Can't Last Forever

I've been thoroughly in denial about the impending arrival of fall, but the asters are blooming, the Autumn Meadowhawks are flying, and I spent all day today wearing a sweatshirt (albeit with capri pants and sandals). So I may soon have to admit that summer's days are numbered.

Not that I have anything against fall. I love fall. Adore it. It's just that it always feels too short and it inevitably leads to winter, when there are no insects to look at or plants in bloom, and you have to really go hunting for any birds other than the typical chickadees and juncos. The arrival of fall means the beginning of the slow wind down of living things, and you know that spring is going to be so very far away.

But for now, we've still got time. Better get out and enjoy it while we can.

Variable Darner

The Legend of the Dragonhunter

Back when I was just a lil baby naturegeek, long before the advent of iNaturalist - probably before I had a digital camera, even - I distinctly remember taking a walk along my country road and finding a dead dragonfly. It was huge, and cool-looking, and fresh enough that its eyes were still green. I brought it home, and used my Stokes "Beginner's Guide to Dragonflies" to identify it as a Dragonhunter with all of the confidence of a person who doesn't know enough to realize what she doesn't yet know. Pleased with myself, I threw it away, unphotographed, and moved on.

Obviously a lot of dragonflies have come and gone since then, and I have definitely realized all of the things I don't yet know when it comes to odes. I have occasionally thought back to my erstwhile Dragonhunter and wondered if I got it right.

This past weekend I paid a visit to my old stomping grounds, although the home that went along with them has belonged to someone else for five years now. And what should I find swooping around the bridge?

Dragonhunter

Almost fifteen years later: vindication.

I don't really have favourites, but….

You know, the hairstreaks may be my favourite group of butterflies, if I could ever manage to pick such a thing. The big, showy guys definitely have a lot going for them, but there's something very rewarding about tracking down what looks like a small, drab brownish thing and discovering once you're close that it's not drab at all.

Banded Hairstreak

Coral Hairstreak

Acadian Hairstreak

Bees Ahoy

There really are an astonishing number of bees. I don't think I fully appreciated that until I started paying a bit more attention to that whole group of insects. How the heck did the honey bee get all the fame and glory when you've got gorgeous little things like this flying around?

Bicolored Striped Sweat Bee (Agapostemon virescens)

And let's talk bumble bees. Those fuzzy little blimps that really shouldn't be able to fly. I know that a lot of people don't realize that it's not just The Bumble Bee, singular, but have a look at this ID chart if you really want to go down that rabbit hole.

Here's just the ones that I've found close to home, within a relatively short time of actually looking:

Two-spotted Bumble Bee (Bombus bimaculatus)

Northern Amber Bumble Bee (Bombus borealis)

Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens)

Brown-belted Bumble Bee (Bombus griseocollis)

Tricolored Bumble Bee (Bombus ternarius)

Yellow-banded Bumble Bee (Bombus terricola)

Super obvious differences there, right? That's such a great help when you're trying to figure out a busy queen who won't sit still long enough to photograph (I have not yet graduated to catching bees in nets, that seems like something that comes with a steep learning curve full of stings). I love them, though. Bumbles are rapidly becoming some of my favourites.

Fundraising again, also spring is slow

Instead of my usual fundraising for the Bruce Trail, this year I'll be participating in the Carden Challenge:

Carden Challenge - Team Fundraising Page

I've been wanting to go to Carden for years now, and I'm looking forward to having the excuse to get my naturegeek on and really hunt out some interesting species. Loggerhead Shrikes and Upland Sandpipers and Smooth Green Snakes, oh my! My camera will be fully charged and working hard, hopefully I will have plenty of awesome photos to post after it's done.

On a more local and immediate note, lawdy but spring feels slow this year. We've been getting some warm days but most of the nights are still hovering close to zero, so the spring ephemerals are only just starting to come up at the Arboretum. Realistically, I'm sure it's not significantly slower progress than any other year, but I am impatient and therefore it feels like spring should have kicked in weeks ago.

Shameless Plug!

This right here is an excellent example of why I love iNaturalist so much:

Holy Mola! The oral history of an inat identification.

People collaborating from halfway around the world to document a rare species occurrence in real time. iNat is such a fantastic resource in that regard - not only the database of observation records submitted to the site, although that certainly is a wealth of information for anyone studying a species, but the army of experts and informed hobbyists who help confirm everyone's IDs. It's an excellent educational tool if you're looking to get better at ID or just curious as to what things are living around your home; you don't have to be an expert yourself to post observations, you just have to be able to take a decent photo.

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?