Moths....in winter!

 Okay maybe that title is a bit misleading as adult moths are not likely to be found in southern Ontario at this time of year, especially under the conditions that most of the winter has been. However I had planned on doing a brief post late last winter to feature late season adult moths that I had photographed in recent years, but the topic was just on the back burner for too long. 

However, in a brief period recently where the daytime temperature reached +1C, as I was hiking along the west South Point Trail at Rondeau, in between some patches of snow I came across a caterpillar along the trail. One can sometimes expect a Wooly Bear Caterpillar so show up during such times, but it was clear this was not one of them. The bristles are too long and spiky. In addition, a close-up of the area between some of the bristles show some orange. It is the caterpillar of the Giant Leopard Moth, officially a vulnerable species of moth in Ontario, making it even more unlikely to find wandering about in February!

This is what an adult Giant Leopard Moth looks like, next. I have photographed an adult coming to one of my black lights on several occasions, but only at Rondeau and Clear Creek Forest Provincial Parks. They definitely stand out!

There are a few moths that will come to a black light relatively late in the season, but ideally when the temperature remains above 10C. Sometimes they may even be seen flitting about in daylight. Here are a few examples of ones I have photographed even as late as late November, either at Rondeau or in my back yard. The advantage of Rondeau is that later in the season, with the effect of the warmer lake, it may stay above 10C a little longer.

Autumnal Moth

Bicolored Sallow

Bilobed Looper Moth

Box Tree Moth

These next two are the Bruce Spanworm Moth, showing a variable pattern and colour.

Common Tan Wave

The next two are the Corn Earworm Moth, showing different perspectives.

Green Cloverworm

Next is not a moth, but a regular but very small, visitor to black lights known as a Brown Lacewing.

Soybean Looper Moth

Tomato Looper Moth

 That's it, at least for now. With spring not far off, and as temperatures rise, I hope to get out to various places and add some new species to the list of ~750 species I have already photographed!

My next post will likely focus on late season birding highlights, unless something more interesting comes along. I do have a future post planned about the saga of the endangered Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus at Rondeau in the plans, so stay tuned.

 

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Sewage Lagoons and Aster Action

Just a few short days ago, we were dealing with record high temperatures, which on occasion hit 31C locally. As hot as it was, the butterflies and other pollinators loved it. I had occasion to go to both the Blenheim and Tilbury Sewage Lagoons, where I do regular shorebird surveys for the Ontario Shorebird Survey project. And right at this time of year, some of the asters are in peak flowering. Goldenrods are well past their best for the most part, but the purplish New England Aster and various white aster species are in fine shape.

Of course the most abundant butterfly species were things like the whites and sulphurs.

Painted Ladies were fairly abundant. They were quite noticeable by their absence earlier in the season, but have seemingly come out of nowhere in the last month or so. They outnumber by far, the closely related American Ladies at the moment.

 Monarchs are still drifting through, and some have just recently emerged from their chrysalis.

 Viceroys are fairly regular, although some look quite tattered.....

 ....as do any lingering Silver-spotted Skippers.

 Bronze Coppers are small butterflies and in small numbers.

 A couple of late season highlights were a couple of (not-so) Common Buckeyes, which looked quite fresh. They weren't my first of the year, but my first photographed of the year.

 ...and 2-3 Fiery Skippers at both lagoon sites, my first of the year. For the most part they were alternating between sitting in the sun or sipping the nectar, or sometimes doing both simultaneously.

 There were numerous other flying insects "busy-as-bees" sipping the nectar of these late season flowers, although most were not bees, but bee look-a-likes such as these two Syrphid Fly types. At the Tilbury lagoon aster patch, there had to be anywhere from 100-200 syrphid and other flies as well as actual bees.

 And as before, there was the occasional day-flying moth such as this Corn Earworm, which is somewhat migratory, showing up in southern Ontario mostly in the autumn.

The birds were not overly abundant, but a nice variety was noted. Ducks are appearing in larger numbers, although that might be partly due to the waterfowl hunting season going on in some of the larger marshes nearby. Ruddy Duck is quite plentiful at Blenheim, along with a growing number of Redhead, Wood Duck, Green-winged Teal and others.

 The Tilbury lagoons always has a few Double-crested Cormorants. They haven't started nesting there yet, but that time may not be too far off.

 Shorebirds were part of the reason for my being at both of the lagoons. The overall numbers and diversity have dropped quite a bit in the last couple of weeks, but there are still some around. Greater Yellowlegs are a little more plentiful than they were.

 When the opportunity arises, it is nice to compare shorebird species for size.

Greater Yellowlegs and Pectoral Sandpiper

Lesser Yellowlegs

 At Tilbury, I was able to get these three species all together. Long-billed Dowitcher, Lesser Yellowlegs and Greater Yellowlegs.

 The bill of this Long-billed Dowitcher was really quite long, so in combination with the grayish and unbarred tertial feathers, it made it relatively easy to conclude this as a Long-bill rather than a very similar looking Short-bill.