Birds, bugs and butterflies

I've been roaming a bit lately, as the mood strikes, the weather cooperates and the opportunities arise. For example I got a message from a friend in the greater Mitchell's Bay area a short time ago indicating that the Cattle Egret that showed up periodically in the spring, had been around. My first attempt to see it was not very successful, due to the distance and heat haze. But my second attempt was quite a bit more rewarding.

A couple of days ago, Steve Charbonneau reported both a Red-necked Phalarope and a Wilson's Phalarope at the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons, among a dozen or so species of shorebirds. The Red-necked was reasonably cooperative, from a distance. The light was quite good so even with a lot of magnification and cropping, the results were satisfying. It is a first year bird.

The Wilson's Phalarope was not nearly as cooperative, as a raptor flew over and startled many of the shorebirds into flight. In spite of several of us on the look out for the Wilson's Phalarope, it has not been seen since. I only got a very brief look and no photos. This next photo is of a female I saw there earlier this year.

Wilson's Phalarope in between two Lesser Yellowlegs

I made it to Skunk's Misery for a few hours one day. The mosquitoes weren't as horrendous as they sometimes are, but they were fairly plentiful. Fortunately there were a few butterflies and other things to keep me distracted. I liked the way this Eastern Comma was posed.

 There were several Giant Swallowtails checking out various flowering plants, such as this Great Lobelia.

Azures were fairly common, but since the taxonomy is being revised, some of the butterfly experts refuse to call this one a Summer Azure, and just lump it in as a Celastrina, which is the genus. Regardless, some of these summer time ones are looking rather worn at this time of year.

Hackberry Emperors are not a sure thing, but certainly is a butterfly one hopes to find there. This one was perched fairly high up, so I just got this profile.

 There were a few skippers, such as this Northern Broken Dash. Some butterfly experts were reluctant to put a name on it, and I realize that the lack of detail given the back lit photo makes identifying skippers even more challenging than usual. A butterfly specialist on BugGuide called it a Northern Broken Dash, as I thought it was, but some specialists on iNaturalist were non-committal.

 There was a consensus on this next one as being a Dun Skipper.

There were other butterfly species, but none that I photographed.

While photographing some Boneset......

......I noticed this flower beetle at the lower left hand side of the plant.

Banded Longhorn Beetle (Typocerus velutinus)

Some other bugs I noted on some of my forays included the following:

Transverse Flower Fly

Northern Flatid Planthopper

Pelecinid Wasp

This next one doesn't have a common name that I have come across, so I just refer to it as a small, black-dotted green bug. It is a type of plant bug whose scientific name is Ilnacora stalii.