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.

The things you seldom see in the garden

Gardens are great places to study wildlife. It doesn't matter if it is a veggie garden or an ornamental flower garden or a native wildflower garden. If you grow it, they will come!

The challenge is to see the myriad creatures and photograph them so that they can be identified. Some are fairly large and obvious, while others are so small you hardly can see them even when you are looking at them, and they don't really show their spectacular selves until you are able to enlarge them on the computer!

Bees, of course, are welcome pollinators. There are many kinds which show up on their own schedule over the course of the season. This first one is called a type of Cuckoo Bee.

 I haven't figured out exactly what this next one is. I've even posted it on the BugGuide site, and no one has responded yet.

 This next one is the Pruinose Squash Bee. The males especially are often found in the flowers of members of the squash family. They will often spend the night inside the flowers, and apparently if you gently squeeze the flower early in the morning, the bees inside will give a buzzing sound that presumably is meant to say something like 'don't disturb me, I'm trying to sleep'

A large and intimidating member of the bee and wasp family is this next one: the Great Black Wasp. It's body is ~5 cm (2") and its quick darting flight makes one cautious. However it is apparently quite harmless unless you handle it. I've never been bothered by any bee/wasp types even when sticking my camera lens within a few centimetres of their face.

 There are some bee look-alikes, such as this Syrphid Fly.

 One creature you don't want to see, especially if you are trying to grow squash or zucchini, is this next one, the Squash Bug.

 It lays clusters of eggs on the underside of the leaves, and when the larvae emerge, they dig into the plant stems, causing the plant to wither and die.

 Fortunately if you have this next one around, the Feather-legged Fly, it is a predator of the Squash Bug, so it may reduce the negative effects of the Squash Bug.

Beetles abound. These next two images are of the Wedge-shaped Beetle.

 The antennae of this male in the next photo is pretty impressive!

 Some look-alikes include the Goldenrod Soldier Beetle, shown in these next two images.

 Sometimes you may see a caterpillar like creature. It is likely the larva of a beetle of some type.

 The Swamp Milkweed Beetle is often found on any kind of milkweed in the garden.

 Plant 'bugs' are different than beetles, since their wings fold and overlap. These next two bugs are members of the plant bug group, probably in the Lygus genus.

 Flies of various kinds are around, some of which are pollinators. This one is a Tachinid fly.

 A very large one is this Robber Fly.

 At the other end of the size scale is this Long-legged Fly, a very shiny and iridescent but very small fly.

 Grasshoppers of different sizes and colours can be found. These next two are very small, barely 4-5 cm in total length. Since grasshoppers develop from egg to nymph to adult, it is likely these may be nymphs (a small version of an adult)

 If you happen to be a bug crawling around on a flower head, you have to be on the lookout for this next creature. It is an Ambush Bug, and although it is small (barely 2-3 cm) it is quite the predator.

 Day flying moths may show up. This one is quite distinctive, known as the Eight-spotted Forester.

A caterpillar that is often found around milkweeds is this Milkweed Tussock Caterpillar. A group of them can eat a lot of milkweed leaves in a short period of time.

One of the tiniest creatures I've been able to photograph is this leafhopper, of the Scaphytopius genus. It is barely two millimetres in total length!

The garden is a never ending source of fun to explore with a camera and macro lens!

Back Yard Wildlife

I usually do at least a couple of 'Back Yard Wildlife' posts each year, but this is my first for 2018. That doesn't mean there hasn't been any action....far from it! However the earlier season heat and drought didn't help, nor did the fact that I was away for several weeks. So I've got some catching up to do.

A few weeks ago I noticed a raptor feeding on something. Turns out a Red-tailed Hawk had picked off one of the neighbourhood Eastern Grey Squirrels!

The hawk eventually flew off....apparently it did not appreciate some of the extra attention, especially since some neighbourhood kids were watching it from a bit of distance but closing in on it due to their curiosity. It flew off with part of the carcass and this was all that was left where it had been.

A surprise nesting species was a Mallard, with a nest under a small shrubby tree in the front yard.  It didn't even leave the nest when the mower was within about a metre of it, although it kept an eye on it. It was getting close to hatching, I think, but the eggs were predated by something....a skunk perhaps, although we seldom see or smell skunk in our neighbourhood.

On the smaller scale of wildlife in the yard, it has been quite diverse. There have been a few butterflies, but not many except for Monarchs.

 There has been at least two males in the yard for several weeks, and a few females have been passing through. We have not seen many caterpillars, but it isn't for lack of trying. There have been lots of eggs laid, but perhaps the heat and drought earlier in the season took its toll. The eggs are so tiny, barely one millimetre in diameter.

Red Admiral

 This Question Mark was investigating my tomato plants.

 Clearly one or more Black Swallowtail butterflies had been in the area, although I didn't see them. But we've found at least 5 larvae on different plants. Note in this next photo the old skin which this caterpillar has just crawled out of.

A lot of the plants in our yard and in our pollinator patch nearby are tallgrass prairie types, so they are able to withstand the heat and drought better than others. And the pollinators, which come in all shapes, colours and sizes, have loved it!

Metallic Green Bee (Agapostemon sp)

Ailanthus Webworm

A Braconid type of wasp (Macrocentrus sp)

Cicada Killer (Sphex speciosus)

A Stink Bug (Euschistus variolarius)

 This next one is a Feather-legged Fly. It is named because of the feathery material on its lower hind leg. It is sort of visible in the photo.

Trichopoda sp

 This next one is an ultra tiny fly, being only about 2mm in length. I am not sure what kind it is. It may be a male mosquito, although the size and wings don't look right. I have posted it on BugGuide, but no one there has responded to it yet.

Thread-waisted Wasp (Isodontia sp)

Green Bottle Fly (Lucillia sericata)

Wasp (Monrobia quadridens)

 This next one is huge, with a body length of at least 30 mm. It mimics a wasp in both appearance and behaviour, but it is a fly!

Mydas Fly (Mydas clavatus)

Paper Wasp (Polistes sp)

 This next one is a large wasp, the Great Black Wasp (Sphex pensylvanicus). It isn't as large and bulky as the Mydas Fly, but is about 25-30 mm long.

Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle (Labidomera clivicollis)

A Syrphid Fly (Syrphus torvus)

A Tachinid Fly (Dexiini sp)

Two-spotted Longhorn (Melissodes maculatus)

 There are other critters that aren't pollinators but have other roles. This next photo is of an Ambush Bug, lying in wait for a tasty insect to come within reach.

 Next is a day flying moth, the Chickweed Geometer (Haematopis grataria). The adults don't feed, but the larvae do, on Chickweed.

 I'm not sure what this next one is. It is a tiny nymph of some kind, but again, I've posted it on BugGuide without any results yet.

 The Red-banded Leafhoppers are always fun to find. They are so colourful and most easily seen on milkweed leaves, but occur on other plants as well.

There is always a lot to see, especially when you have a healthy pollinator garden!