Dundas Valley Trail Centre

I had a chance to hike the trails in the Dundas Valley a few times recently. 

Moss covered limestone rocks are plentiful.

The Trail Centre is managed by the Hamilton Region Conservation Authority and is a part of the Green Belt. The property provides "the needs of life" to countless individuals including this very worn Northern Crescent nectaring on thistle.

2 White-tailed Deer peered at us along a trail. They are obviously used to people!

A Great Spangled Fritillary was warming up in the morning sun.

One stop along the loop trail shows the restored remains of the Hermitage. The original stone house and outbuildings were built in 1855 and housed 13 people, including 5 servants. Fire devastated the structures in 1934. Legend says the building is haunted and a "Tour the Haunted Forest at Night Walk" is held each Halloween.

A Compton Tortoiseshell "licked" the minerals off The Hermitage stone wall.

The parking lot for the Trail Centre was more crowded than normal as workers were preparing to film a movie on site.

We also found a shack being constructed for the movie.

The Bruce Trail running from Niagara to Tobermory passes through the area.

 Through My Macro Lens:

A young Monarch caterpillar on backyard Orange Butterfly weed: I've been watching it grow and it has now disappeared, hopefully to form a chrysalis!

Buffalo Treehopper on potato leaves.

I love the "head shield"! It looks prehistoric!

In North America there are over 1,300 Tachinidae flies. I believe this individual is a member of that family. If you see a fly that resembles a house fly on a flower drinking nectar, there's a good chance you're looking at a tachinid fly! (https://savvygardening.com/tachinid-fly/)

Another insect I found drinking nectar from a Wild Chicory plant was a member of the Globetail Flies, possibly a Tufted Globetail.

A young grasshopper shares a Brown-eyed Susan with other insects. Many species, including grasshoppers are small at this time of year. Going through incomplete metamorphosis means the tiny creatures resemble the parent upon hatching from the egg. As they grow and moult through the summer months, the larger individuals become easier to spot.

After catching a snack, this spider scurried down his web into a rolled leaf to devour his prey away from watchful eyes.

Another spider chose the shelter of a leaf for his dining room.

Seven-spotted Lady Beetle on Grey Coneflower.

 Britannia C.A. Ottawa

(Eastern Ontario Trip)

A stop at Britannia Conservation Area afforded us many opportunities to view wildlife up close including these muskrats munching on water lilies just below our feet.

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Wood Ducks are very flighty and we can't normally get very close to them. At this location, there were several families of Wood Ducks wandering around the trails looking for hand outs of food. They were a little too comfortable with humans.

A young Wood Duck chomps down on a Water Lily.

The skies were alive with Zebra Caddisflies. They provided a plentiful food source for Swallows, Kingbirds and other insect eaters which occasionally swooped through the insect mass in pursuit of their next meal.

One of the Zebra Caddisflies landed on a hand for a closer look.

We found several species of Woodpeckers including this Hairy Woodpecker.

View across the Ottawa River looking towards Quebec.

Lots of gulls and geese were in the river as well as a few Inukshuks!

Later in the day, after leaving Ottawa, we found our only Sandhill Crane of the trip.

Orange Hawkweed seemed to glow in the ditches and meadows on the cloudy day.

 Mac Johnson Wildlife Area:

(Eastern Ontario trip)

A small pond greeted us shortly after our arrival to Mac Johnson Wildlife Area near Brockville. The pond and nearby lake were home to MANY dragonflies and damselflies.

Deryl captured the food chain in action when an Eastern Pondhawk caught and devoured a small blue damselfly.

Hallowe'en Pennants in mating wheel.

Lilypad Clubtail. A lifer for both of us!

Dot-tailed Whiteface

(It's always helpful when the markings describe the name!)

Eastern Comma

 Creatures of the Night!

We recently hung a white sheet on the clothesline in the evening and shone a bright light to entice moth species to our backyard. We "pasted" a fermented concoction of bananas, strawberries, sugar and a little wine on a couple of trees to attract the moths. We didn't get much response until after the Fireflies stopped flying. (Check out your backyard starting around 9:00 tonight if you haven't seen fireflies this year.) By 10:30 we were finding some incredible, but quite small moths. Thanks to a friend for assisting with the identification! I have a big learning curve to name the moths. In Ontario, there are 167 known Butterflies. However, Moth species number around 5,000!

Lesser Grapevine Looper (wing span 28-33 mm)

Unfortunately we also attracted a male Gypsy Moth.

(Total Length 26 mm)

Smoky Idia (Total Length 10-14 mm)

Spotted Peppergrass Moth (Total Length 8-9 mm)

Large Lace Border (Wing Span 20-31 mm)

Not all moths are nocturnal. This Clearwing Borer was in my garden this afternoon. 

(between 10-20 mm depending upon the species.

 Skunks Misery Part 2:

More pictures from the Skunks Misery Butterfly Count on July 4th. A Tawny Emperor landed on my hat beside my Baltimore Checkerspot pin.

We saw a few Great Spangled Fritillaries during the count. First time I've found a mated pair!

Although I was supposed to be concentrating on butterflies, I did find a few moths that caught my attention! Plume moths are recognizable by their 'T' shaped silhouette.

The Reversed Haploa is a rare moth restricted to 4 areas of south-western Ontario. It has only been found close to oak savanna, oak woodland, and dunes. In Ontario, up to 98% of oak savanna has been lost and remaining oak woodlands are small and fragmented. COSEWIC - https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/species-risk-public-registry/cosewic-assessments-status-reports/reversed-haploa-moth-2019.html

A Green Sweat Bee enjoys a drink in some Bindweed. These are solitary bees, meaning they nest alone. They dig burrows deep in the ground to lay their eggs. Nests can sometimes be communal where a burrow entrance is shared by a group of females. Each female branches out from the entrance to create her own tunnel where she nests alone and takes care of her own young. The responsibility of guarding the main entrance is shared among the group. (Canadian Wildlife Federation:

https://cwf-fcf.org/en/resources/encyclopedias/fauna/insects/green-sweat-bee.html

On our way home we had a laugh when we saw this Too Tall Mail Box system at a home in downtown Alvinston!!

 Butterfly Count at Skunks Misery!

We had a great day at the Skunks Misery Butterfly Count! Tawny Emperors continually landed on our hats, clothes and skin. It was fun to photograph this pair checking out their picture in the field guide!

Always a treat to find a Compton Tortoiseshell, especially when it is newly emerged from the chrysalis!

We walked through a wet meadow and were astounded by the number of butterflies we saw. Skippers, Hairstreaks and pollinators made good use of the nectar on Common Milkweed! This flower head has 6 visible butterflies on it. Some flower heads had 8-10 butterflies. I could have stayed in that meadow all day!

Its not an easy life for butterflies. An American Nursery Web Spider lies in wait under a leaf hoping for its next meal! The Great Spangled Fritillary flew away before being snagged.

Another spider feasted on a meal with his next Hairstreak meal lying nearby.

A Tawny Emperor landed on my camera at the same time as one perched on my hat!