Oblique Things and Sightings of Late

 Nothing too earth-shattering this week.  I have been looking at insects lately, and today especially, there was a multitude of butterflies.

With asters in bloom, many little insects have been attracted to the flowers.  Oblique Streaktails have been plentiful.

Oblique Streaktail at Peers

Oblique Streaktail at Rondeau

Yesterday, I came across another insect with oblique in its name.  An Oblique-banded Pond Fly was at Nicholl's Memorial Forest and Wetland at Wilkesport.

Some other insects:

Bramble Mason Wasp 

flower fly sp.

This past Monday afternoon was nice enough to go for a long walk at Reid CA.  I encountered three Royal River Cruisers, certainly the latest I have seen them.

getting worn!

Some butterflies included Silver-spotted Skippers and Common Buckeyes which are very abundant this year.

Common Painted-Lady

And the tiny things:

Tufted Globetail

Of course, a mussel shell cannot go un-noticed along the way.

Giant Floater

Tuesday I was interested in the long walk out Rondeau Park's marsh trail.  I went as far as Long Pond, a familiar 11 km round trip.

It was interesting, with lots of birds, but nothing unusual.  I had hopes of finding a Nelson's Sparrow, but despite a valiant effort, I came up empty on that front!

Several birds tripped the eBird filter, including Swamp Sparrow where I tallied 120.  

Wilson's Snipe kept popping up with at least 31 seen.

Quite a few Marsh Wrens are still around.  I saw/heard at least 20.

There were not too many warblers, but Palm seemed to be the most numerous.  Among various species, there was Orange-crowned and Ovenbird.

There were a few butterflies including Least Skipper.

And, just as I was leaving the trail, a Fiery Skipper caught my eye at a bad angle.

I checked Keith McLean C. L. before going home.  No Nelson's Sparrow seen!

Yesterday, I stayed fairly close to home, but did not find anything to write home about.  I went for a walk at Peers Wetland, and in the afternoon, a pleasant walk at Wilkesport.

Lots of flower flies, and the following one was very numerous. However, it is too difficult to ID as to species.

flower fly sp.

Tufted Globetail

Common Whitetail (F)

Today, seemed like a good day to go to Rondeau.  I had anticipations of a good lakewatch at dog beach, but not too much was seen.  Better days ahead no doubt!

I then walked south point trail (east), but found few birds.  However, there was  crazy number of sulphurs and Common Buckeyes, among other butterflies.  Probably saw close to 40 Buckeyes!

It as then off to Keith McLean C. L. to see what was around.  I met Steve there, and we looked for Nelson's Sparrows to no avail.  There is not as much good habitat this year it seems.

After Steve left, I ate my lunch, then decided to go for another walk.  It was successful!  Although not a close look in good light, I came up with my first Nelson's Sparrow of the year.

This area was also littered with Common Buckeye, sulphurs, and others.  This Bronze Copper caught my eye at one point.

There are probably some interesting days ahead with birding, as I like October!

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in the yard

Insects Here and There and More Yard Critters

 Friday I headed southwest and first stopped at Mitchell's Bay to walk the south shore trail.  It was a pleasant morning and just the "usual" things were seen.

Tule Bluet

I continued on and passed through Stevenson, where there are some Dickcissels just east of the village.

My destination was Hillman Marsh where I wanted to do the long walk on the dike.  

I usually see Broad-winged Skippers this time of year, and this day was no exception.

Broad-winged Skipper

Skimming Bluet

Some Blanding's Turtles were seen.

Near the end of the walk, I came upon a pair of Dickcissels that appear to be nesting.  The male was singing on a perch, and a female popped up out of the vegetation.

Friday evening we had a wicked storm around Wallaceburg.  I probably never saw it rain so hard!  Winds were high as well, and we lost hydro for at least four hours.

The next morning it was evident how strong the storm was.  Trees and limbs down all over, as well as hydro poles.  Eight poles were down on Langstaff Line alone!

Saturday was a bit of a washout as it rained off and on all day.  Now we are getting way too much rain!

Sunday dawned hazy, but thankfully we did have some sun later on.  The main even today was the odonate count at Sydenham River Nature Reserve near Alvinston.

I took my usual section.  As expected, things were quite scarce as they have been every place this year.

No real highlights for me, but a Carolina Saddlebags was nice near the end.

Some finds:

Powdered Dancer (teneral)

Azure Bluet

American Rubyspot

Banded Hairstreak!

Northern Pearly-Eye

Delaware Skipper

As expected with all the rain, the river was running very high, so we could not get close to the bank unfortunately.

After getting home, I checked the garden for more yard critters.  Found a couple of new ones, and got a better shot of a Tufted Globetail, a very tiny insect.

Clouded Plant Bug

Thick-legged Hoverfly

Eastern Forktail

Margined Calligrapher, another very tiny insect, seems to be quite common everywhere.

This one is completely puzzling so far.  Even iNaturalist cannot ID it! The nearest it comes is a European insect that should not be here.

On to another week!

Monkey-flower at SRNR