For (mostly) wildflower afficionados, unless you like a few butterflies too

 Wildflowers seem to take a back stage to birds for many enthusiasts of the outdoors. I get it. I am sometimes like that myself. Birds are more active, elusive and sing. Wildflowers, on the other hand, are also relatively short-lived at their peak of colour, but they are more predictable in their location. Nonetheless, they are just as important in their own way, as an element of the natural world.

Some types of wildflowers get more attention than others, such as members of the orchid family. I  recently spent a bit more time on the search for them, with varying degrees of success. For example every year or so I typically make a special trip to the Ipperwash Crown Land area in north Lambton County, in late May or early June looking for three species of orchids: Pink Lady's-slipper, Hooker's Orchid and Ram's-head Lady's-slipper. The weather can play a part in exactly when, or even if, they will be in flower, not surprisingly, and this year was certainly an example of that. Even closer to home, the extremely warm period for a couple of weeks, followed by cool and wet weather for an even longer period, caused some species to get off to a good start, but then fail to complete their cycle. The normally very predictable Showy Orchid at Rondeau, where sometimes I see several dozen plants with impressive flower spikes in addition to sets of leaves, had the usual number of leaves, but did not have a single flower spike this year! That is the first time ever, in my many years of checking out this population. And the Puttyroot population at Rondeau, which often  has 50 or more sets of leaves on average, and at least a dozen flowering spikes, had only two flowering spikes.

So when I made the trek to orchid country at Ipperwash, I wasn't sure what to expect. It was so-so. Of the normally seen dozen Pink Lady's-slipper plants in bloom, I saw a single one still hanging on, and 3 others that had finished prematurely, looking quite dried up.

I saw 6 Hooker's Orchids.....

....and none of the Ram's-head Lady's-slipper, by far the rarest of these three.

In the general vicinity of the open dunes and parking lots, were quite a few Dusted Skippers, which were very flighty and territorial. It is considered rare in Ontario and Canada.

A visit to the nearby Karner Blue sanctuary turned up a few Wild Lupine, sometimes known as Sundial Lupine.

Narrow-leaved New Jersey Tea was growing in clumps here and there.

A couple of Juvenal's Duskywings were flitting around...

....as was this Little Wood-satyr.

This moth, a Large Lace-wing Border, was resting on a lily leaf in broad daylight.

Closer to home, in mostly woodland habitat, there continues to be a roll-out of wildflowers, including:

False Solomon's Seal

Blue-eyed Grass

Carrionflower

Canada Violet, mostly white but with the back side of the petals showing a distinctly pink/purple colour.

Canada Mayflower

Gray's Sedge

This next one likes open sandy areas, not woodland.

Hairy Puccoon

Herb-robert, in the next two photos, is dainty and attractive, but not native.

Jack-in-the-pulpit flowers are mostly hidden these days, as the upper leaves may collapse around 'Jack' while the seeds develop.

Wild, or Red, Columbine is mostly finished flowering except in very shaded areas.

Robin's Plantain, a member of the Aster family, likes the edges of sandy woodlands. It looks quite similar to the much more abundant Philadelphia Fleabane, but has more numerous petals and a hairy stem.

White Baneberry will soon be developing its 'Doll's-eyes' fruit.

Wood Betony, in either yellow or reddish purple, is almost finished flowering.

Wild Blue Phlox

There is still a fair bit of Wild Geranium around.

Sanicula sp.

Seneca Snakeroot, next, is found along the open edges of sandy woodland habitat.

Sweet Cicely

Tuliptree flowers are nicely out, although most are fairly high up so they can maximize the sun exposure.

A rather small wildflower, not uncommon in rich woodland is this next one: Running Strawberry Bush. It is anything but 'bush-like', however, merely a few centimetres in height.

In open, wet areas of a woodland, there may be a few of these showing: Yellow Water Crowfoot.

As the season unfolds, there will be more wildflowers to feature, along with birds, butterflies, herps, moths, etc., etc.

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Wildlife in a Giant Sand Box

Ok not a sand box, per se. But at one of my favourite sandy natural areas. It is the St. Williams Conservation Reserve in Norfolk County, near Simcoe. During my OMNR career, it was at the far east end of our district, and I didn't get to it often, but it was always a highlight when I did get there. Sadly, I had only made it there once since I retired more than 7 years ago, so this month I made a point of spending time there on a couple of occasions.

June is a colourful time of year to be there. One of the main features is the presence of Wild Lupine. In this first photo, Marie (in the distance) is following the path that goes through a large stand of it.

 There were a few bees enjoying the lupine.

 Other plants, some quite rare, could be found in this area. This first one is an Endangered species, known as Cucumber Magnolia. It is closely related to Tuliptree.

 Bird's-foot Violet is another Endangered species.

 Moss Phlox is not officially rare, but it certainly is not common anywhere.

But my main interest during these two forays was in butterflies, tiger beetles and the like. There were lots of American Coppers.

 Dreamy Duskywings were not common.

 I only saw one Eastern Pine Elfin and managed a couple of quick shots.

 Juvenal's Duskywings were quite abundant. On my second visit there, just a few days ago, I saw an estimated 15-20.

 I got my first of the year, Tawny-edged Skipper.

 I think this next one is a Wild Columbine Duskywing.

A new moth for me was this next one, the Nessus Sphinx. I got a few shots of it feeding on a cluster of puccoon flowers.

Tiger beetles were out in good numbers, especially on my second visit. Festive Tiger Beetles were especially abundant.

 Some were being a little....festive? It looks like the population will be continuing.

There was a fair number of Big Sand Tiger Beetles as well. They can really scamper, but some were either curious enough, or at least tolerant enough, to allow me to photograph them. I did very little cropping on these.

 While looking for tiger beetles, I noted a few other things, including this tiny critter. I was drawn to the movement, and it wasn't until I got a close look that I realized it was a type of grasshopper. When it was on the open sand, it was well camouflaged. It was only about 5-6 mm in length. It turns out to be a Mottled Sand Grasshopper, which at maturity is 20-25mm in length, so this one is just a nymph.

 There were lots of wasps and bees of various shapes and sizes. This one is a small Thread-waisted Wasp of the Ammophila genus, which means 'sand lover'. I haven't found out what the species is.

So much to see in just a few hours. I hope to get back again soon!