edged.

Leonard's Skipper should be out, but I never saw one.  This is a good spot to find them though.

I walked the County Forest and probably saw two birds and heard only a few others.  One was likely a lingering Acadian Flycatcher.
I looked at other things along the way including fungi.  This forest is actually a good place to find different fungi.

earthstar 

Golden Coral

not sure on this one-rather large!

I headed towards Sarnia and stopped by Perch Creek.  It sometimes is a good spot for birds and butterflies, but, I emphasize sometimes.
The prairie planting were blooming nicely.

At one point I came across a small snake which grabbed a Chorus Frog!

After a quick lunch, I headed over to Moore WMA.  I guess this was the highlight of the day.
After crashing through the tall Ragweed and coming out at the river, I met someone (Jon Boxall) standing on the crossing.  Obviously looking for insects, he mentioned that a friend was ahead on the trail.  He did not mention any name, but I deduced the fellow ahead was Ed Poropat.  (It is amazing what you can know from the trail of eBird lists!).

Jon and Ed enjoying the Mocha

I showed them the little bridge (as above) over the tributary creek, and we stood there for some time, seeing a couple of emeralds fly by.  Of course, they could only be Mocha Emeralds.  Finally, Ed caught one.

It was a male, a bit worn, since it is getting late in the season.

This is the little creek that the emeralds were patrolling.

It has been a few years since I have seen a Mocha at this location, but then I have not looked too hard.  There were very few other dragonflies today.
We did see a Cape May Warbler foraging above the river, just before we left.

A quick stop at Nicholl's near Wilkesport, revealed a couple of Royal River Cruisers to finish the day.

The cruisers are plentiful right now, as I had about eight at Reid CA in about a half hour yesterday.

American Painted-Lady

Prairie Romp: An Outing to Walpole Island

Late this morning the local naturalists had an outing to Walpole Island.  It is not often that we get a chance to check out some of the prairie sites, so it was something one could not pass up.  Today, we were led into a site by Clint Jacobs.  I have been to a few other sites, but this was one that I had never visited.  I was hoping that it was a different site that we had been to many years ago...that might have produced some Northern Bobwhite!

We parked our cars under an Ohio Buckeye tree, which is very rare for Canada.  In fact, I do not think it grows anywhere else...naturally!

Pink Milkwort was plentiful at this site.  It is tiny a plant found regularly on Walpole and some at Ojibway.

There was another kind of milkwort which I think was Field Milkwort.

Rough Blazing Star is quite abundant at this particular site.  There were a few Dense Blazing Star soon to come into bloom, but it was outnumbered by Rough by a longshot.

One section had some Colicroot.

Colicroot

We were free to roam around to take in the unique plants.

There were lots of other prairie plants to look at.

Butterfly Milkweed

Mountain Mint

Showy Goldenrod (not in bloom)

Butterflies and dragonflies were not abundant (not surprising for this year!),  but Halloween Pennant was one of the more numerous odes.

Halloween Pennant on Rough Blazing Star

Halloween Pennant on Dense Blazing Star

One of the butterflies was this Eastern Tailed-Blue.

We were not there to look at birds, but a Black-billed Cuckoo was calling nearby.

Beforehand, while waiting at the arena parking lot, a Broad-winged Hawk soared overhead.  An odd sighting for this time of year.  I did not have my camera on hand at the time!

This afternoon I stopped by Reid CA since the weather was quite nice.  Some Dukes' Skippers were working the sedges.

While looking at a Dukes', I found a Striped Hairstreak-first for the year, finally!

I saw a couple of Broad-winged Skippers in another area.  This year it is too wet to walk through the sedges, so this was a distant shot.