Clear Creek Butterfly Count 2018

Today, Sunday, was the annual Clear Creek butterfly count.  Weather was excellent, at least in the morning.  Along Lake Erie, there were severe thunder storms late morning, so we were lucky to avoid that at Moraviantown while our party searched some sites for butterflies.  I left at noon as skies were not looking all that great.

This count can be quite interesting with many good areas to search, especially old railway lines.  Those railway corridors were my favourite spots in the earlier years, but they have deteriorated to some degree since then.
This is one of the latest counts, so you miss many species.  However, it did quite well last year.  It will be interesting to see what the results are.

Our group (led by resident Darren Jacobs) met around 09:00 at the Tim Horton's/grocery store on the Delaware of the Thames First Nation at Moraviantown.  I had never really checked this area before either for birds or butterflies, although we touched a bit on it in the very first year of this count in 2000.

Wild Bergamot seemed to be the flower of choice today for many of the leps.  We found lots of it!

Giant Swallowtails were in numbers rarely seen, as they were all over the place.  Right now, all places are abundant with them.

Monarchs are doing quite well this year, with higher numbers than in recent years.  I did get a photo of its mimic, the Viceroy.

At the north end of the community, there is a trail and some prairie plantings along the Thames River. (just above "Moraviantown" in the above Google Maps photo).  We checked that out just before heading out for lunch as thunder rumbled to the south.

Note dark skies to the south!

I managed to find a few Tawny Emperors.  There is a lot of Hackberry, the larval foodplant, along the banks of the Thames.

At one point I caught sight of a hairstreak which turned out to be a Hickory.  It is getting late for the satyrium hairstreaks, but Hickory is one that can be found at this time.  I was not able to get a photo before it took off.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Common Sootywing

Our group ended up with at least 24 species in the morning.
Heard that the total species count for the entire day was 43.  Fairly good for this time of year!

Before we met in the morning, I stopped by the Tecumseh Monument area east of Thamesville.  It is a nice spot for a walk and to learn about early history of the area.  Interpretive signs tell about the War of 1812 and Chief Tecumseh who was killed nearby.  The area has a rich history, and significant events happened here during the War of 1812.

Windsor Way - Ojibway Butterfly Count July 7

Today I ventured down to Windsor to help out with the Ojibway butterfly count.  I have done this count quite often as there is excellent habitat for interesting species.
Our usual route is Brunet Park, then Spring Garden complex.

While we met at the Ojibway parking lot, many hairstreaks were flying about giving us a good sign that these creatures would be in decent numbers.  They even landed on the cars.

We spent almost 2.5h at Brunet Park where we found a good variety of butterflies.  Hickory hairstreaks were in excellent numbers (~65), as well as Banded.

We did find a couple of Acadian as well.

Oak Hairstreak has been found here on a couple of occasions, and I truly believe there is a small hidden colony here.  We did not come across one today, of course!😒

Around the pond we found a good number of species, including a Dion Skipper and a couple of Dukes' Skippers.

Dion Skipper

We found another under the power line corridor nearby.

A few Wild Indigo Duskywings were here too.

Just before lunch hour, we checked out a spot near Ojibway which harboured an impressive number of Baltimore Checkerspots.  (also lots of Banded Hairstreaks).

We tallied 29 here!😤

Opting for a  late lunch, we moved into the Spring Garden complex and checked out some familiar spots.
Here we found several Edwards', several Coral and another Acadian Hairstreak.

Coral Hairstreak

Edwards' Hairstreak

Acadian at a bad angle!

In a sedgy area, Jeff and I found a couple of Black Dash.

Also, a Broad-winged Skipper which eluded the camera.

At the "hill", we found dozens of Wild Indigo Duskywings, a Dave Martin and Linda Wladarski, and a few more skippers.

At the north end of the complex we checked a usual spot for American Copper and came up with only two.

More Coral Hairstreaks were here as well.

By this juncture, it was time to call it a day and head to Tim Horton's for a late lunch and to tally up.

Colicroot

We ended up with 43 species, which I was happy with.  Swallowtails were almost absent today, and other species were low in numbers, but it was a good day.☺

Erieau Rails and Trails

Sunday morning dawned crisp, clear and calm as I headed down to Erieau.  My destination was McGeachy Pond where some good birds have been seen lately.  If you have been following the sightings reports since early December, some late-lingering birds have been found here.
The area also includes the Erieau Marsh Trail (a.k.a. rail trail) which is just across the road.  Some of the McGeachy birds cross over for a change in scenery at times.
Late warblers have included Palm, Wilson's, Orange-crowned and Common Yellowthroat, while a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher lingered well into December.  A Nelson's Sparrow was found on December 13.

The Palm was actually a "Yellow" type, occasionally seen in migration.  It was locally record late as it was last seen on the Christmas Bird Count December 18.

Photo by Garry Sadler

The Wilson's Warbler I first found on December 4 and was last seen December 17.

