Some Duskywings and Showing Some Mussel(s)

 Monday it was up to north Lambton for me.  

To kill time early in the day, I stopped by the old Blackwell Landfill at Sarnia.  Of interest, this little weasel was in the parking lot carrying breakfast when I got back from my walk!

 

I wanted to look for duskywings or whatever else popped up later in the morning.  It was early when I arrived, so checked out the Heritage Forest at Port Franks.

The forest is a large tract of land that is interesting to look for breeding birds.  I had already checked out the L-Lake area a few days ago, but this day I checked out the larger portion on the other side of Mud Creek.

I took no photos (not much opportunity!), but Acadian Flycatcher and Hooded Warblers are numerous here.  I found multiples of each.

There are other warblers that breed here, but oddly I did not come across a Cerulean as I often do.

By the time I was done here, I moved a short distance over to the Karner Blue Sanctuary where one can find lots of duskywings.  It was a bit sparse though, for them.  

I did see the Juvenal's, Sleepy, Wild Indigo and possibly Columbine.  My photos revealed several Sleepy, but I did not get on any Dreamy with the camera...apparently!

Sleepy and Dreamy are quite similar, so sometimes difficult to differentiate if one does not get a good look.

Worn Sleepy

perhaps Wild Indigo?

another Sleeper

Juvenal's

I met up with a friend and we walked around.  He mentioned that the injured Ferruginous Hawk from Cedar Springs (early May) had been released after rehab a couple of days previous.  It was fitted with a radio collar.

Interestingly today, a Ferruginous Hawk was sighted at Erieau late this afternoon and we suspect it is the same bird!

Yesterday I went down to Rondeau Park and walked out south beach.  It can be interesting this time of year with shorebirds and gulls.  However, it was rather disappointing!  There were lots of common little shorebirds of various types, but practically no gulls.  Where are the gulls and terns we usually see this time year?  Perhaps yet to come.  I was hoping to see Red Knots.  

There were still lots of warblers, etc. along the south point trail (west).  However, they were difficult to spot in the treetops, especially the ones that were not singing.

After Rondeau, I slid over to the Erieau Marsh trail (aka rail trail) and spent lots of time.  A number of warblers were working the area, including a Connecticut Warbler that was found previously.

It took some time before I heard it singing, and we eventually managed good looks at it. Of course, I was not quick enough with the camera when it popped out in plain view.  Later, I only got this  embarrassing photo!

A Least Bittern made an appearance off the viewing stand at one point.

Also of interest was a Fox Snake along the trail.

Today, I stuck closer to home and checked out Reid CA for breeding birds.  The wind picked up while I was there, and it was stiff out of the north all day.  I used the opportunity in the afternoon to do some yard work!

After Reid, I went up to Moore WMA to check for mussels since my quick visit the other day was not satisfactory.  With water level a bit lower, I found some included below.

Pink Heelsplitter

Paper Pondshell

Fragile Papershell

The visit a couple days ago on the way home from north Lambton revealed the largest White Heelsplitter I have ever seen.  Must have been an oldtimer!  The shell was perhaps 20 cm.

It is an interesting time of year, so some rare birds are in the midst.

Lambton Leps: Elfins, Duskywings and a Marble!

I had a window of opportunity to head up to North Lambton today before the usual weekend weather set in.  It was a bit hazy, but enough sun and warmth to bring out some butterflies.  It was a tiring day, as I checked as many areas as possible and probably walked 30 km!  I was not able to leave Wallaceburg until about 09:15, so it worked out well for what I wanted to see.
It was not a birding trip, so my targets were to find elfins and duskwings, and especially Olympia Marble. I did watch for birds of course and did come across a Prairie Warbler at Pinery, for example.

I headed straight for the beach accesses at Pinery.

I came across quite a few elfins, but all appeared to be Hoary this time.

I do not see many elfins, as there are none in Chatham-Kent and south Lambton!  As well, we are usually along Lake Erie looking for rare birds in May.

Some duskywings appeared to be only Juvenal's.  I even looked for Dusted Skipper to no avail.  However, I did not check one key area for Dusted.  Perhaps another time!

There were many Hoary Elfins.

I did not come across Olympia Marble in Pinery, which was my main target for the day.

After Pinery, I went over to Port Franks and visited the Karner Blue Sanctuary.

Wild Lupine

Here, there were dozens of duskywings!  I think it was the best day I had there for this family of skippers.  I saw three or four species.
Duskywings are notoriously difficult to ID sometimes, so I hope I got them right.
Sleepy was quite abundant, and I saw probably a dozen of these.

Juvenal's was there of course, with some well-marked.

I may have seen Columbine's as well.  These are very similar to Wild Indigo, but a bit smaller.  Red Columbine, foodplant, was fairly abundant.  Wild Indigo Duskywings can be found here as well.

I am not sure I saw a Dreamy Duskywing which is quite similar to Sleepy.  At least I did not photograph one.  I have seen them there in the past though.
This one is a bit dicey.

At one point, I saw a small white butterfly in the distance.  I knew right away what I had, but it took some time to get close and finally see it perched.

