I have divided the summer months into two posts; the first documenting the birds, herps and insects found during diurnal excursions, and the second regarding the moths and other night life.
June
In late May I began a work contract with a consulting company that continued through the rest of the summer. I mostly worked in various locations in southern Ontario from Windsor eastwards to Belleville, with an occasional jaunt northwards.
Apart from work surveys my birding was rather limited as I focused most of my energy on insects during this productive time of year. Laura and I ventured north to the Carden Alvar area for a weekend in mid-June, finding a nice variety of birds including Laura's first Loggerhead Shrikes and Grasshopper Sparrows. The other notable bird was a Yellow-breasted Chat that appeared to be on territory in Bronte Creek Provincial Park which I caught up with one day after work.
During that aforementioned Carden Alvar trip, Laura and I swung over to the Gravenhurst area and visited one of my favourite locations in Ontario in search of herps. As you can see, it was a successful venture! Speaking of herps, I finally connected with my first Butler's Gartersnakes from the easternmost population, which I had wanted to see for some time.
Towards the end of the month I was invited to join the first ever Jack Miner Bioblitz near Kingsville, Essex County. I explored with a few other keen naturalists including Pauline Catling and Quinten Wiegersma and made it my goal to document 400 species during the 24 hour time period. Though the windy, cool weather put a damper on things, I ultimately met my goal and had an awesome time nerding out with like-minded individuals.
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| Chryxus Arctic (Oeneis chryxus) - Whitney, Nipissing, Ontario |
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| Butler's Gartersnake - Dufferin County, Ontario |
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| Elfin Skimmer (Nannothemis bella) - Bracebridge, Muskoka, Ontario |
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| Yellow-breasted Chat - Bronte Creek Provincial Park, Halton, Ontario |
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| Five-lined Skink - Muskoka, Ontario |
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| Milksnake - Muskoka, Ontario |
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| Dekay's Brownsnake - Muskoka, Ontario |
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| Eastern Massasauga - Muskoka, Ontario |
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| Eastern Massasauga - Muskoka, Ontario |
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| Wilson's Snipe - Carden Alvar, Kawartha Lakes, Ontario |
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| Spotted Thyris Moth (Thyris maculata) - Carden Alvar, Kawartha Lakes, Ontario |
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| Mustard White (Pieris oleracea) - Carden Alvar, Kawartha Lakes, Ontario |
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| Nerding out on the Jack Miner Bioblitz (photo by Steve Pike) |
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| Artomyces pyxidatus - Kingsville, Essex, Ontario |
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| Laphria sericea complex - Kingsville, Essex, Ontario |
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| Euaresta bella - Kingsville, Essex, Ontario |
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| Raspberry Leafroller Moth (Olethreutes permundana) - Kingsville, Essex, Ontario |
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| Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) - Kingsville, Essex, Ontario |
July
July was a busy month since I was completing long hours in the field and mothing in the evenings whenever I had an opportunity. Work sometimes brought me to some neat areas, though!
Laura and I found an unusual sparrow during a visit to Fletcher Creek in southern Wellington County which we later determined to be a hybrid Field x Clay-colored Sparrow. I returned with Dan Riley to properly document it as well as search for certain butterflies that occupy the unique wetland habitats here.
I have always been interested in butterflies and 2021 gave me the opportunity to search for several species which I hadn't seen before. I succeeded with long-overdue Dion Skippers at Sandy Lake Road (north of Havelock), while I saw my first Gorgone Checkerspot caterpillars that Dan Riley had discovered at a site in eastern Ontario. If time permits I would love to return to the site in 2022 to try to find some adults.
Several rare birds in Norfolk County enticed me to drive down for an evening and combine the birding with an evening of mothing at St. Williams. I will touch on the moths in a later post, but the birding was also successful as I connected with a flock of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks in Port Dover and a Blue Grosbeak at Backus Woods. I also swung down to St. Catharines one afternoon to chase a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, one of the few records for Niagara Region.
