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

Butterfly Watching at Spring Garden

Butterflies have taken center stage over the last week or two. Finding a Checkered Skipper a few weeks back has really re-ignited my interest in butterflies. Over the last week , I've discovered more Checkered Skippers as well as other great butterflies at the Spring Garden area of Ojibway Park.

Ojibway's Spring Garden area in West Windsor has been reputed as an excellent area to go butterfly watching.  It is excellent because it has great habitat mix: Forest, Grassland, Hills, floodplain, and Turkey Creek which runs through it. Its a pleasure to walk the paths and watch butterflies while hearing distant Carolina Wrens, Tufted Titmouse, Belted Kingfisher and more. Recent walks have given good views of:

Checkered Skipper 3
Fiery Skipper 10+
Common Sootywing 4+
Dainty Sulphur 3+
Clouded Sulphur many
Orange Sulphur many
Cabage White many
Juvenals /Wild Indigo Duskywing many
Least Skipper many
Pecks Skipper 2
Grey Hairstreak 1
Black Swallowtail 1
Giant Swallowtail 1
Spicebush Swallowtail 1
Common Buckeye 3
Common Ringlet 1
Variegated Fritillary 2
Crossline Skipper 1

Common Sootywing

Grey Hairstreak

Dainty Sulphur

Fiery Skipper on the 'flames' of a tiny yellow wildflower

Common Ringlet

Least Skipper

Male Peck's Skipper

Spicebush Swallowtail

Good Birding!
Dwaynejava

Not butterflies, but pretty cool!

Chickweed Geometer Moth

Ailanthus Webworm Moth

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.