Our friends, the pollinators!

 With the ongoing heat and humidity, it is nice to have an excuse to sometimes stay close to home. And fortunately there are lots of things to see and photograph within a few metres of the back door. Insects of various kinds are incredibly important for a lot of reasons. Due to their small size, it is easy to overlook them. So here are a few that I have photographed in the yard. Such amazing diversity and design! 

If you want to see these little creatures which are already being displayed here larger than life size, but several times larger than life size, just click on the photo.

Banded Longhorn Beetle

Beebalm Shortface

Bicolored Striped Sweat Bee

Bordered Wedge-shaped Beetle

Common Eastern Bumblebee

 

Bumblebee types can be quite confusing. This next one is quite similar-looking to the previous one, but is known as an Eastern Carpenter Bee. The subtle differences can be noticed by those who specialize in the nuances of them. Thank goodness for iNaturalist, where those with much more expertise than I will identify them for me and without which I would be lost!

Ligated Furrow-bee

Large Milkweed Bug

Great Golden Digger Wasp

Very similar in behaviour is the Great Black Digger Wasp, shown next. Although I am very close to them with my macro lens and flash, I have never been bothered by such creatures. I move slowly and carefully, and of course they are more interested in either the pollen of the flowers or the smaller creatures they can find on the flowers.

False Milkweed Bug

Something that looks a little formidable, as its name implies, and is not native but periodically found, is the European Earwig. The earwig name comes from the shape of the hind pincers that in a full adult, are the shape of an ear. Sort of....

 Milkweeds can be dangerous for some creatures. The flowers can trap the leg of smaller creatures. This next one shows what is likely a honey bee, which technically is not native to the area. It doesn't have the strength to get its foot uncaught, so after a period of struggle and being unsuccessful, will eventually die.

Next is a member of the Longhorn Bees group, and doesn't have a common name as it is only identified to the genus, known as Melissodes.

Marsh Greenbottle Fly

The next one is the Margined Leatherwing Beetle, and can vary in appearance as the following two photos show.

Not sure who comes up with names, but this next one is the Lunate Longhorn-cuckoo Bee.

Western Honey Bee

Transverse Banded Flower Fly

A type of Sweat Bee

Next is the larval stage of the Swamp Milkweed Beetle....

...followed by the adult Swamp Milkweed Beetle.

Not something that squash growers like to see around, but the next one is a Squash Vine Borer.

Seven-spotted Lady Beetle

Red Milkweed Beetle

This final one for this post is a member of the Thick-headed fly group, known only by its Latin name, and is called Physocephala tibialis. 

That's it for this post, but there is more to come!

 

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Avocets and other mid-July birds

 A recent stop at the Blenheim sewage lagoons turned out to be quite worthwhile! I hadn't been there for a few days, as the ongoing heat and humidity encouraged me to stay close to home much of the time, but this day was different. Definitely a little cooler with a pleasant breeze. And something quite interesting had just blown in.

 A flock of American Avocets was there, in the far southeast cell where there is a nice muddy flat and some shallow muddy water. As it was mid-morning, the light wasn't the best from the initial vantage point, and this is the best I could get, just in case they took off and I didn't have any other chances.

Walking cautiously on the dried mud, which was soft and full of cracks, I wandered more to the east to get a better angle of the light. It was still a little harsher than I liked, but through processing, was able to get some quite satisfactory photos.

At one point the entire flock of 12 got up and flew, appearing to go right out of sight, so we looked at the other shorebird diversity that was there. But in less than10 minutes, the Avocets returned. Not wanting to disturb them to flight mode again, we quietly backtracked and left them feeding.

Earlier I indicated that this flock had recently blown in. As it turns out, Blake had a flock of 12 flying in from Lake St. Clair, over the Mitchell's Bay area, about 3 hours earlier. It is quite likely that the ones he had seen, kept on flying until they found some wetland with shallow, muddy water, to their liking. 

 As is typical of sewage lagoons at this time of year, there are usually a few more things to take note of if there are some shallow, muddy edges. There were several Semipalmated Plovers, but I didn't get any photos of them. Lots of Killdeer, of course, and others of various types. At one point, under a bit breezy conditions, some swallows rested from their aerial flight on the gravel path.

Tree and Barn Swallows

As I approached the sprinkler cells, two large corvids were up and about, giving a typical hoarse croak of Common Raven.

A few Least Sandpipers were scattered about.....

....as were a few Lesser Yellowlegs...

...and a couple of Pectoral Sandpipers.

It is always nice to see a few Short-billed Dowitchers.

This Tree Swallow was sitting on a sheltered perch, taking a rest from chasing insects that were probably taking shelter from the breezes themselves.

 On another occasion, I went to the Mitchell's Bay North Shore Trail. With its openness it is always a good spot to go to keep away from mosquitoes and fewer deer flies, and with a few birds to note. This adult Bald Eagle was a long way off, keeping an eye on fishermen and whatever else that were out on the lake. I tried to get around the trail a little farther to get closer, but it would have none of that and took off.

Great Egrets are almost always around, and some even cooperated for some telephoto photos. I think there were at least 6 within view, although they moved around a bit.

 A Common Gallinule was perched up in the Arrowhead and Pickerelweed squawking and complaining about something.

 

In the recently harvested wheat field, this pair of Sandhill Cranes was investigating some open area.

And this Song Sparrow was singing its heart out, so the nesting season, at least for it, is still under way.

 Red-winged Blackbirds are almost always fairly abundant, and especially now when so many young have hatched. Many were out in the wheat field as well, likely looking for a bit of grain that hadn't been taken in.

