Butterfly count--Rondeau

 This past July 10 was the annual Rondeau area butterfly count. It is always something to look forward to, although we went into it with some trepidation this year. The hot, dry weather for most of the last month or so, which followed a cooler and wetter spring prior to that has, I think, played a bit of havoc with invertebrate populations. Certainly pollinating insects in general seem to be less abundant than what we normally expect, and butterflies are not as abundant either. Other parts of Ontario even here in the south seem to have been blessed with a bit more precipitation as of late, so hopefully the dearth of invertebrates in this immediate area is just a localized condition.

At any rate, I began my usual route, at the McGeachy Pond Trail, at about 9 a.m. As I walked and looked, I began to think that my next blog post will have to feature something other than butterflies! I walked to the far end and back over a period of about an hour, and came up with two butterflies, both of which were Cabbage Whites, and even those two were only noted on the return. 

Yikes! This was not going as hoped. It didn't help that the butterfly bush that was located at the residence at the far western end of this trail had died.

But I kept on, and went next to the Erieau Rail Trail. The first part was quite shaded, and there was more bird action than butterflies. I had things like a pair of Carolina Wrens, Downy Woodpecker, and a Warbling Vireo scolding me to get my attention.

At the observation platform, there were Barn Swallows building a nest under neath.

There were a few butterflies to be found, especially where there were patches of Catnip. For some reason, the patches of Common Milkweed or Canada Thistle were not as interesting to the butterflies that were around. Catnip was the plant to check out, as these Red Admirals would attest.

I explored other areas as well, including one that Steve, Keith and Jim and I always check out just west of Blenheim. It didn't disappoint with the usual mix of Wood Nymphs, Little Wood Satyrs, Eastern Tailed Blues and such.

I continued on my way and the other three covered more of their typical territory. We had decided that the local sewage lagoons, sometimes a real hotspot for butterflies, would not be worthwhile this year. The extreme dryness on and adjacent to the berms, and the recent mowing, left very little to attract butterflies, so why bother.

One of the spots that never fails, is along the B-Fit trail at the south side of Blenheim. There are a couple of large cells designed to hold excess water, and a walking trail goes around. At one point a landowner has established a nice garden mix of native and non-native wildflowers that always attract insects. Except for the time I was there this year. There is a mix of Purple Coneflower, Bee-Balm and even Butterfly Bush among others. But there was not a single butterfly to be seen when I was there. I mean, butterfly bush is supposed to be a guarantee! But not this time.

Fortunately it wasn't a complete waste of time, as the one cell had a lot of dogbane and Swamp Milkweed in it, and there were at least 6-7 Monarch butterflies flitting around there.

I also spent some time along a wide road allowance, which has a seldom used railway line along it, and part of it is adjacent to a wet woods. For the size of the area, it was the most productive part of my day. There were of course a multitude of both Orange and Clouded Sulphurs and Cabbage Whites,

There were also a few Azures. One used to be able to call them Summer Azures with a fair bit of confidence at this time of year. However in recent years, at least some expert lepidopterists have decided/discovered that it isn't quite as easy to separate the different azure/Celastrina types as once thought. Even putting them on iNaturalist as a Summer Azure, someone will eventually respond declaring they cannot be separated, and downgrade the observation to Celastrina sp. So they are just Azures for now. Such is the realm of taxonomy.

I was pleased with the number of hairstreaks visiting some of the milkweed patches. I had at least 6 Banded Hairstreaks in just a few minutes.

I had the occasional Delaware Skipper.....

....and I was a bit surprised to see at least 4 Dun Skippers. I think the wet woods adjacent to this site was definitely the reason for them, as they are not generally a common skipper in my experience.

Dun Skipper

Hobomok Skipper

Silver-spotted Skipper, one of the largest of the skipper group, was fairly numerous, with at least 7 at this location.

I had been at Rondeau a couple of days earlier, scouting around even though it wasn't my territory. I thought I was fortunate to have seen and photographed this next one, a Black Dash. I don't think it is commonly seen either, and I haven't heard what the final tally for butterflies was on this count, so maybe it will only be a 'Count Period' record.

I ended up with a mere 17 species of butterfly, a little lower than usual, but not all that surprising given the recent weather, the somewhat limited habitat variation and the way the day began. Monarch numbers were lower than usual, as I only had 16.

 

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