Sandy Lake Road & Turtle Rescues!

Some butterfly enthusiasts suggest that Sandy Lake Road could be the best butterfly road in Ontario! Pictured is a Canadian Tiger Swallowtail.

Two years ago, we visited Sandy Lake Road for the first time. Unfortunately a grader was improving the road surface when we arrived. This year, we also arrived on "grader" day. All we could do was laugh at the coincidence. The loose surface made it easy for butterflies to access salt and minerals on the dirt road, so it wasn't all bad.

Several butterfly species in the area are unlikely to be found in South-western Ontario, including this Harris's Checkerspot.

Beautiful patterns on the underwing of the same Harris's Checkerspot.

Upperwing and Underwing of a Silver-bordered Fritillary

Silvery Blue: This species has migrated to SW Ontario in the past few years.

Tricoloured Bumblebee - notice the orange, yellow and black bands on the abdomen.

The quick crawling movement of this large spider surprised me! Woodland Giant Wolf Spider: The tiny yellow dots on her abdomen are her babies that she is carrying!

 

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker snacking on an ant.

Dragonflies were often found during the week including a female Calico Pennant.

Crab Spider "hiding" on a daisy.

Diervilla Clearwing moth

Elfin Skimmer - Ontario's smallest dragonfly

Frosted Whiteface

Racquet-tailed Emerald

Taiga Bluet

It's egg laying season for turtles. Unfortunately many turtles are killed or injured when crossing roads to get to their nesting grounds. This Blanding's Turtle was at the edge of a busy road with speeding dump trucks. We were able to rescue this individual and 2 others during the week by safely carrying them across the road.

We learned that Blanding's Turtles and possibly all turtles, will hiss when picked up! It's important to carry a turtle to the side of the road in which it is pointing; otherwise it will just turn around and cross the road to where it was headed in the first place.

Silent Lake Provincial Park

View of Silent Lake from the day use beach.

This picturesque trail was our most mosquito intensive walk of the week! While attempting to record bird songs, playback revealed very loud mosquito buzzing which drowned out the sounds of the birds. Heavy rains had fallen the night before and some of the down-sloping trail sections had water running down them. We didn't spend much time standing still, but did enjoy the walk.

Trail Terrain.

Moss covered rock reminded me of a bird spreading its wings to land. (or perhaps it crash-landed?)

When Bonnie's Pond  was logged during the mid 1800's, horses skidded huge White Pine logs across the frozen pond as it was the easiest route to take during the winter months. One of the horses, named Bonnie, fell through the ice. The horse was lost and from that point on, loggers referred to the area as Bonnie's Pond.

For the most part, these trail markers were well placed, but we had to scan carefully to ensure we stayed on the trail. We did lose sight of the trail towards the end and later learned from a staff person that these markers are occasionally stolen.

After our 3 km tour at Bonnie's Pond, we headed to the beach by the visitors area. The open area meant fewer mosquitos and we had success finding insects drying out as they waited for the sun to shine. Great Tiger Moth is above.

Nymphula Moth

Blue Jay eating an Ant snack.

Exuvia (exoskeleton) of a dragonfly nymph, was left behind on a plant after the nymph crawled out of the water. The adult emerged, sporting its new wings and flew away. Dragonfly nymphs will swim in the water up to 4 years before developing into winged adults.

The Fifteen-spotted Lady Beetle is a master of disguise. Its transformation into a dark purple colour is thought to help it absorb more heat from the sun in the cooler forest canopy, while also making it look less like a tasty treat to birds. It is significantly larger and more oval-shaped than the average lady beetle. They often reach nearly 10mm in length, nearly double the size of common garden varieties.

https://plantiary.com/insect/anatis-labiculata_7368.html

 Egan's Chutes Provincial Park

Egan Chutes was established in 1989 as a non-operating provincial Nature Reserve to protect natural habitats and landform features. Interpretive information was located at the parking location. 

We were interested in the waterfalls at Egan Chutes. An unmaintained road alongside the York River provided suitable hiking terrain. When we heard the sound of rushing water, we followed foot trails to the waterfalls. We initially chose the wrong side of the river on which to walk. The more picturesque views were on the opposite side of the river. In our backtracking, we walked over 18,000 steps to view both sides, but the views were worth it!

 It was a very “mothy day” Hydriomena Moth 

 Petraphora Moth

 Probole Moth - Initially, I thought it was just a crumpled leaf.

The movement of the caterpillar caught my attention. It was busy snacking on the end of a stem. I wonder if it knew that “something was sneaking up on it??”

 Algonquin Provincial Park!

Staying in Bancroft allowed us to access the trails at the east end of Algonquin Park. The first mammal that we encountered was a beautiful Red Fox. We noticed it in the ditch as we drove along highway 60. We pulled over to the road shoulder where we ended up with a good photo opportunity.

The Spruce Bog Trail was first on our walking agenda. While walking through a wooded area at the beginning of the trail, we found a young Red Squirrel, "hiding' on the ground.

Wetland at Spruce Bog Trail

Green Frog

Swamp Laurel

Swamp Sparrow

Powdered Geometer Moth

Video: We watched a "living" pogo stick bounce about 100 times as she laid eggs in the water at the Spruce Bog Trail - possibly a Twin-spotted Spiketail.

The Beaver Pond Trail was our next stop.

The trail location was the perfect spot to find a Beaverpond Clubtail!

It was also a good spot to find a Beaver Lodge!

Calico Pennant

Dragonfly and exoskeleton

Common Shiners, near a bridge on Opeongo Road

A couple of kayakers paddling the wetland along Opeongo Road.

Woodpeckers will often drum on metal in the spring when trying to attract a mate. This Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was making a lot of racket on a road sign along Opeongo Road. June 9th seemed a little late to still be trying to track down a mate, but it has been a cool spring.

The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker moved over to a fallen log to continue his drumming.

The Algonquin Museum and interpretive trail brings to life the story of logging from the early timber days to modern forestry management. The water provided good habitat for dragonflies, many of which we saw along the route.

Chalk-fronted Corporals - perhaps the most common species that we saw.

Dragonfly eating a fly!

My hat became the stopping grounds for a pair of Crimson-winged Whiteface Dragonflies in the mating wheel!!