Pandemic Round-Up

It's once again been a very strange year in terms of outdoor activities. I missed the early summer window for odonates again this year, not because of lockdowns but rather the exact opposite - all of my usual spots were absolutely overrun with people. I didn't enjoy crowded trails even before the pandemic, so obviously I was not any more inclined with a virus floating around.

I compensated by going hard on birds this spring, since birds at least you can go look at first thing in the morning when most people are still in bed. As a result, I broke all of my previous personal records for number of species seen per month and for the year overall. Even got a couple of lifers in the process: Orchard Oriole and Least Bittern. I slowed down into the summer, but I'm still ahead of my previous bests as we now head into fall migration (!!) - excepting the year I went north, of course, I can't compete with the extra fifty or so western and northern species I saw that year, not while sticking close to home. I can, however, make efforts to chase down some of the shorebirds and waterfowl that have started showing up on their way south. I can't believe it's migration time again already, but away we go, I guess.

This year I also discovered the joy that is an inflatable kayak, so much of my summer has been spent out on the water rather than hunting down critters. I can't bring myself to be too upset about that.

Pays To Take A Second Look

So I was poking around some goldenrods, as one does when one is looking for pollinating insects in August, and I happened to snap some photos of what seemed at first glance to be two individuals of the same species, or at least the same genus. 

Joke's on me; despite superficial similarities, the top one isn't even a wasp - it's a fly (Physocephala sp.), as evidenced by the shape of the antennae. The fly family is so much bigger and more varied than most of us would think, and so many of them look absolutely nothing like the typical house fly. The bottom one I believe is a Mexican Grass-carrying Wasp (Isodontia mexicana), which despite its name appears to be native to my area.

The Bugs Of Summer

So it's certainly been a different year as far as outdoor exploration goes. Obviously I did not do any travelling to see birds this year, nor will I be doing that for the foreseeable future. Local exploration was also curtailed for a while while all the trails were closed. And then even after things opened back up… that miserable 40 degree heatwave hit just as the milkweed plants were flowering, so even though that's arguably the best time of year to go hunting butterflies, you can bet I was not going out to do so if I could spend that time lying flat in front of the fan instead.

There are two major downsides that I've found to the hobby of bugwatching. One: bugs, like birds, really like to fly away from you just as you're about to get a good look at them (why oh why didn't I decide to be a botanist). Two: if you miss the flight window on a particular species, you have to wait an entire year for it to come around again. This year, I missed the window on pretty much all of the early-season bugs.

However, in this later part of the season I've started visiting a nearby spot that seems to be just buzzing with fun insects (pun intended). It's an old quarry site, which has created this odd collection of poorly-vegetated shallow wetlands and rock-bottomed ponds. Unfortunately, one part of it seems to be used by the locals as a swimming hole/hang out spot, which makes it very awkward to walk around taking pictures of bugs. But I already got three new-to-me species there (four if you count the one I couldn't get pics of) so I'm going to go back at least once more and see what else I can find.

Azure Bluet

Saffron-winged Meadowhawk

Broad-winged Skipper

Field work this summer has also netted me two new species (although not literally, since in both cases the net had been left in the car):

River Bluet - actually an S2 species in Ontario (i.e., it's considered rare on the provincial level although it isn't a regulated Species at Risk). Not something I expected to find along an urban creek corridor, but it has been previously documented in other streams in the vicinity.

European Common Blue - a recent introduction to Ontario. Until just last year, I think, it was only known from a location in Quebec, and then it showed up in a spot in the north GTA. This was a new location a few km away from the previous observations.

Seeing Double

Here's a fun game, I call it "What's That Mosaic Darner?"

Green-striped Darner

Canada Darner

Lake Darner

Lance-tipped Darner

Shadow Darner

Swamp Darner

Variable Darner

Is it any wonder this group gives me conniptions?

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