Adventures of the Past Week....More or Less

 Nothing spectacular seen in the past week as time marches on.  Last Friday I went to Rondeau Park.  There were lots of warblers moving along the Bay side.  Most were unidentifiable!

I spent the first hour at the park store watching birds migrate, then walked out the marsh trail.  Blackpoll Warblers were the most numerous.  We see more of them in the fall migration than the spring since they take a different route.  Redstarts and Magnolia Warblers were also in good numbers.

No photos....birds moving too fast!

Saturday I headed up Sarnia way for the first time in over a month.  Stopped by Dow Wetlands before going to Canatara Park.  Lambton Wildlife was having a special event with a walk around the park, then a picnic lunch.

Tall Coreopsis

Here are a few things I photographed.

Wild Indigo Duskywing

Smeared Dagger (moth caterpillar)

Rough Blazing Star

On the way home, I made a brief stop at Nicholls at Wilkesport.  Some Royal River Cruisers were flying, nearing the end of the season.

Sunday I walked out Rondeau 's marsh trail for lack of anything else to do.  It was not overly productive with birds.  There are lots of hummingbirds around right now.

I looked at the garden at home in the afternoon.  Goldenrod attracts a lot of bees and wasps!

Locust Borer

Hump-backed Beewolf

Common Eastern Bumblebee

Perennial Mason Wasp

European Paper Wasp

I do post some of these on iNaturalist, but as usual lately, there is lack of ID participation.  Not sure what people are afraid of here.  

Yesterday I did not have a lot of ambition.  There were very few birds around anyway, but I went for a walk at both Reid C. L. and McKeough C.A.

I admired some of the trees at Reid.

A walk at McKeough revealed probably the last Flag-tailed Spinyleg I will see this year.

Among other things, a Common Buckeye was in the floodway channel.

Today, I really did not know where to go, but ended up at Rondeau Park.  There was a stiff south wind, so Steve and I did a lakewatch at dog beach.  As usual, nothing of note!

A quick stop at Keith McLean C. L. before heading home, revealed my first Fiery Skipper of the season.

Till another time......

Point Pelee Butterfly Count! And Other Notes

 This past Saturday a butterfly count was revived at Point Pelee and surrounding area.  I always used to attend this one, but it was discontinued at least ten years ago.  It has always been in early August, making it a "fall" count.

I was joined by Keith Burk and we scoured the accessible areas south of the visitor centre.  Frankly, it was slim pickings!  A continued theme for this year.

We walked to the Tip then headed back the west side.

West beach trail has always been a prime section to look for good things.  There was not much, but Keith spotted a duskywing.  I immediately recognized it as a Horace's Duskywing!

A nice find indeed.

There were some crescents, which are now tricky to ID.  There is the Pearl, but Northern has been declared two distinct species, depending on timing.  Alan Wormington always maintained that there were three distinct species, so I guess he was right!  I am still trying to understand the situation.

The "Northern " complex (at this time of year) is presently called by its scientific name, Phyciodes diminutor.  Here is one I photographed on the count.

There were other species along the way including Dun Skipper.

I did not photograph some such as Giant Swallowtail, Spicebush Swallowtail, Monarch, Orange Sulphur, etc.

We made a second pass on the northern section of the west beach trail.  Things are always changing there, and it was certainly worthwhile.

We found two more Horace's Duskywings in short order.

Farther up the trail, I spotted a butterfly move in the shade. It opened its wings briefly, and I realized it was a Compton Tortoiseshell!  It moved to another branch, but never opened its wings.  However, it was indeed the said species.

There has been a bit of an invasion of this species of late, but it is quite rare in Essex County.  Apparently, there have only been about 17 records, and it is very rare at Point Pelee.

This sighting certainly made the day, after seeing so few butterflies.  Indeed a first for me at Point Pelee.

Keith and I had only 16 species, while the entire count ended up with 39 species.  Our Compton and the Horace's Duskywings were the only ones recorded on the count.

I have been out and about the past week, just not as much as usual, and certainly have not come across much of note.

Silver-spotted Skipper

Monday I came across some neat spiders.  There are lots out there though.  

Spined Macrathena

Arrowhead Orbweaver

Tuesday was quite foggy first thing, as I went for a walk at Mitchell's Bay.

It was such a glum morning, I went home.  But it got a little nicer in the afternoon, so I went for a long walk at Reid Conservation Lands.  

Common Wood Nymph

Common Ringlet

It was a good day for Royal River Cruisers, as I saw about twenty!

I have posted other things on iNaturalist, but there certainly has been a lack of ID participation on that forum of late!

Wednesday was such a glum day, I decided to go the museum to work for a few hours!

Today was yet another foggy morning.  It was quite dense at Wallaceburg, but I went out to Mitchell's Bay anyway.  Better visibility there at least.

It was "museum" all day today, so I was not out.

Some passerines are trickling through from the north, but I have not seen any!

More Insect Tours

 A stop at Reid C. L. this past Monday revealed some more of the usual species found there.

Dukes' Skipper

Broad-winged Skipper

Mourning Cloak

Great-spangled Fritillary

But, I did finally photograph a Mulberry Wing.

Looking closer, one can find tiny insects such as this Citrus Flatid Planthopper.

Hummingbird Clearwing moths are plentiful right now.  These chunky moths are quite unique.

Tuesday I headed up to Ipperwash.  It was not the best weather as it was cloudy most of the time, but I was anxious to get there.  I walked most of the Ipperwash Forested Dunes and Swales property owned by the Nature Conservancy of Canada. Don't go there for birds!  There were hardly any.

I did see Shadow Darners, but unable to get photos.  I did come across a Fawn Darner at one point.

There were all kinds of little moths, some of which were Yellow-spotted Renia.

And a Darker Diacme moth.

Along the wetland area, I came across this pair of Emerald Spreadwings.

Highlight, was a Harvester!  I saw this thing fluttering around at one of the boardwalks and was unsure what it was.  Conveniently, it landed on my hand!

Heading back home, I stopped at my usual lunch break spot at Marthaville Habitat Management Area near Petrolia.  Always a good spot for dragonflies.

Slaty Skimmer

Calico Pennants

Widow Skimmer

Wednesday, it was back to Reid.  Weather was quite pleasant.

Lance-tipped Darners are appearing, as this one did.

A couple of Royal River Cruisers were warming up in the sun.

Another Hummingbird Clearwing posed nicely in the morning sun.

More butterflies...

Dukes'

Broad-winged

Red-spotted Purple

Thursday morning weather was perfect as I went for a walk at Mitchell's Bay.  This Shiny Bog Fly caught my eye at one point.  Apparently, it is an endangered species.

Today, I went farther afield and ended up at Fingal Wildlife Management Area. Walked around the Ian Carmichael pond area.

Wild Indigo Duskywing

Heading back west, I stopped at John E. Pearce PP.  Usually it is good for odonates, but there were not many.  I was hoping for Comet Darner, but perhaps they are not there anymore, as I have not seen them in a few years.

A few butterflies were along the way.

Great Spangled Fritillary

Continuing back west, I stopped at Joe's Bush NW of New Glasgow.  I had been there in a few years.  It is a nice wooded area with lots of mature trees.

One last stop was at the old quarry in Clear Creek Provincial nature reserve.  There were not as many odonates as usual, but a couple of Comet Darners were flying the pond.

The most interesting thing was a swarm of Cicada Killer Wasps.  Had to be close to 100 beside the pond!

Other than that, there was not much to photograph.  Hope things are better there on Sunday for the butterfly count!