Recent Encounters and Thanksgiving Birding

 

Autumn has certainly been in the air the last few days as I made my rounds this past week.  Many clear nights!  We had our first frost this past week.

The moon was still full at the beginning of the week.

A few clouds went by at one point.

Most of the warblers have gone through and Yellow-rumped are the dominant species now.

I have gone to Mitchell's Bay about every three days, and it has not been disappointing.  This Black-and-white Warbler posed briefly at one point.

One must sort through the blackbird flocks for anything of note.  I took a random binocular scan at one tree and spotted a Yellow-headed Blackbird!  Of all the blackbirds, I just got lucky in spotting this one.

Thursday morning I decided to check out Dow Wetlands south of Sarnia.  It is always good for sparrows this time of year, but I did not come up with anything of note.  It was interesting though.

Lincoln's Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Friday seemed like a good day to go to Point Pelee.  I have avoided the place since last spring!  Unusual for me, but that is how things have gone this year.

Ruby-crowned Kinglets were the most numerous species of passerines, especially on De Laurier trail.

One can see how dry it is.  Lots of mud everywhere!

There were very few butterflies, but I did not stay past noon when things warmed up.

Eastern Comma

Not many nectaring sources left, so fewer insects too.

Transverse-banded Flower Fly

I stopped by Hillman Marsh before heading home.  Hillman Creek is quite dry with lots of mud attracting shorebirds.  There were a few to look at.

A Bronze Copper caught my eye at one point along the trail.

Saturday I once again did the (south) trail at Mitchell's Bay.  

There were a few Yellow-rumped Warblers, but I did catch sight of an Orange-crowned.

Still holding out for some rarity here though!

The morning was too nice, so I continued on and walked Peers Wetland.  The moon was still quite visible well into the morning.  Not full anymore!

There were a few Yellow-rumped Warblers, but no other warbler types.  A couple of Blue-headed Vireos were working the trees at one point.

Continuing on, I went for a fairly lengthy walk at Reid Conservation Lands.  As usual, not many birds, but quite a few kinglets were throughout.

View at back field looking north

I walked along the river for a while then cut through the woods.  I noticed a lot of crayfish activity, but I never see the creatures!

This turkey feather stood out at one point.

And this patch of Pear-shaped Puffball fungus as well.

With the moderate east wind today, I thought it would be a good day to walk out Rondeau's marsh trail.  It was a bit cloudy to start, but then cleared up for a fine day.

I ended up walking all the way to Long Pond!  It was certainly tiring, but I guess I am not as young as I used to be....

It was a bit on the quiet side, but there were lots of sparrows, especially past the half way point.  Swamp Sparrows dominated the scene.

As expected, not many warblers, and most were Yellow-rumped.  I did see one Orange-crowned, a couple of Palms, and the best was a Northern Waterthrush at the half-way boardwalk.

I was not quick enough to photograph any birds (or did not try!), but later on a few insects were seen along the way.  

This late Tule Bluet was one of them.

There were very few flowering plants, but each one had something on it.  Some flowers even had four or five species of insects on them.

Not in focus, but this photo shows Oblique Streaktail, Perennial Mason Wasp and Eurasian Drone Fly.  The drone flies were quite numerous.

Here are closeups of the tiny insects. Difficult to focus on!

Eastern Calligrapher

Oblique Streaktail

Probably best was two or three Perennial Mason Wasps.  Considered endangered.

Butterflies included Viceroy, Monarch, Eastern Comma and Orange Sulphur.

That is it for this week!

More Insects, Valves and a Gold(en) Medal Find

 Needless to say, it has been a scorching-hot week and it has been too uncomfortable to be out past noon.  Once again, the Wallaceburg area received way too much rain!  I saw places flooded that were not before!  As a result, activities have been limited.

Been checking local spots and finding the usual things.  No sign of any hairstreaks at Reid CA or elsewhere after last Sunday.  It might be another bad year for hairstreaks, but we will see.

Pronghorn Clubtails have been doing well, especially at McKeough.  Multiple individuals.

Butterflies have been scarce, it appears.

Eastern tailed-Blue

Delaware Skipper

This morning I went for a walk at McKeough before it got too hot.  Not much to see, but I lucked out and found a Baltimore Checkerspot!

I have had them before at this location, but not for a few years.  And, they are indeed scarce in our area.

I then took a few steps, and came across a Common Buckeye.  I completely missed this species last year.

I checked Brander Park, Port Lambton again a couple of days ago but no luck in finding anything decent.

Skimming Bluet

I noticed a bluet coming out of nymph stage at one point.

Yesterday I headed up to Port Franks and area.  There was a reason!  To kill some time at first, I stopped by Ausable River Cut CA.  It was too early for many odes, but I looked for some mussels.  Not much variety, but here are some of the less common types.

Wabash Pigtoe

Deertoe

Mapleleaf

This bluet was quite familiar.

I also walked Karner Blue Sanctuary to put in more time before heading to a unique spot.

Calico Pennant (F)

Destination was the Sandrin Tract at Northville, which is part of the Lambton Heritage Forest complex.  I had never been there before, and it is actually a fabulous place with an extensive network of trails.

In the middle is an old sand extraction area which has some ponds.  The previous day Darrell Parsons found an apparent Golden-winged Skimmer.  This is a species never before seen in Canada, and is common in the south-east United States.  It extends up the east coast and inland.  There is only one record for Michigan.

There is no doubt as to the ID!  Needham's Skimmer is very similar, but has a more restricted range and has subtle differences to the Golden-winged.

I arrived at the trail entrance off Port Frank's Road and followed it, not knowing where I was going.  Eventually, it came to an open sandy area with some small ponds.  I then knew I was at the spot.

There were lots of odonates flying, including a couple of obvious Comet Darners.

This is the earliest I have seen a Comet Darner.  Usually it is into July at the other known sites!

I also found a spreadwing, which is apparently a Southern.  These are another rarity!

After only ten minutes, I spotted the Golden-winged Skimmer.  It was quite obvious!  It eventually went to perch and stayed there for over half an hour.

I really had doubts that I would see this skimmer, but it was certainly a treat to find it right away!

Another skimmer, but common, was the Twelve-spotted.

A number of other things were flying including Carolina Saddlebags, somewhat uncommon here.

This is an incredible spot with so many rarities!  Other things seen here by others include Citrine Forktail and Mocha Emerald. It is certainly worth another visit soon!

On the way home, I stopped for a lunch break at Marthaville Habitat near Petrolia.  It is a good place for odes, but it was once again, getting too hot to linger.  I always see Slaty Skimmer here.

This morning, I started at Mitchell's Bay and walked the south trail.  It was quite birdy, but with the common stuff.

A couple of bluets here included Tule and Skimming.

I then headed up to McKeough (as mentioned above) then to Moore WMA.  Moore was quite miserable as it is so grown-in anymore and of course it was wet with the recent rain.  The hot and humid weather made things more miserable!

There was not much flying (except mosquitoes), but the usual Blue-tipped Dancers were seen.

Not much in the way of mussels (valves), as the water level was a bit high.

Mapleleaf

This afternoon I checked the garden for different insects again.  Here are a couple of new ones.

Bellflower Resin Bee

Louis's Club-horned Cuckoo Wasp (possibly)

And of course, the common and very tiny Margined Calligrapher.