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| Epicauta murina - Fletcher Creek Ecological Preserve, Wellington, Ontario |
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| Broad-winged Skipper (Poanes viator) - Fletcher Creek Ecological Preserve, Wellington, Ontario |
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| Clay-colored x Field Sparrow - Fletcher Creek Ecological Preserve, Wellington, Ontario |
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| Lesser Purple Fringed Orchid (Platanthera psycodes) - Sudden Tract, Waterloo, Ontario |
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| Upland Sandpiper - Carden Alvar, Kawartha Lakes, Ontario |
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| Clouded Sulphur (Colias philodice) - Carden Alvar, Kawartha Lakes, Ontario |
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| Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele) - Carden Alvar, Kawartha Lakes, Ontario |
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| Acadian Hairstreak (Satyrium acadica) - Carden Alvar, Kawartha Lakes, Ontario |
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| Tricolored Bumble Bee (Bombus ternarius) - Sandy Lake Road, Peterborough, Ontario |
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| Striped Hairstreak (Satyrium liparops) - Sandy Lake Road, Peterborough, Ontario |
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| Coral Hairstreak (Satyrium titus) - Sandy Lake Road, Peterborough, Ontario |
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| Dion Skipper (Euphyes dion) - Sandy Lake Road, Peterborough, Ontario |
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| Dogbane Leaf Beetle (Chrysochus auratus) - Sandy Lake Road, Peterborough, Ontario |
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| Gorgone Checkerspot (Chlosyne gorgone) caterpillars - Lennox and Addington, Ontario |
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| Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks - Port Dover, Norfolk, Ontario |
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| Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks - Port Dover, Norfolk, Ontario |
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| Blue Grosbeak - Backus Woods, Norfolk, Ontario |
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| Anacampsis nonstrigella - Turner Tract, Halton, Ontario |
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| Appalachian Brown (Lethe appalachia) - Turner Tract, Halton, Ontario |
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| Yellow-crowned Night-Heron - St. Catharines, Niagara, Ontario |
August
In mid-August I visited my friend Russ Jones in Amherstburg and spent an evening and morning exploring his amazing backyard which he has turned into a tallgrass prairie oasis. While the mothing was good (stay tuned), we also wandered around the garden during daylight hours. I was most impressed with the attractive Red-headed Bush-Crickets, a species unknown from Canada until Russ found them on his property several years ago. Since I was in the area, I also joined Jeremy Bensette and Steve Pike for an excellent paddle in the Pelee marsh where we found a crisp juvenile Red Knot.
In late August, Dan Riley, Nikki Huculiak and I drove north to Algonquin Provincial Park to look for Common Branded Skippers and Leonard's Skippers in the Old Airfield. We found both our targets, but perhaps more interesting were the several Dark Grass-Veneers (Crambus hamella) sharing the same habitat. This is a rare species that has only been documented a handful of times in Ontario.
In late August I ventured down the QEW to Niagara Falls for another bird twitch. This time it was for a Black-bellied Whistling-Duck at Dufferin Islands, a species which had never been documented before in Niagara prior to 2021. As I write this, the whistling-duck is still frequenting the same location!
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| Red-headed Bush Cricket (Phyllopalpus pulchellus) - Amherstburg, Essex, Ontario |
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| Red Knot - Point Pelee National Park, Essex, Ontario |
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| Common Branded Skipper (Hesperia comma) - Algonquin Provincial Park, Nipissing, Ontario |
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| Pearly-winged Lichen Moth (Crambidia casta) - Algonquin Provincial Park, Nipissing, Ontario |
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| Dark Grass-Veneer (Crambus hamella) - Algonquin Provincial Park, Nipissing, Ontario |
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| Leonard's Skipper (Hesperia leonardus) - Algonquin Provincial Park, Nipissing, Ontario |
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| Black-bellied Whistling-Duck - Niagara Falls, Niagara, Ontario |
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| Bembix pallidipicta - St. William's Conservation Reserve, Norfolk, Ontario |
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| Festive Tiger Beetle (Cicindela scutellaris) - St. William's Conservation Reserve, Norfolk, Ontario |
September
Another month, another rarity to chase in Niagara! This time, I was off to find a Loggerhead Shrike that had been discovered at the end of the Port Weller east pier, which was my "local patch" when I lived in Niagara. Interestingly, this bird had a radio antenna and was eventually determined to be part of the Carden Alvar Loggerhead Shrike recovery program.
With my work contract all finished I had a bit more free time for naturalizing. Again, moths took up the bulk of my energy but I also enjoyed a weekend to Point Pelee. Jeremy Bensette and geeked out looking mainly for plants and bugs. I finally took the time to see some endangered Red Mulberry trees.
After a year and a half in limbo Laura and I made the decision to continue with our travels in Latin America and we booked two tickets to Panama City, departing on September 23. We were excited!
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| Loggerhead Shrike - Port Weller east pier, Niagara, Ontario |
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| Green Frogs - Point Pelee National Park, Essex, Ontario |
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| Red Mulberry - Point Pelee National Park, Essex, Ontario |
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| Antlered Flutter Fly (Toxonevra superba) - Queenston, Niagara, Ontario |
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