Moths of Newport Forest

 I think it is time for another post on my black lighting expeditions! Since the first of April, I have had my black lights on for 58 evenings, each time varying from 2.5 to 4 hours. Twenty-six of those have been in my own yard, with Rondeau evenings totalling 18 so far. I've been at Clear Creek Forest Prov Park five times, and from 1-3 times at Moore Wildlife Area, Sinclair's Bush CA, Bickford Oak Woods Conservation Reserve, Sydenham River Nature Reserve and Newport Forest.

It has been a lot of fun, and the mothing season isn't necessarily over quite yet, but with upwards of 10,000 photos taken during those many events, it didn't take long to get way behind. So here goes, trying to share some of the highlights of those various black lighting sites. Don't worry, I have pared down the ~10,000 photos to a more practical number :-).

Back in July, I was invited to join several friends to set up some black lights at Newport Forest. This site is a former working farm, along the south side of the Thames River in Elgin County. About two decades ago it was purchased by Kee and Pat Dewdney of London, who promptly started restoring it to some semblance of its former self. There was a fair bit of woodland remaining, but the fields were converted to forest plantation and meadow. One of the goals of the Dewdneys was to do a complete biological inventory of all flora and fauna present at the site, and over the years, they had done an amazing job. Pat passed away earlier this year, but Kee continues on. The property was given to the Thames Talbot Land Trust a few years ago, and the biological inventory continued. There wasn't a lot of inventory effort put towards night time creatures. I had been there once or twice in past years with my black lights, but always later in the summer. Clearly the earlier season species were missing from the list. 

One of the best aspects of this July outing, aside from being with good friends, was the total lack of mosquitoes. Some other sites, especially Rondeau, had been horrendous with mosquitoes as the season progressed, so being out from before dark until well after midnight with no mosquitoes was a real treat.

Here are some of the more colourful, patterned moths caught on camera that night.

Aproned Cenopis Moth

At just a casual glance, this next one looks a bit like a bird dropping, a clever camouflage to avoid being selected by a predator. It is the Beautiful Wood-Nymph.

Canadian Sonia

Common Lytrosis

Contracted Datana

 Some moths have rather peculiar poses. This is the Dimorphic Eulithis. It props itself up with longer front legs, and has its abdomen curled up.

This next one also has its abdomen somewhat curled up, but not quite as much as the previous species. It is the Dimorphic Macalla Moth.

Feeble Grass Moth

When one mentions Forest Tent Caterpillar, most folks think about the web like structure on a leafy branch, but often without the leaves since they have all been eaten by numerous caterpillars. But the caterpillars turn into a rather attractive adult, shown next.

Green Leuconycta

Hickory Leafroller

 Some of the most well known, large and attractive moths, are members of the silkworm group. This next one is not one of the largest, but is a colourful silk moth known as the Io Moth. It really stands out when it is a bit disturbed, opening up its forewings and displaying those large dark eye-like markings on the hindwings, presumably to look like a large predator and scare off a real predator.

Another colourful moth is this Lappet Moth.

Reticulated Fruitworm Moth

Snowy Geometer

Straight-lined Plagodis

The Saw-wing

Two-lined Owlet

This next one is very small. In fact its name is maybe even longer than the moth. It is the White-spotted Oak Leafroller.

Moths have their enemies, as you can see by the bite that was taken out of this one's hind-wing. It is known as the Yellow Slant-line.

Another distinctive moth is this Yellow-shouldered Slug Moth.

Not all creatures attracted to black lights are moths. This large Yellow-thighed Stag Beetle came in and stuck around quite literally for a couple of hours. He really clung to the sheet, and it was not easy to get him off when it was time for us to pack up.

Overall I photographed about 50 species of moths that night, plus a few non-moth creatures. More moths to come from another site in a future post!

Late Season Orchids, Butterflies, and some Waterbirds

 Summer may be over, but the last couple of weeks of it and first bit of autumn is still a great time to be out looking at things.

A diminutive orchid I always try and find is the Autumn Coralroot. It is considered an Ontario and Canadian rarity, although that may be partially because it is so hard to find even when you know about where it is. It seldom grows more than 15cm (6") tall, and the flowers, if they open up at all, are droopy.

