Insects 'n Things of Late

 I have been checking out various spots lately for anything of interest.  It is certainly not a banner year for butterflies and odonates.  It has been difficult to find much at all.

Saturday, I checked out Wardsville Woods.  It was quite disappointing.  No spiketails and only a couple of Midland Clubtails.

Midland Clubtail with snack

Some butterflies included Silvery Checkerspot and Giant Swallowtail, among singles of others.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Giant Swallowtail

Tawny-edged Skipper

Sunday it was difficult to find anything.  No sign of the Northern Oak Hairstreaks yet at Reid CA.  The river was running high at Moore WMA, so that flushed away any odes!

Blue-fronted dancer

Blue-fronted Dancer

Yesterday I went down Lake St. Clair way.  I spent some time looking at the Bay off the south shore nature trail, then went for a walk at St. Clair NWA.

Caspian Tern

Of note at the NWA, was a pair of Northern Harriers.  I failed to get the action on photos, but I saw a female flying about, then a male came in with some food in hand.  In mid-air, the male transferred the food to the female!  Never witnessed this before.  The female then circled a bit, then went down into the marsh, assumingly to a nest.

female with the food

Also there was an Osprey.

Today, I checked out south Lambton north of Wallaceburg.  No dickcissels that I could find!  I then went for a walk at Reid CA. Again, things were sparse, and no sign of the Oak Hairstreaks.  They are usually out by now, but things are behind this year.  As well their favourite nectaring plant, hemp-dogbane or whatever you want to call it, was not quite in bloom.  More notably, it is almost wiped out at Reid.  Things are getting quite grown-in there which no doubt is a factor.

Some insects at Reid.

Least Skipper

Black-patched Clepsis Moth

Also stopped by Moore WMA where the water level is down enough to check out the causeway.  Very few odes.  Water was a still a bit high to find mussels, but a few were exposed.

Mapleleaf

 

Pink Heelsplitter

Cliff Swallows were late in arriving near Peers Wetland this spring.  They are building nests under the bridge of late.

Mid-Month Meanderings

Walpole Island Friday Morning

We had some wonderful weather all week (as usual).  I took Friday afternoon off to take advantage of it as I knew the weekend was on the doorstep.
I stopped by some usual haunts in southern Lambton County.  Various butterflies and insects are now out.
At Reid CA, Long Dash were on the wing.

At Moore WMA, several fresh Silvery Checkerspots were flying.

Juvenal's Duskywings are at the end of their cycle.

Hobomok Skippers will soon be at their end.

Saturday morning I woke up to an all too familiar scene.  The clouds had rolled in and rain threatened just like clockwork for the weekend.  I headed down to Rondeau anyway and got a walk in before the downpour came.  This forum is not appropriate to describe how I felt Saturday morning!  What is new?

The White-winged Dove was, you guessed it, on its usual perch.

There was always the chance for a late migrant.  I once found a Blackpoll Warbler at Rondeau on June 22!

The Prothonotary Warblers were showing well on Tulip tree trail.

I was in the mood (not a good one with the rain!) to do some driving on Saturday.  I next headed over to Clear Creek nature reserve for a short walk.
While walking around the pond on the north side, I stumbled upon this Song Sparrow nest.

Next stop was Wardsville Woods.  A Gray Comma started things off there.

There were not many butterflies this day, but I did come across some very fresh Silvery Checkerspots amid lots of mosquitoes.

The resident Blue-winged Warbler was singing away.

I did a short tour of the Mosa Forest (Skunk's Misery).  It was early afternoon, so it was rather quiet as expected.  The sun had come out by this time to my amazement.
I did come across some of the usuals.

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Hackberry Emperors were plentiful, along with commas and Question Marks.

Sunday was very nice if one did not mind the heat in the afternoon.
I decided to head down to Point Pelee.  This time of year has proven to be good for gulls at the Tip in the past.  Today turned out to be no exception!

I went directly to the Tip. I had a hunch that pelicans would be around, and they were indeed. Five of them.