And in other news....the Nessus Sphinx Moth that I photographed at home a few days ago, and is now my feature creature at the top, showed a slightly different look in one of the photos that I eventually got processed. This one shows a Great Golden Digger Wasp grasping on to the tail end of the moth! Not sure what its intent was, and it didn't last long, so perhaps the wasp figured it had tackled something too large for itself.

At Rondeau, I had noted a female Prothonotary Warbler taking nesting material to a natural cavity in one of the sloughs. I had hoped that it would make use of it, as there was a male nearby, and I prefer photographing this species at a natural cavity. But even after watching this spot periodically over the course of several weeks, it was apparent that nothing was happening here. Perhaps it found a better nesting cavity farther up or down the slough.

And this immature Red-tailed Hawk was being harassed by a small group of Red-winged Blackbirds. In this incident, it was the little guys that won the confrontation.

'Til next time....

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Local Birds, Bugs and Botany, not the Algonquin kind :-)

 My exploration of local natural areas continue, with an array of flora and fauna to fotograph :-).

A recent trip up to the Mitchell's Bay area had me checking out the North Shore Trail. It is a relatively quiet trail, partially because parking is a real issue, with only one spot available for a vehicle. So unless hikers wander in from Mitchell's Bay itself, there is rarely anyone else there. That makes it better for finding wildlife to see and photograph. On this most recent occasion there wasn't a lot within range of my lens, but I did get a few shots of this cooperative Great Egret....

 ...and a couple of male Bobolinks that were clearly showing the transition to a duller autumn plumage.

Along the South Shore Trail, there is usually a Green Heron somewhere along the way, which occasionally allows for a good photo.

A bit later I was busy concentrating on photographing this Great Egret in a tree, when all of a sudden it was distracted by something above it.

It turns out that another Green Heron had landed just a couple of metres above it.

It wasn't long before the egret decided to go elsewhere.

Rondeau Prov Park, of course, is always a good choice for exploration. I was wandering through the woods on the search for an endangered orchid, and while I didn't see any of them in flower on this day, I did come across another not quite as rare plant: American Ginseng. This was a totally new location for this official Species At Risk plant, although given the habitat, it wasn't totally surprising. But it was nice to find it, and what really caught my eye at the outset was the cluster of bright red berries.

At other areas, there is a continuum of things to take note of. This first one is quite common, but the flowers are often hidden by the profusion of foliage. It is American Hog-peanut.

Not nearly so common is this Square-stemmed Monkey Flower.

This Four-toothed Mason Wasp was busy on a flowering stem of White Sweet Clover.

Butterflies are not over abundant, but perhaps a bit more so than during the butterfly count of about a month ago.

Eastern Comma

This Viceroy was nectaring on Common Meadowsweet.

I was out in the southeast beach dunes of the park, searching for a small orchid that I had seen on occasion years ago, but never got any digital photos of. It isn't particularly rare overall, but does not seem to be common at Rondeau. It used to be known as Nodding Ladies'-tresses (Spiranthes cernua) but in recent years, that complex of Spiranthes has continued to be analyzed and re-named. Its common name is Sphinx Ladies' Tresses and is currently given the scientific name of Spiranthes incurva. It looks very much like a Spiranthes species that is much more common at Rondeau, although is considered rare in Ontario, known as the Great Plain's Ladies'-tresses (Spiranthes magnicamporum). I expect I will photograph it in a few weeks time, and likely feature it in a future post. This latter species flowers a bit later, typically not until September and often continuing into October. The one shown here will likely be finished flowering by September. It is whiter, does not have any fragrance, and has a basal leaf, whereas the S. magnicamporum is slightly creamier, often has a strong fragrance and no basal leaf.

While I was intently looking at the ground for the orchid, a large shadow passed over me. When I looked up, I saw this Red-tailed Hawk. It didn't just circle and leave as if it was passing through; it circled quite closely several times before eventually moving off. Perhaps it was keeping an eye on me, to see if I would flush out a vole or cottontail it could pounce on. The photo is a bit back-lit, so not as good as I would like.

I like the way the primary feathers are flared out in this next pic. For something as relatively stiff as the flight feathers, I am intrigued by the way they can be flared out, presumably to assist with the flight in some way, especially since it was soaring and not flapping. Maybe that assists in direction or lift?

I was pleasantly surprised to find the orchid, but also to see quite a few Common Buckeyes. I felt they were relatively uncommon overall in the general area so far this season, as it is considered a later migrant from the south. There were at least half a dozen or more in various places in the relatively small area that I was roaming around in, and undoubtedly a lot more in the overall beach dune area.

The southeast beach dunes can be relatively colourful at this time of year, as the Cylindrical Blazing-star is quite abundant right now.

Normally the colour of individual flowers is quite pinkish purple......

...but there are always a few white versions to add to the display.

I have also purposely checked out clusters of goldenrod in various parts of the park, as they are really attractive to numerous insects.

Dark Paper Wasp

This next one is the Great Golden Digger Wasp, and is quite large.

Sand Wasps, next, are fairly common, not surprisingly since the park is made up of sand.

At one point I noticed this pair of Ambush Bugs, probably the Jagged Ambush Bug.

And even moths may show up, as in this Ailanthus Webworm Moth.

I also stopped by the Erieau Marsh/Rail Trail for a short time. It is a great spot to see migrant warblers and such at this time of year. While on this visit I didn't see a lot of them, I did get this quick photo of an autumn Bay-breasted Warbler just as it was preparing to escape into the dense leaf canopy.

There were a few flycatchers, including this Great Crested Flycatcher, darting out after small flying insects.

And this trail is a great spot to see a large and showy Species At Risk: Swamp Rose Mallow. It is restricted to some of the larger marsh complexes in extreme southwestern Ontario, and is about at its peak now.

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