Another late season orchid is the Great Plain's Ladies'-tresses. It is quite restricted in its Ontario range, and is considered Vulnerable in Canada. It is one of the latest blooming of our native orchids. Only one species, much rarer, normally is in flower later than this species. Sometimes there is an obvious spiral to the rows of flowers, but not always. However the inside of the lip almost always shows a slight yellowish tinge, and when the plants are in peak flower, emit a fragrance that some have likened to a sort of vanilla. I sometimes think it is closer to the scent of a type of hot plastic! At any rate, it is quite distinctive, and on occasion it can be so prevalent that I can smell them before I see them.

I was at Rondeau yesterday, not specifically looking for birds, although I did see a smattering of warblers and others, as well as a lot of Blue Jays. They have been migrating in huge numbers this season. One of the hawkwatch observation points southwest of here, has reported tallying around 400,000 flying by so far. The thought is that since the food source farther north is limited, the birds are getting out of the country to where food is more plentiful.

I saw a good variety of butterflies, and most were in quite fresh condition.

Question Mark

This Common Buckeye is looking quite fresh. I have seen quite a few of this species in the last few weeks, but most are tattered and worn, since they likely arrived as a result of southerly winds. They are generally considered migrants from the south, but there are a few records of breeding in southwestern Ontario. Perhaps the reason this one is so fresh looking is due to a local breeding event?

Common Buckeye

Eastern Comma

The Eastern Comma above is in its overwintering form, given the relatively light colour of the hind wing. This next image is also of an Eastern Comma taken a few weeks ago, but it has a darker hind wing, indicating its summer form, which fits its rather faded and worn appearance.

There are still a few non-orchid species in good flowering condition along the trails of Rondeau.

Blue-stemmed Goldenrod

Bottle Gentian

This next one isn't a flowering plant per se, but a rare fern called Broad Beech Fern.

Do you recognize the seed pods here?

The shape and habitat (sandy open areas) are clues to it being that of the colourful Butterfly Milkweed.

Butterfly Milkweed

Spotted Jewelweed

Great Lobelia

Pale Jewelweed

Rattlesnake Root

Hairy Goldenrod

The dampness of late summer brings on the fruiting bodies of fungi, such as this colourful Russula species.

There are still lots of waterbirds around. I saw several Black-bellied Plover at Erieau a short time ago. It always helps to know for sure when one raises its wing to show the black feathered 'armpits' characteristic of this species.

Sanderlings are quite regularly seen.....

.....as is the all too common Double-crested Cormorant. If they just weren't so abundant and messy at times, one could consider them a nice bird to see!

I've stopped at Keith McLean CA a couple of times to see if I can catch up to the Nelson's Sparrows that have been reported. So far I've been unsuccessful, as have many others. They are furtive at best. Hopefully they stick around for a few more days like they have done in past years. So without seeing the Nelson's Sparrow, I took solace in enjoying a few of the other birds that come and go.

Dunlin numbers are starting to build, and as one of the later shorebird species to migrate through, I expect there will be lots of them over the next few weeks.

Semiplamated Plovers, on the other hand, probably won't be around much longer.....

...and the two or three Great Egrets that have been enjoying the shallow flooded fields here for many of the past few weeks, will likely be harder to find before long.

Pied-billed Grebes are still plentiful, with typically a dozen or more around. This one is checking me out as I photograph him/her.

There are lots of those aerial garbage cleaners passing through, feasting on washed up fish/cormorants/gulls/ducks/whatever.

One of the recent highlights was to catch up to this Whimbrel, along the Rondeau shoreline just south of the Dog Beach Access. Whimbrel are not often seen in the autumn, so to have this juvenile bird hanging around for a week or two is unusual. It is by itself, and is quite tolerant of humans. Presumably because it is a young bird, it has had little or no contact with humans until it arrived here, so as long as viewers do not threaten it, it carries on without any fear, it seems. Although I did have my 100-400mm lens on, at one point as I squatted down to be less intimidating, I had to zoom back to only 125mm in order to get the bird in the frame!