Butterflies Abound!

On Monday, we headed to south Lambton to see what we could find on a hot summer's day. A Duke's Skipper happily spent at least 10 minutes with me bouncing between my binoculars, camera and hand.

While it was on my hand, I watched it release a clear drop of liquid from the abdomen and then use it's proboscis to lap up the liquid. It repeated this behaviour several times!

We saw a few Duke's Skippers along the trail. They are a rare and highly localized skipper which depends upon sedge patches along forest edges, ditches and riverbanks.

Butterflies of Ontario, Peter W. Hall et al

A wet sedge area near the Duke's Skippers' patrol zone.

Northern Azure doing a good job of camouflaging with the gravel.

Crab Spider hiding on a thistle: It waits patiently for insects to land on the flower and will quickly grab a leg to earn its next meal.

Blue-fronted Dancers (I think): female top picture, male lower picture.

Leopard Frog

Many Froglets at varying stages of growth swam in the puddles. Tiny hind legs are forming.

This froglet has developed 4 legs but still has it's tail which won't fall off. Instead, it will be absorbed into the body to help with the transformation to the adult stage.

Our small group on the Skunk's Misery Butterfly Count saw 23 species including 7 Great Spangled Fritillaries.

Wild Indigo Duskywing

There are always things to see on a butterfly count that aren't actually butterflies. We saw a family of Sandhill Cranes in a nearby field. The photo shows 2 juveniles and 1 adult Crane. The juveniles have orange colouring on their heads rather than the red of the adults. Another adult was just outside of the photo.