A Whip-poor-will in Daylight!

Although I have heard many Whip-poor-wills after dark, I finally had a chance to see one yesterday while walking the Suncor Trail. Deryl's keen eyes made the discovery! Eastern Whip-poor-wills are patterned with a complicated mottling of gray and brown, which camouflages them nearly perfectly with leaf litter or tree bark. Although the bird is the central focus of these pictures, it took a minute or two of being told where to look before I could finally see it.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eastern_Whip-poor-will/overview

Eastern Whip-poor-wills lay their eggs on the ground in phase with the lunar cycle, so that they hatch on average 10 days before a full moon. When the moon is near full, the adults can forage the entire night and capture large quantities of insects to feed to their nestlings. 

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eastern_Whip-poor-will/id

After the excitement of finding the bird, we saw a sampling of insects. Perhaps some will become food for the Whip-poor-will once night falls, if they don't find adequate shelter.

Clouded Sulphur

Differential Grasshoppers, mating.

Eastern Comma

It's getting late in the season to be finding Monarch caterpillars and I saw two on Sept. 25th. These caterpillars need to transform through the chrysalis stage and become winged adults so they can make it all the way to Mexico for the winter!

We found 2 Viceroys hanging out on an Autumn Olive Tree. This individual clung to one berry for several minutes. Although we were looking from the underside, I could see the proboscis moving and believe there must have been a wound in the berry, allowing the Viceroy to slurp up some juice!