Explorations of an Ecologist: Long Point snakes, skippers and spleenworts

I met up with Todd Hagedorn yesterday for some exploration in Norfolk County. The day held promise with a forecast of 23 degrees, sun, and light winds, and Norfolk did not disappoint!

One of my main goals for returning to Norfolk at this time of year was to try to find a Sleepy Duskywing. I recently posted about this species when I unsuccessfully searched for them last weekend. Sleepy Duskywing has a short flight season in Ontario and only a single brood so I was running out of time if I hoped to catch up with one this year.

Eastern Flowering Dogwood - Norfolk County, Ontario

One of the first locations we visited was the St. Williams Conservation Reserve, an area that has records of Sleepy Duskywing. As the sun rose higher into the sky, butterflies began taking to the wing and we had soon seen American Lady, Red Admiral, Common Sulphur, American Copper, Monarch and our first duskywing - a Dreamy Duskywing, closely related to our main target, Sleepy Duskywing. As an aside, don't butterflies have great names?

American Copper - Norfolk County, Ontario

Dreamy Duskywing - Norfolk County, Ontario

American Lady - Norfolk County, Ontario

We kept exploring and duskywings began to appear. The genus Erynnis (duskywings) is notoriously difficult to learn, as many of the duskywings look incredibly similar. This individual is a female Juvenal's Duskywing, and is identified by the size and placement of the white spots on the forewings, among other features. Generally, Juvenal's Duskywings have the most prominent forewing spots out of southern Ontario's regularly occurring duskywings. Often, identification cannot be based on just one feature; rather it is determined from a combination of features, which makes things challenging.

Juvenal's Duskywing - Norfolk County, Ontario

I believe this is a Wild Indigo Duskywing, a species which has recently colonized parts of Ontario where it was previously absent. While Wild Indigo Duskywings historically were known to feed on Wild Indigos (Baptisia), many current populations feed on Purple Crown-Vetch, a common species planted along roadsides to stabilize the soil and prevent erosion. As a result, Wild Indigo Duskywings can now be found throughout much of southern Ontario.

Wild Indigo Duskywing - Norfolk County, Ontario

This is another Dreamy Duskywing. Compare the forewing of this individual with the Wild Indigo and Juvenal's Duskywings above. Dreamy Duskywings lack the forewing spots, while also exhibiting a bold silvery subcostal patch on the forewing.

Dreamy Duskywing - Norfolk County, Ontario

In some sandy patches we discovered quite a number of tiger beetles of three species: Bronzed, Festive and Big Sand. The latter was one I had never seen before.

Big Sand Tiger Beetle - Norfolk County, Ontario

Several of these Oil Beetles (Meloe sp.) were easily found in the sandy patches as well. These interesting beetles exude an oily substance from between their joints, which can cause blistering and swelling. Due to their shortened wings, Oil Beetles are typically flightless.

Oil Beetle (Meloe sp.) - Norfolk County, Ontario

We also came across several migrant butterfly species. Some migrants, including American and Painted Lady and Red Admiral, have been streaming through the province for weeks. Typically, good flights of these species means that other uncommon southern species may be on their way north as well. Todd and I came across a single American Snout and Gray Hairstreak during our travels, both species that migrate and temporarily colonize southern Ontario some years, but are absent in others.

Gray Hairstreak - Norfolk County, Ontario

We finished up and cruised over to the Wilson Tract to continue our search for the Sleepy Duskywing, stopping to photograph a few Vesper Sparrows along the way.

Vesper Sparrow - Norfolk County, Ontario

The Wilson Tract seems to be one of the more reliable locations for Sleepy Duskywing and the sun was high enough in the sky to illuminate the sandy road running along the south border of the Wilson Tract. I had barely stepped out of the car when I spotted the first one! This one was looking worn, not unexpected as we approach the end of its flight season.

