Canatara Critters!

Everyday is a new adventure when walking through the different habitats in Canatara Park!!

Monarch drinking nectar from Swamp Milkweed Flowers.

A Humpback Beewolf is patiently waiting for a thirsty Tiger Swallowtail to finish drinking at the "nectar fountain" so he can have a turn! 

A Great Blue Heron appears to be admiring his reflection but is likely just trying to catch some lunch!

Meadowhawk (sp) in a field of daisies.

Snowberry Clearwing moths fly and feed during the daytime. Adults feed from flower nectar by hovering in front of the flower the way a hummingbird does, rather than like a bee which lands directly on the flower. They drink nectar from blooms with open or deep flowers and pollinate many of them from the pollen that gets caught on their upper body.

https://cwf-fcf.org/en/explore/resources/encyclopedias/fauna/insects/hummingbird-clearwing-moth-sp.html

Mourning Cloak. This individual looks fresh, as if it recently exited its chrysalis. It will likely survive through next winter sheltered in a rotten log, emerging in early spring. They can live for 10 months in southern Ontario!

Primrose Moth, on Evening Primrose

Red-eared Slider laying eggs on a path. She will cover up the hole with mud and hope that predators don't find the eggs. Red-eared Sliders are an introduced species. They are sold in pet stores and when people don't want them any more, the turtles are often released in local waterways causing competition for food, shelter and space with our native turtle species.

Viceroy, backlit in the afternoon sun.

5 Cabbage White butterflies getting minerals from a muddy puddle.

Video: Cabbage Whites mudpuddling for nutrients!

American Mink hunt a variety of prey in both aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Since they are good swimmers, they dive and catch fish, and feed on muskrats, rabbits, frogs, chipmunks and snakes! I saw this mink exit the water. Because it stood still and stared at me, I assume I was likely standing where it had hoped to travel.

https://www.animalspot.net/american-mink.html

American Snout: The long "nose" isn't actually for smelling. The long protrusion is a heavily scaled mouth part that protects the butterfly's delicate proboscis. In addition, when hanging on a branch with wings closed, the "snout" mimics a leaf stalk, creating even better camouflage and protection!

https://animalia.bio/american-snout