Out-of-season Winged Wonders

I thought it might be a nice diversion from the ongoing snow, cold, freezing rain etc., to look at some fairer weather winged critters. It will still be a few weeks, even months, before we are likely to see any of the following in real life. Hopefully they are as anxious to emerge from their pupa, or from behind the bark of a tree as an adult, as I am to see them! The following images show some of the diversity of butterflies I've shot this past year.

A couple of the earliest ones we might expect to see are these first two.

Mourning Cloak

Eastern Comma

Some of the most common, even abundant, ones throughout the year are these next ones.

Cabbage Whites

Clouded Sulphur

Clouded Sulphur

In the municipal park behind our place, there is a community garden. We've been able to plant one of the plots into a pollinator patch, featuring about a dozen native prairie plant species. They do wonders at attracting all sorts of pollinator types, which of course helps the organic garden. And between it and our own yard, so far I've seen more than 30 species of butterfly.

Common Checkered Skipper

Common Sootywing

Eastern Tailed Blue

Wild Indigo Duskywing

Giant Swallowtail

Least Skipper

Monarch

Painted Lady

Pearl Crescent

Peck's Skipper

Question Mark

Red Admiral

Viceroy

One of the great spots for butterflies not too far away has been the Reid Conservation Area, in Lambton County a bit north of Wallaceburg. It is worth checking out especially for one of the more unusual and very restricted butterfly species in Ontario, the Oak Hairstreak.

While I was at Reid on the hunt for the Oak Hairstreak, this Gray Comma came by and alighted on my equipment. The two photos were taken less than a minute and a half apart. I think the Gray Comma was attracted to some of the salt sweat

There are other goodies there as well, including these next two, found in the shaded sedge vegetation of the adjacent woods.

Duke's Skipper

Duke's Skipper

Dun Skipper

 Skippers are notoriously small and very subject to speedy and erratic flight. Those at the larger end of the scale are sometimes a lot easier to photograph.

 While I was photographing this Giant Swallowtail, above, another lepidopteran species came by. It is not a butterfly, but a moth, and looks like a hummingbird. Not surprisingly, its name is Hummingbird Clearwing, It is a member of the Sphinx Moth family.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Bronze Copper

Bronze Copper

Summer Azure

One species that eluded me in 2018 was this next one, Fiery Skipper. Most years I come across a few in the late summer and early fall, but not this time.

Fiery Skipper

I try and get most of my butterfly observations, particularly any of the more significant ones, on eButterfly. I've also entered some on BAMONA, the database of the Butterflies and Moths of North America, as well as BugGuide. I haven't entered any on iNaturalist yet.....there are just too many databases around, but that may be the subject of a future rant post!

Natural Areas of Chatham-Kent, Part 11 (McGeachy Pond)

McGeachy Pond is located along the Lake Erie shoreline, just before the village of Erieau. This first image shows this triangular wetland's location. The trail goes along the dyke between the lake and the wetland, although you can walk around the entire periphery if you want to walk along the road sides. If you look at the surrounding farmland, you will note that it is quite black, and is typical of soils produced by wetlands. The dyke was constructed a little over a century ago to protect the low lying farmland and residential areas from flooding during wave action and high water levels of Lake Erie.

There are small parking areas at either end of this Conservation Area, shown by the 'X'.

 This site is under the jurisdiction of the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority.

 There is an observation tower along the trail, looking out over the lake.

 It is a great spot to watch for water birds out on the lake, as well as boats, or people using the trail. The east end of the trail continues right into the village of Erieau.

The location is fabulous for watching wildlife...birds and butterflies especially. As of this post date, there have been ~215 species of birds observed here. Waterfowl are fairly abundant, either passing overhead or resting up for the next leg of their migration journey.

Tundra Swans

Northern Pintail

 The shrubby/treed area is good for those species that like such habitat for nesting such as the next two species.

Gray Catbird

Eastern Kingbird

 This next species is a frequent non-breeding resident.

Great Blue Heron

The heron is wading through a large patch of Pickerelweed, a common and distinctive aquatic plant of shallow wetlands.

The current water levels are controlled, but before the water control system was installed, the water levels naturally fluctuated. As a result the habitat was more variable. It was during this time in about 1978 that a friend of mine discovered the nest of a King Rail and I had a chance to see it and briefly photograph it. King Rails have never been common in Canada, but the wetlands along Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair were where they were most likely to occur. King Rail has gradually declined even from the low numbers of that era to the point of it being legally Endangered in Canada. Although there are still a few breeding records of it in some of its more popular haunts, I believe this 1978 record is the last time an actual nest was found in Ontario.

Many migrating birds follow the shoreline especially on their southward migration, so it is a good spot to check. In the last couple of years these next two species have put in an appearance.

Bohemian Waxwing

American White Pelican

A much more regular winter resident is Snowy Owl, often seen in the fields immediately adjacent to the site.

This is a great spot to find butterflies as well. The openness of the vegetation which supports many flowering plants throughout the growing season, as well as being along the shoreline which, like the birds, facilitates migration movement, are two of the factors that make it productive for butterflies. The presence of a large butterfly bush adjacent to the western parking lot doesn't hurt either! As a result it is a regular spot to look for butterflies during the annual Butterfly Count in mid-July, but can be useful to check almost any time of the wildflower growing season.

The first two images show one or more Bronze Coppers. They can sometimes be quite numerous. On one occasion I counted 55 of them!

 Monarchs are here during much of the season, but are particularly abundant in September as they are migrating through on their way to the wintering grounds in the highlands of Mexico.

 The abundance of New England Aster in late summer is popular with many butterflies.

As mentioned, there is a large butterfly bush adjacent to the west end parking area. Butterflies are drawn to it in impressive numbers. On one occasion I saw at least 8 species using it simultaneously. These included:

Fiery Skipper

Gray Hairstreak

Monarch

Painted Lady

American Lady

Peck's Skipper

Question Mark (under side)

Question Mark (upper side)

In addition to seeing a diversity of wildlife, it is a great spot just to enjoy the lake side setting, listen to the wave action and feel the gentle, cooling breezes off the water in summer. And it has many wonderful photographic opportunities as well, especially at sunrise!