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| Coral Hairstreak Butterfly. We saw at least 6 or so of these today. |
I joined Blake Mann this morning, along with (Jeff Larson, Paul Desjardens, Ian Woodfield) to assist in the local butterfly count. I've been tagging along now for two or three years, mainly for the purpose of learning more about the fine art of butterfly watching. I've really enjoyed butterfly watching, and Windsor/LaSalle have some great spots, not to mention the other natural areas in Essex such as Holiday Beach, Cedar Creek and Point Pelee.
It was nice to finally see some hairstreak butterflies today, as I had not seen any this year yet. The best butterfly of the day for me was finding an American Copper in a particular meadow within the Spring Garden area of Ojibway. Edward's Hairstreak was a new life butterfly for me and was very exciting for me to identify it with my butterfly field guide while referring to the photo I had taken.
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| Edward's Hairstreak is a life butterfly |
This American Copper butterfly below is my first in Canada. I had seen one at Oak Openings Metropark in Ohio a few summers ago. Just a gorgeous butterfly!
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| This was a stunning butterfly. It gave such good looks, it must have sat on this one flower (common knapweed) for 10 minutes. What perspective is more beautiful for this butterfly? Dorsal or ventral? |
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| Dorsal Perspective of the American Copper butterfly |
It was a good morning of butterfly watching. Most people that are into Ontario Butterfly Watching would probably agree that this year is 'slow' and crappy for some strange reason. Perhaps the extended winter we had, or abundant rain this summer? Or maybe last years butterfly watching (comparitively) was so good. There were no Fiery Skippers, Checkered Skippers or Variegated Fritillaries this year (to my knowledge). Still nice to get out and see these winged gems! I hope the final tallies from today are listed somewhere. Perhaps the Ontario Butterflies Google Group?
Good Birding & Butterfly Watching!
Dwayne
PS: Bonus Images - Great spangled Fritillary & Baltimore Checkerspot from Ojibway Tallgrass Prairie early this week.
I was disappointed we did not get a Baltimore today. However, a good day!
ReplyDeleteStunning collection of pictures Dwayne. A nice change of pace from the birds.
ReplyDeleteYour Northern Pearly-Eye made me go back and check out what ends up being my mis-identification of a butterfly from a while back. They are very similar to an Eyed Brown.
Again, you got some great pictures!!
Brian, Thanks for the nice words. The Northern Pearly Eye is similar to the Wood Satyr (4 spots, very common) and the Wood Nymph (which looks like a satry but is much darker)... They can be confusing. But the Pearly eye seems to just sit still more often and has more eye marks.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful post, Dwayne! The American Copper is stunning! I occasionally encounter (Gray) Hairstreaks~one of my favorites!
ReplyDeleteDo you ever submit your findings to Butterflies and Moths of North America? http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/ I just discovered that site when I was on vacation in Maine and found it to be a nice community and the data they are collecting will become more and more useful as more and more people submit sightings.
ReplyDeleteIncredibly beautiful photos.
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