Dion Skipper - Life butterfly at #119!

Dion Skipper

This morning I went for a bike ride along the Essex Country Greenway bike path. I was hoping to find some sedge patches that might host one of the last species in Southwestern Ontario that I hadn't really seen, photographed or "lifered". Oddly enough, I feel that I've been out on some butterfly counts where "Dion" was mentioned but I didn't really get a chance to observe the field marks or photograph it.  I had seen "several" sedge skippers this morning but none were convincingly "Dion" - the most common Sedge skipper in Essex is probably the Dukes Skipper, which is a little bit of a provincial rarity that is endemic to Essex County.

Dion Skipper's host plant is: Carex lacustris (Lake Sedge)
Mulberry wing Skipper's host plant is: Carex stricta (Tussock Sedge)

Along that greenway I has spotted some other butterflies and moths as well. They include:
Snowberry Clearwing Moth on Catnip
Horace's Duskywing
Red Spotted Purple
Eastern Comma
Monarchs
Giant Swallowtail
Common Buckeye
Duke's Skipper

Some birds included:
Brown Thrashers
Baltimore Orioles
Indigo Buntings
among many other common birds

Later near Oxley, I noticed a Northern Mockingbird on a wire - they are a little more common near Kingsville it seems. Still - a pretty cool bird to spot while driving.

Good birding!

Windsor LaSalle Butterfly Count 2014 (v2)

Monarch on Butterfly Milkweed - Butterfly watchers are happy to see a slight population rebound from last summer

Last July, I did a review of the Windsor LaSalle Butterfly count for 2013 [link]. So I figured I would continue tradition this year. This year's count took place on July 5th, 2014. I actually didn't officially take part in this year's count. My son had a soccer game on that Saturday morning but I was able to catch up with the butterfly census about an hour after it started at Brunet Park in LaSalle.

Its always fun to see a bunch of Hairstreaks nectaring on Butterfly Milkweed

Interesting Notes from this years survey:

•  1,787 individuals of 49 species for the 2014 butterfly count (1,471  of 52 species in 2013)
• 19 Monarch butterflies as opposed to last year's 3 Monarchs [link]! The 10 year running average for Monarchs is 32 for this count (source: http://www.ojibway.ca/nabc2012.pdf). I actually have finally seen a few Monarchs this year (starting with this recent count) at Ojibway and Point Pelee.
• No American Coppers this year (I did see one earlier in the season though)
• No Mulberry Winged Skippers this year- A species that I was going to really try to catch up with...
• A worn Northern Oak Hairstreak was found at Brunet Park a new species for the count!
• Edwards, Acadian, Coral and Banded Hairstreak are pretty easily found at Spring Garden area, and huge numbers of Hickory Hairstreaks were seen at Brunet Park in LaSalle this year (100+)

Here are some pictures I took while butterfly watching on or around the butterfly count...

At one point of our walk, we noticed a giant bumble bee nectaring on milkweed flowers, and then a second giant bumble bee... No... A Snowberry Clearing Moth nectaring on the same plant as a bumble bee! The Snowberry Clearwing moth is a bumble bee mimic and it was cool to see them nectaring side by side!

My son and I also went to Point Pelee after the butterfly count (July 6th) to see what we could find along East Beach ... Lots of butterflies were to be seen but highlights included 1-Pipevine Swallowtail and 4-Striped Hairstreaks.

Good Butterfly Watching!
Dwaynejava

Snowberry Clearwing Hummingbird Moth ?!?! v2

Snowberry Clearwing Hummingbird Moth

On the way to my parents house tonight, I stopped by Ojibway Park for a quick walk. I had been seeing Broad winged Skippers lately and wanted better looks. Upon walking up to a small meadow in the Spring Garden area of Ojibway, I saw a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth to my right, then to my left, I noticed another Clearwing Moth, ... with more of a yellow-black colouration... Snowberry Clearwing Hummingbird Moth?!?!?!? Are you kidding me?  I literally have two frames of this moth and it was gone.  Its funny, if you approach them very slowly, they seem to not mind your presence, but if you make a quick movement, such as move a camera strap, they can be a little shy.

More Reading:
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Hemaris-thysbe (Hummingbird Clearwing)
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Hemaris-diffinis  (Snowberry Clearwing)

Just a Clearwing Moth - Common as dirt...

I saw another Clearwing Moth moments later as I was leaving. Its funny, once you "see" a new species, your seem to then see it more easily from that point on.

It seems like butterfly life has really died down a little ... are we between broods? I did get some really nice looks at Broad winged Skippers though... I have male and female and dorsal ventral combinations... See below!

Branded Skipper Butterflies are a little difficult to identify because there are some strange wing positionings. The two photos above show a male and female dimorphism, but it is more clearly seen in the dorsal perspective. The dorsal perspective though, for skippers can be strange because skippers hold their forewings up at a 45degree angle, so depending on the angle you are looking at the butterfly, you may see the upper forwing on the right, and the upper hindwing on the left. I don't know if I'm explaining that very well, but I think any butterfly watcher has to come to terms with that sooner or later!

I took my son to a playground near my sisters house this week, and noted several birds:
25 brown headed cowbirds (I hate seeing big groups of cowbirds :-(  )
15 Starlings
10 Goldfinch,
25 Barn Swallows,
2 Song Sparrows,
Willow Flycatcher! (to my amazement)

Regarding Willow Flycatchers, I must say I am delighted to find them. I usually hear their scatchy call then try to find them perched atop a small bush or shrub... I only see them a few times during the summer in more expected areas such as Hillman Marsh. Not easy to find close to Windsor, but I may be mistaken on that...

That playground had a few housing lots slated for development with lots of weeds. These two beauties flew by me in the mater of a few minutes. The top being a Black Swallowtail (see that small dot at the very bottom of its wings?) and a Spicebush Swallowtail, which has no "dot", and the band of orange dots is pierced by the blue colouring. Very cool eh?

Good birding!
Dwayne