One Skunk, No Mosquitoes, No Misery.....

....and two Coyotes!

I spent a couple of evenings at Skunk's Misery a few weeks ago, on the hunt for night-time critters to come in to my black light. Just before I got to the Misery itself, I noted two nice healthy looking coyotes right along the road side, but they quickly darted into the corn field. Even in the dusky conditions I wouldn't have been able to get a photo. So on I went, to set up at a slightly wider spot along the roadside so as to not impede traffic. Not that there was any traffic to impede. Over the six or seven hours I spent at the two spots, I had only one vehicle go by each night.

Just after I packed up on one of the nights, I spotted a Striped Skunk waddling down the side of the road. I didn't stop to try for a photo.

For anyone who has spent time at Skunk's Misery, it is well-known for its mosquito population. It can be down-right horrendous. The wet areas throughout are a haven for hordes of mossies, and that is part of the reason it was called a Misery many decades ago. But for some reason, during both evenings, I was not bothered by even a single mosquito! It wasn't because it was too cold, as I purposely chose warm evenings to maximize the chances of moth activity. However late in the season much of the wet areas were fairly dry, so it was less conducive for mosquitoes. Regardless, I was just as happy to not have to deal with them.

I was pleasantly surprised by the abundance and diversity of the non-mosquito invertebrates which came to visit. Some were brightly marked, some were much less so, and some were so worn it made identification impossible.

Some of the typical, but well patterned ones were:

American Idia

Aster-head Eucosma

Bold-feathered Grass Moth

 This next one is a Graperoller (Desmia sp). It is next to impossible to identify it to species, since there are two that on the upper side look almost exactly alike, so a photo of the underside is critical.

Desmia sp

Dotted Sallow

Double-striped Scoparia

Large Maple Spanworm

Large Tolype

Packard's Wave

Pink-barred Pseudeustrotia

Sensitive Fern Borer

Three-lined Leafroller

Gold-stripe Grass Veneer

A couple of quite colourful ones put in an appearance.

Bicolored Pyrausta

 This next one was a highlight, as I had never seen one before anywhere. I got just the one photo before the small fly type creature also in the photo was getting too close, and presumably tickled its antenna causing it to move off the sheet completely.

Black-bordered Lemon

By contrast, some were fairly drab.

Common Idia

Copper Underwing

Definte Tussock Moth

 And then there were some that were so worn most of the scales that normally would give any pattern were now worn off. It is hard to say what this next one might be.

As is the case most nights of black lighting, there are non-moth critters that come to visit.

Citrus Flatid Planthopper

Leafhopper, Gyponana sp

 The Gyponana is most likely G. octolineata, although there is some debate as to whether they can be separated from other Gyponana species just by a photo. Regardless, this one can take on various colour patterns, with some almost entirely green and others almost entirely red.

Japanese Maple Leafhopper

 Some don't have common names. This next leafhopper is Colladonus setaceus.

 This next leafhopper is known as a Sharpshooter, Tylozygus bifidus.

 A few of this next critter, a braconid wasp of the genus Aleoides, were there.

 This next one is a type of Scorpionfly of the Panorpa genus.

 Grasshoppers, katydids and other members of the Orthopteran group periodically show up. This next one is a Two-spotted Tree Cricket. It was only a few years ago that it was considered fairly rare anywhere in Ontario, but more recently has been recorded in many places in southwestern Ontario.

 Even the occasional spider will appear, perhaps being attracted to the light and thinking that a few delicacies may be around to feast on.

I got lots more photos of various species, but these represent a variety of the most colourful, and the most drab. There is always a few of each on any night of black lighting!

Rondeau Ramblings and a bonus Purple Sandpiper!

Earlier this week I went for a long walk along the west side of the South Point Trail. The colours are starting to change, and the much cooler weather of the last few days will likely hasten the colour changes along.

The birds were fairly few and far between, and the only one I managed to photograph was this juvenile Northern Harrier.

