One more Butterfly Count

"HEY LADIES, YOU'RE ON THE WRONG PAGE. I DON'T LOOK LIKE THAT." A Common Wood-nymph tried to be helpful at the Clear Creek Butterfly Count on July 26th. We were a small group of 2 but found 15 species with a total of 127 individual butterflies! In all, 49 species were found by 24 volunteers!

He continued to have an attachment to Cathy as we tried to remove him from the book!

Painted Lady butterflies have been scarce this year. Glad to find one on the count!!

Red-spotted Purple nectaring on Teasel.

Black Swallowtail Egg on dill.

 I witnessed an amazing interaction between a Great Golden Digger Wasp and a Katydid. Things didn't work out so well for the Katydid as it was about to become food for the unborn children of the Digger Wasp.

 

After the wasp had secured her prey, she carried it back to her nesting tunnels. The Katydid will be placed head first into the tunnel where the wasp will lay an egg on it. The wasp will then cover the hole and leave. When the egg hatches, the young wasp will have a live, but paralyzed meal ready to eat!  

A Few of My Favourite Things...

12 Spotted Skimmer, male. When the feet are held together, the tiny hairs

 on the legs act as a net allowing Dragonflies to catch mosquitoes in flight!

I love listening to the loud vocals of the Carolina Wren.This one was 

quiet but I often wonder if fire truck sirens were designed to imitate their call!

I ventured down a trail in Canatara that is finally dry enough for walking 

and found a female Redstart. I had not seen any of their nests this spring. 

Perhaps the flooded land kept them hidden from humans.

I recently posted a photo of a very young katydid with extremely long antennae. 

This older katydid looks rather awkward with extremely long legs and antennae.

A Harvestman, or Daddy Long legs is resting in his dried leaf 

hammock! His long legs caught my eye as I walked down the path.

A Red-headed Woodpecker has successfully fledged from it's nest in 

Canatara. This juvenile with a grey head, was feasting on mulberries. 

Ever Get The Feeling You're Being Watched?

Young Screech Owl keeping an eye on the path below.

The bold eye patterns on the Common Buckeye likely help to startle potential predators, giving the butterfly a chance to escape! I found 2 of these in Canatara on Monday! The patterning resembles two eyes, orange eye brows and flaring nostrils!

The Question Mark butterfly on my shoe was probably finding dried salt as my shoes spent a lot of time in the mud this spring!

Butterflies in Canatara are few and far between, not surprising since the City sprayed for Gypsy Moths. I was happy to find a Summer Azure while walking along a trail.

I have noticed many dragonflies resembling this one with a black face. Finally took

 the time to identify it. - A Slaty Skimmer, which is a new species for me!

The Eastern Pond Hawk is a different shade of blue and has a green face!

A Hickory Tussock Moth was crawling along my arm when I first noticed him so I urged him to crawl onto a plant. This pretty caterpillar can cause a rash on some people so is best left alone.

Many interesting kinds of fungus to be found in many different locations!

Some Recent Favourite Pics

Orange is a common colour in the meadow these days. Male Monarchs (shown here) have a black scent patch which is visible along a vein near the bottom of the hindwing.

A family of orioles weren't nectaring on the Lily, but they 

were certainly finding a lot of bugs on the plants to eat!

A Shield Bug and Common Red Soldier Beetle had a stand off on the plant highway.

I continue to find lots of Great Spangled Fritillaries!

I was impressed by the antennae on this immature katydid. 
Look closely! They are 3.5 times the length of its body! 

A pair of Banded Longhorn beetles on a wild rose.

An Eastern Tailed-blue opening its wings.

A very hungry caterpillar has been happily eating my carrot tops. It is in the final larval stage (instar) and will soon be making a chrysalis before emerging as an adult Black Swallowtail.

Pinocchio's Cousins

We found a few birds with exceptionally long bills this week and it reminded me of the story of Pinocchio. I'm not lying! These birds have big beaks!

We were headed home from a morning of birding when a "Bird Text" alerted us to a MARBLED GODWIT. We weren't far from Kettle Point, so changed course and found the bird with a 13 cm long bill! The main breeding areas are in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan. A very small breeding area can be found on James Bay. This bird probably had a failed nest and was heading south for the winter. They are rarely seen in Lambton County.

 A couple more pictures of the GODWIT showing size comparison to a Ring-billed Gull.

Early Saturday morning in Canatara, Deryl found a WILLET running along the beach. It was spooked by a Coopers Hawk, but a few hours later, it surprisingly returned.

 The conspicuous black and white wing markings 

on the WILLET are diagnostic when in flight.

Although not necessarily known for a very long beak, perspective 

can appear to change the size of the Red-headed Woodpeckers bill.

I recently watched 3 young crows "lengthen" their beaks by 

using sticks to dig in the mud for bugs at the edge of Lake Chipican!

And we can't forget about Hummingbirds with their very long Pinocchio-like beak!

Hairstreaks in the Heat!

There are many Hairstreaks flying with the warmer weather, although I think even butterflies may be finding the temperatures a little on the warm side!

I haven't seen a Coral Hairstreak since 2012 but managed to find one yesterday during

 my lunch break. I didn't realize what I had found until I looked at the photos on the computer. I returned to today and found it again. Luckily they are loyal to their territory!

Deryl has recently discovered an interest in butterflies and found a couple that I had not seen before including this Striped Hairstreak above and the very rare Northern Oak Hairstreak below. Careful attention must be made to see the differences in the species.

Hummingbird or Clearwing moths have been reported for a few weeks 

and I finally saw my first one of the year this week. They hover, just like a hummingbird!

Although its colour is alarming, the Great Golden Digger Wasp is non aggressive. She was busy digging tunnels in our garden this evening in order to lay her eggs. 

Is it a flower or a dragonfly?? An Eastern Amberwing Dragonfly 

perched perfectly on a stem to create the illusion of a flower!

A Bee and Her Magic Carpet!

I have been fascinated this week by Leaf-cutter Bees. While weeding my garden, I noticed a bee with an incredibly green underside. On closer examination I realized she was carrying an oval-shaped piece of leaf with her 6 legs, making it look like she was riding a saddle or magic carpet! Picture attempts were blurry. A few days ago I watched another Leaf-cutter bee enter a hole in my lawn. No pictures then either.

While walking along the Howard Watson trail this morning, I noticed my 3rd Leaf-cutting bee of the week and was able to snap some reasonable pictures this time. Within the green circle you will see a bee carrying a cut leaf and on the left of the bee is a tiny, dark, round circle. The dark circle is her nest hole. She doesn't damage any structures, always choosing existing holes.

Males will die after mating and the female will live for 5-8 weeks. She chooses the nest hole, cuts the leaves, makes the cocoons, puts food and 1 egg in each cocoon and caps it. Oval shaped leaves are used to make a cylindrical cocoon. Round shaped leaves are used to cap the end. Within the green circle above, the Leaf-cutter Bee is entering the hole.  Some species of Leaf-cutter Bees are 15 times more efficient at pollination than honey bees and they don't sting! NATURE IS SO AMAZING!!

We toured the Reid Conservation Area on Saturday for butterflies. We found lots of Banded Hair streaks, shown above, but the rare species were hiding from us!

Closely related to the Northern Pearly-eye of which I have posted photos recently, is the Appalachian Brown. Rarely do we get to see the upper side of their wings, so I was happy to find one willing to pose for me!

We also found an abundance of dragonflies and damselflies at Reid C.A. I couldn't identify this Eastern Pond Hawk's meal that she was eating, but it did have wings.

And on our way home, we spotted twin fawns in a distant field. Mom was nearby!