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

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.