May
As is tradition, I tried to spend as many days as possible during the month of May at Point Pelee National Park and the surrounding areas to experience the rush of spring bird migration. It was one of the more enjoyable springs I have ever had at Point Pelee. Most days had decent numbers of birds and photographic opportunities were frequent! One day that sticks out is May 19. A ridiculous reverse migration at the tip of Point Pelee included at least 240 Indigo Buntings, 180 Baltimore Orioles, 80 Scarlet Tanagers and a good selection of rarities including one Blue Grosbeak, two Summer Tanagers and five Dickcissels. And who could forget the "three species of nightjar" day on May 11. Another highlight was discovering a White-winged Dove with Laura and my parents on May 4th. They loved seeing the swarm of birders appear out of thin air once we put the word out!
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| Kentucky Warbler - Point Pelee National Park, Essex, Ontario |
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| Third annual VanderBond Pelee Weekend |
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| White-winged Dove - Point Pelee National Park, Essex, Ontario |
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| Prairie Warbler - Point Pelee National Park, Essex, Ontario |
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| Scarlet Tanager - Point Pelee National Park, Essex, Ontario |
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| Scarlet Tanager - Point Pelee National Park, Essex, Ontario |
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| Blue Grosbeak - Point Pelee National Park, Essex, Ontario |
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| Yellow-throated Warbler - Point Pelee National Park, Essex, Ontario |
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| Cerulean Warbler - Point Pelee National Park, Essex, Ontario |
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| Eastern Whip-poor-will - Point Pelee National Park, Essex, Ontario |
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| Canada Warbler - Point Pelee National Park, Essex, Ontario |
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| Chuck-will's-widow - Point Pelee National Park, Essex, Ontario |
Of course in between the weekends I birded the Niagara Region when time allowed. May 3 was an insane day at the Port Weller pier as I experienced the best "fall-out" of songbirds in my life. When it was all said and done I had found 97 species (not bad for a concrete pier) including some really good ones: a Clay-colored Sparrow, a Vesper Sparrow, an American Bittern and two Grasshopper Sparrows - the latter three were all new species for the Port Weller checklist. Other great moments in Niagara included chasing a Summer Tanager at 40 Mile Creek, Golden-winged Warbler at Morgan's Point, Evening Grosbeaks at Port Colborne and a Brown Pelican at Jordan Harbour.
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| Gray Catbird - Morgan's Point Conservation Area, Niagara, Ontario |
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| Black-throated Blue Warbler - Port Weller east pier, Niagara, Ontario |
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| Winter Wren - Port Weller east pier, Niagara, Ontario |
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| Grasshopper Sparrow - Port Weller east pier, Niagara, Ontario |
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| Veery - Port Weller east pier, Niagara, Ontario |
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| Summer Tanager - 40 Mile Creek, Niagara, Ontario |
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| Golden-winged Warbler - Morgan's Point Conservation Area, Niagara, Ontario |
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| Brown Pelican - Jordan Harbour, Niagara, Ontario |
Birds tend to take up most of my focus in May but this is the best time of year to see so many other things. I made a concerted effort to find some butterflies that fly early in the spring and I finally caught up with West Virginia White, Olympia Marble and Sleepy Duskywing. Of course wandering fields and woods in May will turn up herps, mammals, flowers and many other things, several which I've included here.
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| North American Porcupine - Twiss Rd Escarpment Woods, Halton, Ontario |
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| Early Blue Cohosh - Twiss Rd Escarpment Woods, Halton, Ontario |
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| West Virginia White - Twiss Rd Escarpment Woods, Halton, Ontario |
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| Prairie Smoke - Carden Alvar, Kawartha Lakes, Ontario |
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| Olympia Marble - Carden Alvar, Kawartha Lakes, Ontario |
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| Sora - Carden Alvar, Kawartha Lakes, Ontario |
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| Blanding's Turtle - Haliburton, Ontario |
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| Eastern Hognose Snake - Norfolk, Ontario |
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| Sleepy Duskywing - Norfolk, Ontario |
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| Eastern Hognose Snake - Norfolk, Ontario |
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| American Chestnut - Norfolk, Ontario |
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| Allegheny Mountain Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus ochrophaeus) - Niagara River gorge, Niagara, Ontario |
June and July
I might sound like a broken record when it comes to mentioning the middle months during these annual blog posts. As per usual, the months of June and July were spent mostly in the field as I traveled from job site to job site to complete biological inventories. I wouldn't have it any other way. It was a busy period but I was outside for most of it with many fun sightings along the way. This year's field season was based predominately in southern Ontario but I had some interesting job sites, especially one in Haliburton which produced some exciting finds.
