Grey Hairstreak and other Recent September Migrants

Grey Hairstreak at Point Pelee

[Editor's Note: This posting is a hodge-podge mix of like three separate nature viewing hikes. My last posting about Fringed Gentian Wildflowers merited its own post so this one covers the last two weekends.. Thanks... ]

Seeing this Grey Hairstreak last weekend was a nice recent nature viewing highlight.There are years when I don't see this so it is somewhat rare in my opinion.  Shortly after seeing it, I was informed that a Funereal Duskywing was seen at the tip of Point Pelee --- but the small group of butterfly enthusiasts that I was with could not re-find it. The Duskywing and Crescent species below are sometimes confusing to identify but the time of year helps with their identification. 

Over the month of September, I've had amazing birding in my back yard.  Palm, Nashville, have been the most common, but Common Yellowthroats, American Redstart, Wilsons have been seen in lesser numbers.

Today at Pelee, I walked around with the family, and noted few birds.  At one point, Blue Jays were going crazy near the tip, and looking up, it would easy to see 5 sharp shinned hawks and even a Peregrine Falcon! A few Sanderlings and a group of about 10 Surf Scoters flew by in the short time I was at the tip.

Last weekend, I joined Jeremy Bensette for an OFO guided hike at  Point Pelee. It was pretty birdy and one of my personal highlights was Grey Checked Thrush, Winter Wren and a nice assortment of Warblers. A perched Carolina Saddlebags dragonfly was a nice find.

Hermit or Grey Cheeked?

I've seen many thrush species in the month, but have questioned myself ... I think I'm seeing Swainson's Thrush and Grey Cheeked... but what about Hermit Thrushes?

Good birding!
Dwayne

Tall Boneset? It was over 5' tall. Growing in the sandy soils of Black Oak Heritage Park.

Sarah R in the news

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/point-pelee-s-birds-set-to-star-in-adult-colouring-book-1.3237021

VW Accused of fooling emissions tests with software

http://www.businessinsider.com/volkswagen-scandal-bad-for-environment-2015-9

2015 On Pace to being the hottest year in the last 140 years

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/earth-has-warmest-summer-on-record-how-did-canada-fair/57334/

Asian Carp found in Lake Erie:

http://blogs.windsorstar.com/news/asian-carp-found-in-lake-erie

PPNP in the News + Butterfly Watching, Botanizing Pre Ojibway Bio-blitz

Point Pelee National Park is getting 11.2 Million dollars from the Government for improving the park on several fronts. See this link for more details: http://blogs.windsorstar.com/news/federal-government-announces-major-investments-in-point-pelee-national-park  [evernote].  I can't help but think that 1 million of that money could have easily bought the old Windsor Raceway land from Coco Paving to improve the <1% of Ontario's tallgrass prairie habitat.

The Ojibway Park Bioblitz is taking place this Saturday July 18 and I wanted to get out and observe some wildlife as this event approaches. If you are interested in joining this event read more and register here: http://essexcountynature.com/2015/07/08/join-us-for-the-2015-ojibway-prairie-bioblitz/ .


I did some pre bio-blitz scouting earlier this week with a focus on Leps at Ojibway. The butterfly-watching has been a little slower it seems than normal. Fritillaries and Browns are very present, but it seems that hairstreak volume and diversity has been low this year.  Some butterflies I noted this week were:

American Copper
Coral Hairstreak
Edward's Hairstreak
Acadian Hairstreak
Little Glassywing
GS Fritillary
Red Admiral
Pearl Crescent
American Lady
Commas and Question Marks

Acadian Hairstreak hiding in this Michigan Lily

Some botanical highlights included Culver's Root and Indian Pipe (a plant that has no chloroplasts!) were noted this week at Ojibway.

Culver's Root 

Indian Pipe

Some birds that I noted at Brunet Park in Lasalle was a nice view of a female Indigo Bunting and an obliging Eastern Wood Pewee.

Good birding!
Dwayne

Bluebirds, Buntings, Butterflies and Breeders

Even though I was sick this weekend,  I made an attempt to go for a short walk on Sunday and I don't even know if its worth posting with so many awesome birds around. White-faced Ibis have shown up at Point Mouillee (which is closer to Windsor than Point Pelee is) and Willow Ptarmigan was found in Oshawa. Jean Iron's site has some great photos: http://www.jeaniron.ca/2011/willowptarmigan.htm. Luc Fazio's took video and shared on youtube: Willow Ptarmigan Youtube Video. I guess my photos of juvenile Robins pale in comparison :^).

Even though very common, a recently fledged Robin is still a beautiful Thrush to observe

I walked Black Oak Heritage Park Sunday and saw some great birds and butterflies. My favorite area of this park is a little grassy meadow surrounded on the North and South by Carolinean Forests. Some of my best birding experiences have been in this valley-meadow. The google map below makes an attempt to show the location of this grassy area behind the Dainty Rice company. This area is also crawling with butterflies, in particular, Pipevine Swallowtails.


View Larger Map


Possibly the most interesting bird I saw this weekend was a breeding Chestnut sided Warbler! I had no idea they breed this far south but according to the Ojibway birding checklist, they are marked as breeders.  This photo shows a Chestnut sided Warbler trying to impale a (spider nest?) on a short branch.

Below are the Buntings and Bluebirds sorry for the repetition, but it's summer... I still get excited seeing Eastern Bluebirds. There are no Bluebird Houses that you can hang out around to take photos... I'm thinking the Bluebirds at Ojibway are generally using natural cavaties in the trees...

In this meadow behind Black Oak Heritage Park I saw:
Indigo Buntings
Eastern Bluebirds
Chestnut Sided Warbler (Wow... I was shocked to see this in June!)
Warbling Vireo (Close to the ground perched on a branch)
Red eyed Vireo (heard)
Great Crested Flycatcher
Great Blue Heron (flyover)
Red tailed Hawk
American Goldfinch
House Wren
Song Sparrow

Butterflies:
Spicebush Swallowtail (many) -8
Red Spotted Purple -1
American Painted Lady-1
Giant Swallotail-2

3-4 Spicebush Swallowtails on the same flower... cool!

Good Birding,
Dwaynejava

PS: I learned something about swallowtails today. A Black Swallowtail has two rows of yellow (see below) on the upperside of the wing, and a Spicebush Swallowtail has only one row of yellow (see above). A pipevine swallowtail has no rows of yellow! I need to invest in a small butterfly guide.

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  ...