Backyard Nature Observations

I'm having a blast observing nature in my back yard! Just today I was working on my deck in my back yard an low and behold... a male Ruby throated Hummingbird was hovering in the air just 10 feet away from me. It was looking at wasps which seem to have found a home in the sophet above my back porch. A Dove alighted gracefully on my rear fence and quickly shot off... Coopers Hawk blasting by. At dusk, a peenting sound from above ... two common nighthawks. Incessant Catbird, Indigo Bunting and Song Sparrows calling. Screeching Red tailed Hawks... I could go on!

I've noted two rare plants recently just near my house... Prairie Dock (SRank: S1) and Sullivant's Milkweed. Both Prairie Dock patches have been recently mown (...moan). That is the conundrum though with prairie plants... They need fire, or lawn-mowers to buzz by every now and then because succession will eventually create a forest. I've created a small native wildflower garden in my backyard with some of the following plants: Dark-eyed susans, Coneflowers of various colours, butterfly bush, Oregeno and Rosemary, heal all, Catnip plant?, and my latest addition: Gayfeather (aka blazingstar)... Which I bought from Lowes just yesterday. Yes, I have Blazingstar in my backyard!

Prairie Dock. Botanist might also note the presence of Wild Carrots

A little black butterfly caught my eye the other day, and sure enough, Common Sootywing in my back yard! I had to take a photo with my cell phone (I had lent my camera out), which was nearly impossible because Sootywings do not let you approach too closely. Common Checkered Skippers are resident in my back yard and any quick stroll will surely stir one up. I've had some great good butterfly walks at Ojibway recently and there does not seem to be a butterfly scarcity issue here in Windsor, although there are a few species I have not seen that I have seen consistently over the last few years ex: broad winged skipper. On the other hand, Common Ringlets seemed to have invaded Essex this year... perhaps from the north?

Common Sootywings are not very common. A SW Ontario rarity if I'm not mistaken!

Three last notes:

1 of 3 -  I found that my grade entrance might "trap" a toad every now and then ... usually after a good rain, so on occasion, I will "rescue" toads with a little plastic container, and recently,,, I thought it would be a great learning opportunity for my son to rescue the toad and release it back to the environment. It was a teachable moment for two boys to help them appreciate and have compassion for nature.

2 of 3 - My son pointed out a caterpillar on our front porch and ... not knowing what species it was, I quickly found the species (Black Swallowtail) and asked my son to compare the caterpillar from two catterpillars in my ROM Butterflies of Ontario field guide. After noting the various colours and patterns, my son made the right identification and was proud to do so. I helped my son see the joy of identifying things by making observations... another great teachable moment. The crystalis never emerged, it may have been 'pecked' by a bird or maybe parisitized by a wasp?

3 of 3 - I noted that the house next to me had nesting rough-winged swallows in an exhaust vent as the house was being constructed. One day, I noted that the Mechanical Company had installed the vent covers, "trapping" the nestlings inside and locking the parents out. I had a heavy heart, as I noted that the parent birds would perch on a nearby window sill, as if to say "where did our vent / home go"? Then, a day or two later I noted the Mechanical Company back, fishing out the baby birds and leaving them on the ground. I suggested that we create a temporary nest cavity (as opposed to just leaving them on the ground), right next to their old vent opening, and maybe, the fledglings could be fed, and resuscitated by their parents. I'm glad to say that we saved the birds ... the parents found their fledglings and fed them and they fledged (3/4) just a few days after this took place.

 Note the newly covered vent, the makeshift nest cavity, and the thankful bird in the foreground!

Good birding!
Dwayne

PS: Below is a list of some birds, plants and butteflies I've seen from simply sitting in my backyard and looking around.


Summer 2015 Nature observations at South Cameron Woodlot....

Indigo Bunting
Ruby throated Hummingbird
Song Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
House Sparrow
Common Nighthawk (the last few days, dusk only)
Red tailed Hawk
Coopers Hawk
Grey Catbird
American Goldfinch
Robin
Wood Thrush (occasionally)
House Wren
Northern Flicker
Northern Rough winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
Chimney Swift
Ring billed gulls
Bald Eagle (once)
Killdeer
Downy Woodpecker
Killdeer
Cardinal
Black capped Chickadee
Turkey Vulture
Mourning Dove

Common Checkered Skipper
Common Sootywing
Least Skipper
Pecks Skipper
Black Swallowtail
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Viceroy
Cabbage White
Orange Sulphur
Clouded Sulphur
Comma
Question Mark

American Toad

Prairie Dock
Sullivants Milkweed

Deer
Coyotes

Early June Butterfly Watching in Windsor

Ventral view of a fresh female Hobomok Skipper as it taps into a wildflower

I've attempted to view and photograph some butterflies this week and just figured I would share some of my sightings. I find I'm still learning so much with regards to identification! While I was photographing these butterflies, I heard Song Sparrows, Field Sparrow, Indigo Buntings and Great crested Flycatchers singing from the surrounding trees!