I chipped away at my Ontario butterfly list throughout the months. Additions included Dusted Skipper, Mottled Duskywing, Common Roadside-Skipper, Tawny Crescent, Bog Copper and Crossline Skipper; some of which I had dreamed of finding for years!
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| Brewer's Blackbird - Mar, Bruce, Ontario |
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| Northern Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus fuscus) - Niagara River gorge, Niagara, Ontario |
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| Red Columbine - Pinery Provincial Park, Lambton, Ontario |
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| Dusted Skipper - Pinery Provincial Park, Lambton, Ontario |
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| Balsam Ragwort - Pinery Provincial Park, Lambton, Ontario |
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| Mottled Duskywing - undisclosed location, Ontario |
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| Common Claybank Tiger Beetle - Carden Alvar, Kawartha Lakes, Ontario |
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| Indian Skipper - Sandy Lake Road, Kawartha Lakes, Ontario |
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| Delta-spotted Spiketail - Haliburton, Ontario |
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| Common Roadside Skipper - Carden Alvar, Kawartha Lakes, Ontario |
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| Canadian Tiger Swallowtail - Carden Alvar, Kawartha Lakes, Ontario |
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| Tawny Crescent - Carden Alvar, Kawartha Lakes, Ontario |
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| Blanding's Turtle - Parry Sound, Ontario |
Maybe not wildlife, but photogenic all the same. Our house cat, Cendra. She only goes outside when on leash - don't worry! :)
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| Cendra |
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| Blue Dasher - Thorold, Niagara, Ontario |
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| Eastern Comma - Humberstone Marsh, Niagara, Ontario |
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| Nessus Sphinx (Amphion floridensis) - Humberstone Marsh, Niagara, Ontario |
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| Hemaris aethra - Parry Sound, Ontario |
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| Virginia Creeper Sphinx (Derapsa myron) - Hawkestone, Simcoe, Ontario |
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| Spiny Oak-Slug Moth (Euclea delphinii) - Hawkestone, Simcoe, Ontario |
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| Xanthotype sp. - Hawkestone, Simcoe, Ontario |
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| Roundneck Sexton Beetle (Nicrophorus orbicollis) - Hawkestone, Simcoe, Ontario |
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| Banded Hairstreak - Reid Conservation Area, Lambton, Ontario |
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| Tuberous Grass-Pink - London, Middlesex, Ontario |
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| Bog Copper - London, Middlesex, Ontario |
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| Eastern Spiny Softshell (Apalone spinifera) - London, Middlesex, Ontario |
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| Virginia Creeper Clearwing - Halton Hills, Halton, Ontario |
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| Baltimore Checkerspot - Short Hills Provincial Park, Niagara, Ontario |
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| Crossline Skipper - Short Hills Provincial Park, Niagara, Ontario |
August and early September
In late July my moth light arrived from Germany and my life was changed forever. Perhaps that is a bit of an exaggeration, but a whole new world was opened to me now that I had my own moth light! It utilizes LED technology and can run for close to 15 hours off of a powerbank and its resulting portability is invaluable, allowing me to set it up anywhere I choose. In the roughly two months in which I used the moth light in Ontario I identified over 400 species of moths as well as many other things.
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| Painted Lichen Moth (Hypoprepia fucosa) - Niagara Falls, Niagara, Ontario |
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| Norvellina novica - Windsor, Essex, Ontario |
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| Bracken Borer Moth (Papaipema pterisii) - Windsor, Essex, Ontario |
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| Basswood Leafroller (Pantographa limata) - Port Burwell Provincial Park, Elgin, Ontario |
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| Western Furcula Moth (Furcula occidentalis) - Haliburton, Ontario |
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| Hologram Moth (Diachrysia balluca) - Haliburton, Ontario |
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| Sweetheart Underwing (Catocala amatrix) - Windsor, Essex, Ontario |
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| Clouded Underwing (Catocala nebulosa) - Short Hills Provincial Park, Niagara, Ontario |
Apart from the mothing I had very few other major highlights in these months, but some still come to mind. These include seeing Niagara's second ever Marbled Godwit that was discovered at Dufferin Islands, as well as a weekend searching for rattlesnakes at one of my favourite locations in cottage country.
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| Marbled Godwit - Niagara Falls, Niagara, Ontario |
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| Massasauga - Muskoka, Ontario |
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| Common Nighthawk - Muskoka, Ontario |
The final instalment will include our time in South America, from mid September onwards.
