Wingy Things to End June

An assortment of wings found in June!

Belted Kingfisher with fish!

Peekaboo - can you see “hoo's” hiding in the hole?

Male Cecropia Moth, freshly emerged from the pupa. 

Say's Firefly

Eight-spotted Forester Moth - a day flying moth.

Great Spangled Fritillary - my first of the year

Halloween Pennant

Beautiful Wood-nymph Moth

Evening sunset and almost full moon!

 A Busy 2 Days at Pinery P.P.

It was a busy weekend with the Pinery Butterfly Count on Saturday and a Bumblebee Workshop on Sunday!

Butterfly numbers were low inside the park, but counters outside of the park within the 15 mile diameter circle had some good success. 30 species were identified with a total of 434 individual butterflies by 15 counters. Above, a Hackberry Emperor took a rest on a sign.

While walking along the mostly shaded Wilderness Trail, a faded Hobomok Skipper was one of only 4 individual butterflies that we saw. Very few flowers were blooming.

Common Whitetail - another non butterfly

We walked the Riverside Trail after lunch, hoping there would be more butterflies with the warmer afternoon temperatures. We didn't see many butterflies, but saw 7 Orange-tipped Oakworm Moths gathering together, including a mated pair. A female in the crowd must have emitted some strong pheromones to attract so many males!

Violet Dancer on the boardwalk railing.

This was my second encounter with an Eastern Milksnake at the Pinery this year! Their name comes from the false belief that they take milk from cows in barns. They cannot drink milk but are attracted to barns by the abundance of mice. They are semi-constrictors: After seizing prey in the mouth, they coil around the prey until it has suffocated. Predators include raccoons, skunks, foxes and coyotes.

https://ontarionature.org/programs/community-science/reptile-amphibian-atlas/milksnake/

On Sunday, following an indoor training session, we headed outside to practice our Bumblebee catching skills. I participated in the program last year but the session was a good review.

Mike managed to collect 8 Bumblebees in his net and had to carefully extract each individual without getting stung! The rest of us caught one bumblebee at a time!

A Two-spotted Bumblebee that I captured on some Common Milkweed. (The "2 spots" giving this bumblebee it's name are not visible in the photo.)

The Bumblebees were kept for a short time in the containers so participants could confirm identification of each species. During the summer study collection, the containers will be put into cooler packs. It is then easier to photograph the bumblebees at different angles before they warm up and fly away.

 Last of the Best!

A few more pictures from our trip to Peterborough and Kawartha Counties.

Bronze Copper - Carden Alvar

I watched a Black-capped Chickadee as it carried food, entered a cavity at the top of the stump then flew away with a fecal sac from one of the baby chickadees in the nest!.

Eastern Phantom Crane Fly: The black and white colouring of these creatures allow them to appear and disappear as they "float" between shadows and sunlight. I was lucky to have one stop in photographic range!!

Bee-mimic Beetle - Bee mimics do not sting. Striping on their bodies alerts predators to the possibility of a stinging insect so they are often left in peace.

Dreamy Duskywing - well camouflaged!

Two-spotted Skipper - another lifer!

Unidentified caterpillar, probably in the Tiger Moth family!

Fence line and field of flowers!

Beyond this fence but too far for the camera, we could see a young Loggerhead Shrike in a tree!

 Flying around Peterborough County:

A Mayfly took a break on the Trans-Canada Trail!

Beaver Mead Park, Peterborough.

Modest Flat-headed Mayfly

Trent University Wildlife Sanctuary Nature Area: The property offers several kilometers of walking trails along varied terrain and habitat. When we first spied this Spring Fishfly, we thought it was a moth because of the feathered antennae. It blended in well with its surroundings!

Heading into a dark treed tunnel at the Wildlife Sanctuary.

This striped insect appears to be a Zebra Caddisfly. We saw it at a lunch stop resting on a pine tree.

Hundreds of aerial Zebra Caddisflies, not resting!

Toothed Somberwing

Two-banded Petrophila, only 1 cm in length

A Wolf Spider Momma with a whole crew of babies on her back!!

Scenic Waterfall!

 Wings along a Gravel Road!

A 10 km gravel road NE of Peterborough was recommended to us for butterflies. A grader was working on the road that day, but we still managed to find several species of butterflies including some lifers. Above, a White Admiral, landed on the edge of the disturbed road for nutrients and salt.

I don't recall ever seeing a butterfly land on a lily pad, but it was the chosen rest stop for an Eyed Brown!

Silver-bordered Fritillary on Orange Hawkweed - a Lifer!

Arctic Skipper - another lifer!

A Clearwing Moth, enjoying the Orange Hawkweed. INaturalist identified it through AI as a Diervilla Clearwing Moth, but I haven't been able to confirm the species name.

Indian Skipper, another species not typically found in SW Ontario.

Calico Pennant, female. When looking straight down at the abdomen, several heart-shaped spots are clearly visible.

North America's smallest dragonfly is the Elfin Skimmer. This black and yellow individual, somewhat resembling a wasp, is a female.

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/106516-Nannothemis-bella

The Canadian Tiger Swallowtail is found in the Canadian Shield. It has a wider black stripe along the inner margin of the hind wings than the Easter Tiger Swallowtail which is found in the Carolinian zone in southern Ontario. 

The ROM Field Guide to butterflies of Ontario, Peter Hall et. al 2014.

In addition to probing along gravel roads, animal excrement is another excellent source for salts and nutrients. At our lunch stop, we parked right next to some "fresh-ish" bear scat being enjoyed by 3 Northern Crescents and a Harris's Checkerspot (on the right). An odour was still lingering!

Lunch was not spent beside the bear scat, but off the road by this beautiful meadow!