A goal for this little trek was to get to the lake and see what the conditions were like at the south end, for future black lighting considerations. There are some possibilities but probably not until next year.

The south end of the park has continued to experience major changes due to the high water. I was greeted by this scene at one point. For those readers with long memories, the concrete structure is the remains of a washroom that at one point in my memory was probably at least 150 metres from the shoreline. This is not the first park structure to end up in the lake. There was a large picnic shelter that was between the south point parking lot and the lake, which even as far back as the mid 1970s had ended up in the lake. The parking lot is gone as well.

 If you look closely at the second photo above and on the left you may see a pile of rocks. That was the old septic holding tank which, after the washroom was closed down, was filled with rocks partly to keep it safe from people falling into it, and partly because some species of snakes may decide to use it as a hibernaculum for the winter.

The South Point Trail used to go all the way around, but the next photo shows what a significant section of the trail has ended up like, with all of the erosion and fallen trees. As a result, the new  signs at the beginning of each side indicate that they are considered to be two distinct trails with no meaningful connection. There is now a South Point Trail East and South Point Trail West

 American Beech trees are normally found in the interior of the forest. Here is a beached, American Beech in the next photo and looks totally out of habitat.

 In spite of all of the erosive action during the highest water levels and strongest wind and wave action, there is some fairly open beach that has re-formed. With November being one of the windiest months of the year, however, who knows how long this will last.

Today, Steve Charbonneau put the word out that a Purple Sandpiper was along the east beach of Rondeau just south of the traffic circle (thanks, Steve!). Purple Sandpipers are quite irregular along the lower lakes. We used to see them every year or so, but in the last few years, they have been really hard to find anywhere. Having said that, I came across one at the base of the Erieau pier last January. It only stayed for a few hours, and only 4 of us got to see it. That was only about the third record in Ontario for the previous 4 months. The bird today was much more available for viewing.

It remained in the same general stretch of beach from about 10 a.m., when Steve first discovered it, until at least 5:30 p.m. Birders and bird photographers were very happy with the conditions and the cooperation of the bird.

A common question from some birders I was talking to was why the bird was so tame. This bird appears to be a first year bird, and the species nests in the high arctic. It is quite possible that, depending on the route it took to get here, the humans it saw today might have been the first ones it had seen, and didn't know whether to be wary or not. Regardless, it was very cooperative and the lighting was excellent.

Sandpiper yoga?

Jumping an arriving wave

The Keith McLean Conservation Lands continues to be attractive to migrating water birds, and a half dozen or so species of shorebirds can usually be found with a little effort.

Greater Yellowlegs

Lesser Yellowlegs

Least Sandpiper

Semipalmated Plover

 Good numbers of Killdeer and Dunlin are also hanging around.

Waterfowl are increasing in abundance and diversity, probably in part due to the hunting going on elsewhere around Rondeau Bay and area, and this conservation area is off limits to hunting.

Hooded Merganser

 A few Great Blue Herons are typically found.

But Lake McLean is in the process of being pumped, so it won't be long until the habitat at least for shorebirds is gone. However the the vast majority of shorebirds have already gone south, so the loss of Lake McLean shouldn't be a problem at least for them.

On this day, I was hoping to see and photograph the Nelson's Sparrows that are there, but they are extremely furtive and seldom are seen other than in flight. So no photos on this day. But while I was checking out the area, I came across this Fiery Skipper, a late season species that may linger for awhile yet.

A Cattle Egret had been seen a couple of days ago, in a pasture along Pinehurst Line, between Blenheim and Chatham. This pasture has attracted Cattle Egrets in the past, and every time I go by I take a look, especially if there are cattle there. However at the time I checked after this bird had been reported, it was nowhere to be seen. I did see half a dozen Eastern Bluebirds at a bit of a distance....

....and this Double-crested Cormorant on a rock in the stream running along the south side of the pasture.

The cormorant looked a bit out of place so far from the lake, but clearly by looking at the white streaks on the rock, it has been using the area for awhile.