Interesting Times

So the first point of business is that I'm doing another fundraiser for the Bruce Trail:

Hike-a-thon 2018!

It's not as ambitious as the last one; the only requirement is that I go hiking in the month of October, which I was going to do anyway. Going to be starting this weekend, in fact, with an overnight stay up near Collingwood so I can knock out hikes 4 and 5 of my Blue Mountains club end-to-end. Fingers crossed the forecast stays good. I don't expect to get the top prize for most kilometers hiked, since I'll be limited to weekend trips, but October is always a beautiful time to hike so it's still a win.

Second point of business, as a personal update: I have a new job, starting in a couple of weeks. Well, the job itself will be basically the same (I think) but it's with a new company. And it's in my own city so after over a decade of driving I will have no more commute. Change is scary, so I'm still nervous about the whole thing, but I'd have been really, really dumb to turn down this opportunity. Hopefully it all works out.

And finally, on a lighter note, I'm already starting to get itchy for another vacation. Am halfway considering going back to Scotland and somehow hopping around the outer islands... really, the way to do that would be via something like this "Scotland Slowly" cruise, being on a boat would greatly simplify getting around and allow access to places with limited to no human presence. However, I have to wonder if I'd regret not being out and about in the local colour, so to speak... being aboard a cruise ship seems kind of isolating from the place you're trying to see? And getting all your meals on the ship means not getting to sample local restaurants. I'm undecided if this is really the route I want to take with that trip, although the whole point is moot for at least a year; it's probably inadvisable to ask for a chunk of time off in June at the new job in my very first year, since that's typically the busiest time in my particular profession. Next year might have to be more low-key, small local trips or something in the off season.

I can start dreaming for 2020, though, right?

Okay, Let's Do This.

Insects! Let's do this chronologically, shall we? Starting in Edmonton:

A terrible photo, but still diagnostic of Common Ringlet.

I'm calling this one a Western White, based on the pattern on the
 forewing and the dark scaling visible on the hindwing. Closest alternative
would be Checkered White but that one has a cleaner hindwing.

Milbert's Tortoiseshell

Canadian Tiger Swallowtail, set apart from the other two practically
identical Tiger Swallowtails based entirely on range.

Four-spotted Skimmer; the wing details don't show well here, but the
way the abdomen looks kind of flat and shades towards black at the end
is pretty diagnostic too.

And now to Yellowknife:

Forest Tent Caterpillar; startlingly pretty for such a pest. Also far more
orange than I'm used to, but it's apparently still the same species.

Boreal Whiteface; the only other Whiteface in that area with that much red
 spotting down the abdomen is apparently the Hudsonian, which would not
have that final red spot on S8 (i.e., the abdominal segment third
from the end). Apparently it's also larger, but without seeing the
two of them side-by-side I find that harder to use as an ID feature.

Either a Northern or Boreal Bluet, apparently those two are practically
indistinguishable unless you look at very specific tiny features with a
hand lens. Which I obviously did not do. But my gut's leaning towards
Boreal based on what can be seen of the appendages at the end of the tail.

Mosaic Darners are the worst. This lovely thing? I have no idea what it
is because a) it's a female, and b) I couldn't get a clear shot of the
lateral stripes (i.e., a side view without the wings in the way).

Spear-marked Black Moth. Yep, it's a moth, even though it doesn't have
fuzzy antennae.

This one I think is the Hudsonian Whiteface, because the red spotting is a little
more discrete (more spots, less of a line) and stops one segment further up than
on the Boreal. Is it also smaller? Who knows!

Gruesome, but easy to photograph - and this one's a male, which helps. The
broad, notched thoracic stripes with the just-barely-visible pale spot between them
make this a Lake Darner. Honestly, the last one was probably also a
Lake but I'm just not confident enough to make that call.

Another Four-spotted Skimmer, so we can all admire the wing pattern.

Arctic Blue; this one was a pretty easy call based on the brownish tinges
and just the overall degree of white-ringed dark spotting.

Yet another Whiteface. Only the barest hint of red spots down the abdomen,
though, so given the location it's either a Canada or a Belted Whiteface. More info
needed to say for sure: the Canada apparently has a "creamy" white face as
opposed to the "chalk" white face of the Belted. Sure. And the Canada is smaller, but
we've already covered how useless that can be without something for scale.

I had this one pegged as a Silvery Blue at first, but I think now it's a Greenish
Blue. The spots are smaller, they're not really ringed in white the way they would
be on a Silvery, and there's a dark spot on the upper side (not shown here, but I
have it in another photo) that just really shouldn't be there on a Silvery.

American Emerald; plain dark abdomen with a single white ring, bright green
eyes, and bronze-green 'shoulders'.

Based on very limited information I called this one a Giant Sulphur at first, but
I think what we have here is actually a Palaeno Sulphur, aka a Moorland Clouded
Yellow. The key features are the complete lack of border on the white hindwing
spot, and the dusting of dark scales all over the hindwing underside.

Mourning Cloak

If you made it this far, I think I owe you a cookie.

Any Excuse For A Book

So the reason I've been delayed in finalizing the insect species from my recent trip is that all of my books are for eastern North America or the Great Lakes region… not terribly useful when trying to figure out species from the Northwest Territories.

Clearly what I needed to do was buy more books. Obviously.

