I'll get back to some moth features in a future post. But I have been out looking and finding other flying creatures and things, during the daylight hours!
Butterfly counts are just around the corner, and recently I stopped in at the Reid Conservation Area which always has a good variety of butterflies at this time of year. Hairstreaks are always fun to look for. There is usually no shortage of Banded Hairstreaks. I think I counted at least 8 on this day.
The main target species, and highlight, was to see not one, but three Oak Hairstreaks, as shown in this next photo.
There were several other species of butterfly that I saw over the couple of hours I spent here, but only photographed one other species, this European Skipper,
Southern Chatham-Kent is often the direction I head. A stop in at the Keith McLean Conservation Lands can yield some surprises. There was a couple of White-faced Ibis that showed up briefly a few days ago, but due to a commitment, I was unable to make the trip that day and so missed them. I have seen them in Manitoba, but never in Ontario. Chances are they might still be around, somewhere, but they can be in the most difficult wetland habitats to access. But during the couple of times I have been there since, there have been a few things to enjoy.
This Northern Map Turtle was surprisingly tolerant of my presence.
This Dunlin is either a very late migrant, or a failed nester that decided to return to southern Ontario.
Continuing on a bit of a butterfly theme, I came across these while roaming the southern part of Rondeau.
 |
| Hobomok Skipper |
 |
| Common Buckeye |
 |
| Mourning Cloak |
The east side of the South Point Trail continues to be quite wet in places. Rubber boots are necessary, as there was up to 10 cm of water in places. Therefore it wasn't entirely unusual to see shorebirds along the trail, including a couple of Spotted Sandpipers.
I was also on the lookout for Northern Mockingbird, at least one pair of which has been seen regularly just before the last cottage along Lakeshore Road. I got some decent photos, with a bit of patience.
While this pair seems to be consistently between the last cottage and the Beach Access #11, I was surprised to see a pair of them about 500 metres south, just a bit north of the Light Beacon. It was only a couple of hours later, which made me wonder if there was a second pair, or the first pair decided to wander.
One of my favourite June wildflowers, Wood Lily, was in full bloom in the semi open woodland edges.
While hiking along the southeast beach dune area, one will come across a few scattered clumps of this next species.
 |
| Prickly Pear Cactus |
It should be made known that while this species is legally endangered in Ontario, it does not occur naturally at Rondeau. Some well-meaning individual(s) planted about a dozen small clumps in various places along this beach dune area back in the mid 1990s. It creates a dilemma: should one accept the planting of an endangered species into a natural area of a natural environment park, especially in a habitat that itself is endangered? Or should they be removed? So far they've been left alone over the last 25 years, but they are expanding and who knows what kind of impact they will have on this endangered vegetation ecosystem in the future.
There are many species of plants which are non-native to the park. In some of the former cottage lots where the cottages were removed years ago, there are many non-native plants of various types that persist, and even thrive. One of them is in flower right now, and is rather showy. It is known as Beautybush.
Even though it is not native, some types of wildlife have found it useful. This first image shows a moth a type of Looper, resting on it.
As this post ends with moths, the next post will likely begin with moths.
And Happy Birthday Canada!
No comments:
Post a Comment