This week, I've seen:
Black Swallowtail
Spicebush Swallowtail
Giant Swallowtail

Hobomok Skippers
Tawny-edged Skippers
Peck's Skippers
Viceroy
Eastern Tailed Blue
Juvenals Duskywing
Duskywing Species
Pearl Cresent
Common wood Nymphs
Cabbage White
Orange/Clouded Sulphur

Black Swallowtail - Note the tiny black "dot" at the very bottom of its wings

Peck's Skipper Nectaring on Red Clover

Dorsal views of a female Hobomok Skipper butterfly - Note how it proceeds to coil its probiscis before taking flight!

Tawny edged and Crossline skippers are similar, but Tawny are smaller and are more common in June. This collage features both a ventral and dorsal view of a Tawny edged Skipper.

I've realized that there is now an e-bird equivalent for butterfly watchers! Its called E-Butterfly and if I'm not mistaken, its based in Ottawa Ontario! I created an account recently but I just don't know if I have time to really log my sightings. 

Good butterfly watching!
Dwaynejava

PS: My birding friends recently participated in a Ballie Birdathon which raises money for Bird Studies Canada. I don't know if I can motivate any of my blog readers to donate but if you are so inclined, please click the link here for the "No rEgrets" team. Kory Renaud, Jeremy Bensette, and Jeremy Hatt have raised over $1000, and I just donated $40 myself.  I read recently that North Americans spend $2 Billion per year on Halloween Candy... Imagine people donated just a fraction of the money they spend on Halloween candy to conservation and research? 

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

Indigo Buntings at Ojibway

A recent twitter post from Ojibway Park indicated that Indigo Buntings were back on territory at the park, so I figured I would go and see if I could find some. As luck would have it, one of the first trees I inspected had several males chasing each other (possibly in an effort to set up breeding territory). I stood by quietly watching and noticing the birds would often perch on a nearby side tree out in the open. How awesome. I got 'smashing' views of these gorgeous birds with such little effort!

I walked away from these indigo beauties and then looked up into another large Oak in the Ojibway Prairie and again... stood by the tree in amazement. A non-birder may have just walked by this large tree, but to a birder, it was thriving with activity. A close inspection gave nice views of Cedar Waxwings, Orchard Orioles, Chestnut sided Warblers, Swallows, Eastern Kingbird and ... more Indigo Buntings! Not bad!

I also saw a fresh Black Swallowtail as well as a Six spotted Tiger Beetle, which is a pretty common bug you might notice on a nature path that always seems to stay 10 feet ahead of you as you walk.

The Tallgrass Prarie was a nice walk as well with songs of Wood Thrush, as well as many other birds filling the air. I had a brief view of a Canada Warbler... this bird has eluded me this year! Three brief views but no photos.

Good birding!
Dwaynejava

Shorebirding at Hillman Marsh

Last Sunday (Sept 12th), I stopped by Hillman Marsh & Point Pelee National Park.  Hillman Marsh had many Herons and Egrets as well as many shorebirds.  The shorebird cell basically looks like a giant field. I don't really see how this is a shorebird cell, but maybe next Spring, I will see if it is. I'm not a biologist, but Pointe Mouillee seems like a great shorebird habitat and looks nothing like Hillman's shorebird field. I hope my sceptical view of this field is changed next spring! Anyway, there was good shorebird habitat near the small barn as you cross the first major dyke about 400m past the parking lot.

I did see Yellowlegs (Greater?) as well as Stilt Sandpipers (which I originally thought were White-rumped sandpipers because they were showing major white rumpage). I also saw many small peeps closer to the visitor center but did not really spend much time in that location.

Next I drove through the onion fields, to Point Pelee NP. I did not see much as I drove through the onion fields... nor the north dyke road. Point Pelee seemed quiet for birds Sunday morning. Maybe I just got unlucky and did not cross many pockets of migrants. As I walked through Delaurier Trail, Sharp Shinned Hawks flew overhead every 3 minutes.

Possibly these preying raptors grounded many of the migrants I was looking for. I did see a flycatcher though.

Tildens Trail was silent as well. I did notice a few RT Hummingbirds though.

Spicebush Swallowtail & Question Mark butterflies near the Delaurier parking lot. 

This was uneventful yet mildly exciting walk ... so I figured I would post it, even if its a week late! :-)

Good birding!
Dwayne

Ojibway Park Butterflies

I've photographed several butterflies since late June. I'm still a noob (newbie) with butterflies and I would not even classify myself as a butterflyer
... I should buy a guide before I do that! Here are some that I've photographed since late June. I figured if I don't post these beauties to my blog, they will get buried in my computer and forgotten about. The odd thing about photographing butterflies with my birding lens is that I have a minimum focal length of 8 feet, so I can really only take horizontal shots. 

I'm still learning alot about Butterflies so these may be mis-labeled. A recent butterfly count in the Ojibway area had over 50 species identified.

I've always wondered why a Question Mark butterfly was named like that. This photo actually shows the question mark symbol on the bottom of its wings. It looks like someone drew a question mark symbol with a metalic silver marker.

This photo was composed from two photographs... One with the tops of its wings, and the other with the bottoms.

And this one from last fall at Point Pelee a Giant Swallowtail  ...