There were lots of gulls around, especially on the Tip sand (yes there is a nice sand spit!).

I scanned in vain for something unusual.  Only a young Lesser Black-backed stood out. There was quite a bit of activity, and gulls were constantly coming in from the west side.

At one point, something caught my attention with a gull that had some blackish underwings. It was indeed a Black-headed!  An adult in non-breeding plumage.

I virtually had the Tip to myself the whole two hours-plus I was there and nobody to share the sighting with.  I really wanted to find something good this weekend, so this gull was the victim!

Interestingly, Alan Wormington found a Black-headed Gull  at the Tip in 2013 about this same time of year.  It was in the same plumage.  It stayed for a few days, and I got to see it as well.
June 13, 2015 was the day I found a Laughing Gull at the Tip.  Goes to show this time of year can be fruitful.

Find the Black-headed!

The American White Pelicans took off not long after I arrived at the Tip, but returned after an hour.

Soon they headed towards Pelee Island.

The Black-headed Gull was still resting at the Tip when I left, but by then "tourists" were arriving. The gulls were flushed of course, as the tourists were oblivious to what was in front of them.

I checked for Dickcissels on the way home.  None were at Hilllman, but a few were at the usual site beside Camper's Cove Road east of Wheatley.
As well, a singing male was at the end of Zion Road.

I guess today made up for the dismal weather on Saturday.

Joany's Woods to Pinery and Even more Dickcissels

It was another ambitious day as I headed northward.  I wanted to check out Joany's Woods, just into Middlesex County near Sylvan.

It is a neat place to look for birds and insects (including mosquitoes).  The sun actually came for my walk (yes, the weather forecast was totally wrong!) and no rain today even though it was supposed to be 80% showers.
It was a bit quiet for birds today and I was rather early for insects.  However, Joany's Woods is a good place for Blue-winged Warblers.  I had at least 7 on my walk.

Bashful Blue-winged

There were a number of dragonflies including this clubtail which may be a Midland.

Widow Skimmers were most common.

Pinery Provincial Park is not far away, so I decided to go there.  I did look for insects on my walks.  Along Riverside trail, I found some emeralds along the river.  They never sat still, so I have no idea what they were.  One needs to net these creatures to examine them!

I walked a number of trails.  Red-spotted Purple butterflies were most numerous.  At Pinery, we see the transition types.  You can see regular Red-spotted Purple, almost full White Admiral or variations in between.  I was lucky enough to find a White Admiral on Riverside trail.  It was the first one I have seen in Pinery.

Earlier, I saw the common, more southern counterpart (most of it anyways).

Add caption

Silvery Checkerspots are now out and I saw a number of them in Pinery.  They look like over-sized crescents, and the black dots have white centres.

This park is one of the most reliable spots to find Dusted Skipper, very rare for Ontario.  They are now getting past their prime, but I found a number of them in a known spot.

Note the white above eye giving them a "bandit" look.

Prairie Warblers have returned to Pinery to breed (I assume) in recent years, but I did not come across one today in the traditional locations.  Perhaps they have gone quiet while nesting is underway.

On the way home, Sickdissels Dickcissels were waiting to be found.  This year is perhaps the biggest invasion of them, ever.  Back in 2000 I recall a big influx, but I think this supercedes that!  Sedge Wrens are sometimes associated with this type of year, so perhaps some of those are around in our area.
I checked out a known site along Ravenswood Road for Dickcissels.  A few were there.

Closer to home, I found some new sites on Stanley Line, Baby (pronounced "bawbee") Road north of Wilkesport, and the old Sombra dump on Indian Creek Road.
Males were singing away, perhaps calling for females.

Baby Dickcissel

I had a good hunch that some were at the old Sombra dump, as it has been abandoned for a long time. Indeed a couple were singing their hearts out.

Dump Dickcissel

It is prime time to look for butterflies.  I checked for hairstreaks, but no sign of them yet.  I had them on the 18th last year, so perhaps tomorrow or so!

Long Dash

Peck's Skipper

Four-spotted Skimmer