The dragonfly book is the western equivalent of my beloved eastern go-to guide - the one with the excellent species comparisons - so it was an easy sell. I'll just have to take more western vacations and get my money's worth out of it. The butterfly book I'm going to have to sit with for a while and see if it's what I wanted it to be… it's an older book but came highly rated, I feel like it won't go astray.

Stay tuned!

On The Photosynthetic Side Of Things….

Just to prove that there were indeed some plants on the tundra:

Wooly Lousewort (Pedicularis lanata)

Alpine Bearberry (Arctous alpina)

Alpine Sorrel (Oxyria digyna), with a bit of Arctic Bell-Heather (Cassiope 
tetragona) on the left side, not yet blooming 

Blackish Crazy-weed (Oxytropis nigrescens) and no I am not kidding with that name

Entireleaf Mountain-Avens (Dryas integrifolia)

Flat-top Whitlow-Grass (Draba corymbosa)

Edward's Eutrema (Eutrema edwardsii)… I think

Purple Saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia)

Arctic Willow (Salix arctica)

Net-leaved Willow (Salix reticulata)

Summer Adventuring

This year's big adventure was a birding vacation that started in Edmonton, hopped up to Yellowknife, and ended in Cambridge Bay on Victoria Island. It's been fun being able to say that I went to the arctic to escape the southern Ontario heat wave… that may have been coincidence but it was a nice side-effect nonetheless.

The far north is a very interesting place; we tend to take trees for granted here in the south so it's a bit unsettling to suddenly be somewhere there are none. Spring was about two weeks late this year, apparently, which meant when we arrived there was still a lot of ice on the water and the ground was still brown and barren. If I have one disappointment about the trip, it's that I didn't get to see the carpet of colour that the tundra apparently turns into in the height of summer… but even in the four full days of sunshine that we had there (and I do mean full days, there was no night) it's amazing how much started to grow and bloom, so that was its own fascinating experience. And the very big benefit to the situation was that there were no biting bugs to worry about, so as disappointments go this one is definitely not a dealbreaker.

There were a lot of very memorable moments, and a lot of very memorable birds. But the single moment that stands out more than any other came at the end of an hour+ long hike across the tundra, when we stopped near an isolated bay and had four Yellow-billed Loons start singing to each other in an eerie call-and-echo chorus that echoed off the water. That's definitely one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences you never forget.

My life list got a huge boost, too, of course. I wouldn't say I'm a Lister, but I do list, if you can appreciate the difference. Highlights include:

• Greater White-fronted Goose (I chase this one every year when they migrate through, and have never managed to catch one)
• Brant
• King Eider
• Surf Scoter
• Pacific Loon
• Yellow-billed Loon
• American White Pelican
• Red-necked Phalarope
• Sabine's Gull
• Arctic Tern
• Long-tailed Jaeger
• Western Tanager
• Harris' Sparrow
• Yellow-headed Blackbird

…among others. Seriously, there were so many birds. Red Phalarope is the one that got away, but that just means I'll have to go back sometime, right?

American White Pelican

Surf Scoter

Bald Eagle

King Eider

American Golden-plover

Greater White-fronted Goose

Snow Bunting

Stilt Sandpiper

Field Season Is Upon Us

Your nature moment for the day: this is the Wavy-Lined Emerald Moth, also known as the Camouflaged Looper for obvious reasons. According to my guide, "our only widespread caterpillar that adorns its body with plant fragments". So stylish!

2017 Recap

In 2017 I participated in several bioblitzes, hiked some lovely trails, and travelled eastward to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The lattermost item in that list was obviously the most exciting in terms of new opportunities to see stuff, though all adventures are exciting in their own way.

My trip was intended to take me to Machias Seal Island to see Atlantic Puffins up close and personal, but nasty weather that day meant the trip didn’t happen. Luckily, I had a second chance in the form of the Bird Islands Important Bird Area (link), which didn’t get me quite as close a view but certainly didn’t disappoint. It was a beautiful day to be out and a very pleasant boat trip out of Englishtown, highly recommended to anyone who plans to be in that area.

I mean. Puffins.

Cape Breton Highlands National Park was also stunningly gorgeous, and I would definitely go back to hike more of the trails there. The Bog Boardwalk trail was short but jam-packed with interesting plants. And the views from the Skyline Trail couldn't be beat.

Bog Boardwalk Trail

Dragon's Mouth

I saw a grand total of 11 new bird species in 2017 (and a whole lot of the 'old' species, too). Lark Sparrow and Dickcissel were locals - the Lark Sparrow was a famous visitor to downtown Toronto (for some reason it really liked hanging around a tiny patch of scrub along a rail line), and there were Dickcissels all over the place in southern Ontario this past summer. The trip east got me Nelson's Sparrow, Ring-necked Pheasant, Common Eider, Common Murre, Razorbill, Black Guillemot, Atlantic Puffin, and Black-legged Kittiwake. Finally, I saw my first Bonaparte's Gull on a Nature Guelph group trip down to Hawk Cliff this fall - not a rare bird by any means, just one of those ones that has somehow eluded me until now.

And of course I'm already plotting my next big adventure, to take place end of June - beginning of July 2018. Stay tuned!

Savannah Sparrow

Cobra Clubtail

British Soldier Lichen (and others)

Bald Eagle