Olympia Marble it was!  😊👍

It has been a very long time since I have seen one, and in fact I could not tell you when that was.  They fly in mid spring and usually I am not up to north Lambton much at that time.  Same for the elfins which fly only a short time.

Also at Port Franks, I came across an Eastern Pine Elfin.  It was a beauty!

Later, I checked one area at Ipperwash Beach.  I saw a couple more Eastern Pine Elfins.

There is Western Pine Elfin, but one has to go farther north in the province.

No Olympia Marbles there either.

It was getting later in the afternoon, so I did not check the one trail at Ipperwash Dunes and Swales, which could have revealed more things such as Roadside Skipper.
I wanted to stop at some other areas on the way home, including Dow Wetlands, where we can find Upland Sandpiper.

I went home via St. Clair Parkway, as I needed to stop by to see some friends.  Along the way, a tardy Common Loon was off the CF Industries outflow.  Not unusal, as the odd ones can be found into summer around here.

Get ready for weekend weather......!  I am beat.

Bearberry at Pinery

Sloughs, Swales, Dunes and Duskywings

I took Friday off since the weekend weather was soon to come.  The day was nice and sunny except for the prevailing east winds (not good for Rondeau!).
I visited Rondeau Park, but birds were rather few.  As I mentioned earlier, I believe that many birds overshot the Lake Erie shoreline this year and birding has been better farther inland or farther north.

The park remains flooded in many areas with the only trails that one can wear shoes are Spicebush and the maintenance loop.  South Point trail is completely flooded on the east side and ordinary rubber boots will not cut it!  Hip waders would do nicely.
The sloughs are overflowing!

Friday morning I parked at maintenance and walked down Rondeau Road across Bennett and back up Harrison.  The Eastern Screech-owl was back on Water Street at its leafy hideout.

No doubt more birds are yet to come as many breeding birds were not present in numbers.  There were very few Red-eyed Vireos.  Among other things, I have not yet seen a cuckoo!  Unprecedented for this date for me.
Some flycatchers are in, but no doubt more are to show.

Eastern Wood-Peewee

I found a variety of warblers in my walk, but not in any numbers.  I did come across 4 different Prothonotary Warblers, one being way up Harrison north of the VC.  This one has been there over a week.
Black-throated Greens I have found scarce this year.

An American Woodcock was along Harrison Trail.

Being rather discouraged, I left the park well before noon and headed over to Hillman Marsh.  Things are always changing there, so it is worth a try.  Unfortunately I did not see anything of note.  The Little Gull and Wilson's Phalarope that were there in the morning were not to be seen in the shorebird cell.

Today, just like clockwork, it was cloudy and rainy.  (I just copy and paste this phrase each week).  I needed a change of scenery so I headed up to Ipperwash and Port Franks.  It was far more productive than a visit to Rondeau!  My first walk was at Ipperwash Dunes and Swales, a truly unique natural area.

The series of dune ridges and low swales create a nice habitat.

I found a good variety of warblers there, plus other birds.  Sandhill Cranes nest here, and fresh colt was accompanying its parents.  I was not able to get a clear photo though.

The best warbler here was a singing Connecticut in a thick area.  Despite some effort, it did not show its face with bold eye-ring!
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was here and likely nests.

It was an enjoyable walk despite the cloudy skies.

Usually an Acadian Flycatcher here!

Next, I moved over to the Lambton Heritage Forest at Port Franks.  This is one of my favourite spots as it is a large tract of forest.  I was not disappointed here.
Acadian Flycatchers breed here and I found at least 3 this day.  They tend to be around concentrations of hemlock trees for some reason.
Hooded Warblers are regular here and I heard at least two.  Normally there are more though.
I found a good variety of warblers, and in good numbers.  Many were migrants, but a singing male Cerulean was likely a resident.
I got quite a ways down the trail when it started to pour rain.  I found a large hemlock tree to stand under until the rain passed.
Red-eyed Vireos were quite numerous today.  Yellow-throated Vireos nest here and I found at least five individuals.
It was a joy to spend a couple of hours here looking for birds despite putting up with weekend weather.

The third walk was at L-Lake trail.  At the start, a singing male Hooded Warbler greeted me.  Much farther along the NCC trail, there was another singing male.

Where the second Hooded was, an Acadian Flycatcher was present--in the same spot as last year.

One needs to know bird songs and calls to seek these things out!

The NCC trail parallels part of the trail system at the Heritage Forest along a meandering creek.

old oxbow

A couple of benches are along the way, including this one.  I remember Delmar Ellis from my earlier days in Lambton Wildlife.

By this time, there were breaks of sun, so I headed over to the Karner Blue Sanctuary.  Here we have  one of the best spots to find duskywings.  It was not an ideal day, but I did find a few including Juvenal's, Dreamy and Sleepy.
At one point I likely had an elfin, but it got a way on me.

Sleepy Duskywing

Juvenal's Duskywing

Also, there were a couple of dragonflies, including Springtime Darner (our earliest mosaic darner).

Despite the weather, it was quite an enjoyable day in one of my (many) favourite natural areas.

Forster's (not Forester's) Tern