Sleepy Duskywing - Norfolk County, Ontario

It flew after a few moments of observation and somehow vanished so we pressed on, eager for a prolonged view. We got our wish as half an hour later a more cooperative individual appeared on the road. This time, by exhibiting some stealth, Todd and I were able to come away with full-frame photos, and a great opportunity to study the species.

Sleepy Duskywing - Norfolk County, Ontario

Like Dreamy Duskywing featured earlier in this post, Sleepy Duskywing lacks the bright white spots in the forewing. It can be told apart from Dreamy Duskywing by the patterning of the forewing, especially the patterning of the outer chain mail-like band on the forewing. Sleepy Duskywing also exhibits less gray "frosting" on the forewing compared to Dreamy Duskywing.

Sleepy Duskywing - Norfolk County, Ontario

Sleepy Duskywing is an oak specialist, as these trees are the only known foodplant for the species. The Wilson Tract and some of the surrounding forests in the Long Point area have an abundance of oaks, which explains why this is one of the last strongholds in Ontario for the species.

Sleepy Duskywing - Norfolk County, Ontario

The most familiar tiger beetle in Ontario is the Six-spotted Tiger Beetle. Dozens of these iridescent insects lit up the roadway as we walked.

Six-spotted Tiger Beetle - Norfolk County, Ontario

The Wilson Tract had a fair number of duskywings flying around, and we noted both Wild Indigo and Juvenal's along with the Sleepy Duskywings.

Juvenal's Duskywing - Norfolk County, Ontario

With our main target "in the bag", Todd and I still had all afternoon to explore the upland forests and swamps of this part of Norfolk County. We hit up several spots and found a nice variety of things!

Snakes are a main goal of mine whenever I'm in Norfolk County at this time of year. Todd and I had a great snake day as we found 2 Eastern Hognose Snakes, about 20 Eastern Gartersnakes, around 10 Dekay's Brownsnakes and a single Red-bellied Snake. Unfortunately my go-to Smooth Greensnake spot failed to give up any on this day.

Eastern Hognose Snake - Norfolk County, Ontario

This appeared to be a big female Eastern Hognose that Todd spotted as it actively cruised around. Soon, she will find a location to dig a burrow and lay her clutch of eggs inside. Eastern Hognose Snakes are one of the few species in eastern North America that actively burrow, utilizing their upturned snout as a makeshift spade.

Eastern Hognose Snake - Norfolk County, Ontario

The second hoggie was a yearling that I discovered along the edge of a road. Baby Eastern Hognose Snakes are pretty adorable, with their beautiful colors and patterns, little upturned snout and short, stocky bodies.

Eastern Hognose Snake - Norfolk County, Ontario

Plants were another big focus of ours as we explored. I find that after a bird-heavy April and May, by the end of May I am feeling pretty burnt out bird-wise and eager to indulge some of my other interests. There was something freeing about walking along a shady forest trail in Backus Woods, inspecting the plants and insects, and just seeing what we came across without any particular goal in mind. For a budding botanist like myself, the Carolinian zone of Ontario is more than a little daunting due to its species diversity. While I feel like I know the plants of the boreal and Canadian Shield areas relatively well, I have a ton to learn down south!

American Chesnut - Norfolk County, Ontario

Todd pointed out this Eastern Chestnut to me, the first one I've seen before "in the wild". This formerly widespread species was nearly wiped out due to Chestnut Blight and is now found in only a few locations in southern Ontario. It is listed as Endangered provincially, as is the Eastern Flowering Dogwood, pictured below.

Eastern Flowering Dogwood - Norfolk County, Ontario

We heard a number of bird species that are typical of these Carolinian woodlands as we walked including Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Acadian Flycatcher and oodles of Hooded Warblers. Several late migrating species were also detected, including Yellow-bellied Flycatcher and Tennessee Warbler.

The Ebony Spleenwort is an interesting little fern that can be found in a few locales in Norfolk. It is a species that ranges mostly in the eastern US, but strangely it can also be found in southern Africa, a distribution not known for any other North American fern.