The Orange-crowned and Common Yellowthroat are more hardy birds and will likely still be around.

Last Sunday, a "winter" Virginia Rail was discovered along McGeachy dike.  It was seen for about three days, but not since, and could very well still be present.  Virginia Rails are occasionally seen in winter and for example, I once found one on the St. Clair NWA CBC 2 January 2006.  The rail was the bird I was most interested in, but Steve and I could not find it on Sunday.
We did, however, come across the Common Yellowthroat chipping away in the tangles.  It was impossible to photograph!
The wintering Gray Catbird can be quite elusive and usually you see it like this:

However, on our second pass, it was more co-operative as it fed on berries.

The dike has lots of tangles and shrubbery with many types of berries for wintering birds.  The birds hide well in the tangles and every walk seems quite different.

This past December 3, we found a Bohemian Waxwing among many Cedar Waxwings.  It was only one of a few Rondeau area records.

McGeachy Pond was acquired by the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority in 1974.  Previous to that, the area was a low-lying marshy part of Lake Erie where the shoreline came up to the corner of Erie Shore Drive and Erieau Road.  A dike was constructed to close off that triangular area to create the significant wetland.
It has attracted many types of birds over the years and even some rarities have been spotted.
A viewing tower is located near the east parking lot.

Across the road is the famed "rail trail" which is the former right of way of the Pere Marquette rail line that came in to the bustling port of Erieau.

The line was abandoned in the early 1970's, but the rails along the shoreline of Rondeau Bay were left and still can be seen poking through the ground.

This trail has been an excellent spot for birdwatching and is really a "catch-all" or migrant trap during migration.  There used to be more trees along the trail as I recall, but it is still a good spot for birds.
A public trail was created a few years ago which has made access easier.
I remember in my early years of birding the first part was difficult to access, but farther down the farmers used it as a laneway where there was easier walking.
It was always a spot to check out as it seemed to attract a large number of birds.  I remember when I first started birding, stopping there one day in May, and it was crawling with migrants.  In fact, I did not get far after along period of time and eventually decided to leave after being overwhelmed!

Brewster's Warbler on the trail

It is good in winter as well since you have the marsh on the east side.  Marsh Wrens and Common Yellowthroats will attempt to winter there and it is also a good spot for birds to linger into the winter. For example, back on 13 December 2009, Jim Burk and I found a Northern Waterthrush beside the viewing stand. It stayed to be counted on the CBC the next week.

Marsh Wren

And, the trails are good in the warm season for butterflies.  An excellent variety can be found here and even some rarities.  At McGeachy, I found the first White-M Hairstreaks of the Rondeau area one year.
A couple of years ago, I found an Ocola Skipper on the rail trail-a first for Chatham-Kent.

Ocola Skipper

White-M Hairstreak

As winter goes on, we will be checking the area regularly.

Skunk's Misery Butterflies

Turned out to be a decent day weatherwise for the Skunk's Misery butterfly count.  It is one of my favourite counts as there are some good areas to check and some good birding at the same time!

I arrived a bit early and went down Sassafras and Centreville Roads to listen for birds.  I heard/saw five Hooded Warblers in that run and got a couple more during the morning.  A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was decent for the area.
We saw a Broad-winged Hawk just after lunch.  Some do nest in the area.

My party worked the west end of Centreville as usual in the morning.

Centreville looking west

Hairstreaks were in really good numbers this year, and actually the best we have had.  Hickory seemed to be all over the place.

A few Striped were spotted as well.  I think the Striped is the prettiest hairstreak of the satyrium genus.

Lots of Banded Hairstreaks, but the Hickories took the prize.

We had a few Acadian Hairstreaks near the west end of Centreville.

No Coral or Edwards' were seen today though.

Tawny Emperors were quite plentiful today, and a good number of Gray Commas were seen.

At one point I spotted a Compton Tortoiseshell, but the others were behind me and did not get to see it.  It was the first one I had seen in a few years!  Unfortunately I could not get the camera on it in time.

Swallowtails were very scarce and our party had only 2 Tiger in the afternoon.

In the afternoon we did the NW part of the circle starting at the north end of Watterworth Road, then across Mosside Road to the Aughrim area then over to Cameron.
Ric and Sandy Symmes were pleased to join us for the afternoon.

I did not get my Baltimore Checkerspot, but one party had quite a few in a known spot.  Total of them for the count was 39.

Skippers in general were rather few.  A few European were still kicking around.  One party still had a very worn Hobomok.
Our party did get a couple of Peck's, only a few Northern Broken-Dash, one Little Glassy-wing (I spotted), and a number of Delaware Skippers.

The few Silver-spotted seen were very worn and one was almost unrecognizable!
There was one Mulberry Wing on the count.

The tentative species count was 49 which was not bad with all factors considered.

Once again, few dragonflies were seen.  I did see a couple large darners during the day.

Sydenham River from the bridge on Cameron

Photos from the Canon G16.