Very short photo trip today as I had visitors who were more interested in other things (the good old days).  But we managed to get out to see butterflies fluttering, Dragonflies perching and a wild chive blooming on the bank of the Still River.  Here they are:

I had a but of fun with this one, feeding on Mustard, but finally tracked it down in the wonderful, ROM Field Guide to the butterflies of Ontario.  Then I went to the internet so see what it had to say about it.

The HWY 522 Pond did not fail me … yielding this fellow chewing a morsel, over and over again for at least 20 seconds.   Stephen Cresswell’s capture of these guys in flight is amazing.

And the Wild Chives are starting to bloom — this one on the river bank on Old Legion Lane.

Several days of rain are forecast so we’ll see the effects on some wildflowers, especially the Ladyslippers which are starting to bloom now.  Purple ‘slippers in the acidic bogs of the Shield and Boreal and Yellow ones on the basic fields of the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island.

The many other wild orchids which we can see over the summer are listed here:   http://ontariowildflowers.com/main/group.php?id=18    Scroll down to the thumbnails of the plants’ photos so you’ll know what to look for on your treks.

This is a good example of Orchidelirium!

Here are some of the beauties we saw the last couple of days:

Wild Lily of the Valley or Canada Mayflower (and many other common names):

Two Striped Grasshopper, a very sexually active beast.

Blueberries are still blooming …

Arctic Skippers are skipping from plant to plant …

So are the Fiery Skippers …( The R.O.M. Field Guide to Butterflies of Ontario says this, “Prior to the early 1990s this was a fairly rare migrant to Ontario, with most records occurring in the fall and restricted to Southwestern Ontario.  Since then it has gradually been extending its range in the province and typically arrives earlier in the season.  In 2012, several localized colonies were observed in Prince Edward County and Ottawa.“)

When I first tried to ID this butterfly I was put off by the various statements that indicated that we were too far north for this critter.  Perhaps it is adapting and/or the winters are getting milder.

The farmers’ and gardeners’ hero(ine) the Ladybug ….

These two images are of Anja’s flowers …

A few days ago I posted an image of these two adults on their nest at Big Lake.  Here they are taking their brood for an outing on the rocks near the pond.

Better image of  Lambskill or Sheepskill Laurel than the previous.   They are not easy to get close to unless the photog uses waders (or Rooper Poots, as my Finnish friends call them).

Whiteface atop a flag …

More mature fleur … Iris versicolor …

and its close cousin … B. E. G.

Chalk fronted Corporal is having a rest ..

I had never seen a Blandings Turtle (Threatened in Ontario) in the water before.  The spots suggested a Spotted Turtle but the yellow chin and size (about a 20 cm carapace) confirmed it as a Blandings.  This one moved quickly from the side of the road to a ditch along Station Roads.

Lupin in a field off of Station Road….

The grey body enveloped by the white fluff is a Wooly aphid, unpopular with gardeners and horticulturists.

And, finally…. a colourful Yellow Pond Lily or Spatterdock  blossom, photographed last evening — just as the sun was going down.

I suspect that springtime is when we see the maximum power of the biodiversity in our natural surroundings.

We left early in the morning, hoping to see some Elk at the abandoned (1974) Burwash Prison Farm.

Neilly Lake in the morning sunlight …

Although the morning air was chilly, there were bugs out and about like this fellow.   You might have to click on the image to enlarge the image to see it.

And various species of Odonata were munching on black flies that they snagged in the air.

These species seemed to be quite common:

I first thought that this is a Spring Azure, but it is not.   What is it?  I had some difficulty getting this one photograph of it.

Nice bit of sunshine on the lichens.

There were lots of cultivars in the old townsite, including this lily of the valley:

The Canadian Tiger Swallowtails were feasting on the abundant lilacs…

This turtle took time out from its busy schedule to get some rays …

Female American Redstart was hiding in a poplar/willow thicket…

This clouded sulphur was hiding in the grass …

On the way back we detoured to the pond on Hwy 522 (between Grundy Lake PP and Pakesley CPR Crossing) where I (again) inspected the water lilies.

This water lily seemed to be shaking but I couldn’t see why.

Until I looked more carefully.

I made a movie of the phenomenon and saw a school of about a dozen minnows in a feeding fenzy.  (Accumulation of a hatch of insects under that lily pad?)

The yellow lilies are starting to bloom …

… attracting contemplaters of their beauty …

… and photographers who like Claude Monet …

Racket-tailed Emerald?

Much easier to find and photograph … starflower:

Golf ball with parachutes …

Now we know the source of the odd ends of our local blueberries …  (see the stages of development of the fruit after pollination?)

When we got home we heard, then saw, this catbird singing up a storm . . .

Listen to its song here:  https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Gray_Catbird/id

While we were driving very slowly, idling, along the back roads we were struck with the huge number of dragonflies plucking small insects out of the air and then stopping to masticate while perched on a branch or stalk, usually about a metre or so over the ground.  This appears to be typical behaviour.

I corresponded with an excellent bird photographer recently, Jules Gobeil of Quebec City.  His site is a bit tricky but the photos are extraordinary:

http://julesgobeil.com/photo/pages-divers/galeries/?lang=en

We stopped to listen to the family on Tuesday May 31 and were rewarded by some sneak peeks at beaks:

Mom arrived to a cacophony of eager cheeps:

After mother leaves a little one peers out with one eye…

A little further …

Then a good look outside at a guy with a long lens!

I suspect that this family is close to fledging.    We shall have to monitor the nest closely now.

We saw some interesting variety on our way back from Parry Sound May 30th.  First some Trillium grandiflorum as they gradually fade from their two-week glory.

The pink/purple colours of the fading flowers are quite variable, but very different from our other common trillium, the Trillium erectum.

Starflowers (Trientalis borealis) are starting to bloom in sun-dappled areas now…

This beauty is in a patch of violets growing in an abandoned driveway at Site 9:

This female Common Whitetail was patrolling a piece of woodland above the Shawanaga River at the Hwy 69 bridge.  As the link shows (see the wingtips?) this is a female, not an immature male.

Member of the Iris family, blue-eyed grass is starting to bloom.  Common along sides of rural roads,  Hwy 529 in this case.

Advanced a bit more …

and resplendent in full bloom:

This is the same “unidentified Butterfly/Moth” that I posted a few days ago…

I think that it is some sort of Skipper, maybe a Duskywing.  Its use of this flower’s nectar indicates a Columbine Duskywing.   No sightings have been recorded in this area for over 20 years, though.

While researching the above I came across this Ontario Butterfly Atlas — a website that I’ll spend more some time with … sometime!

We also saw this little beauty flitting along the Hwy 529 roadside:

Fritillary or Pearl Crescent??  Help!

I stopped to make a phone call at the little beach at Big (Gereaux) Lake.   The sand was covered  by a “flock” of Canadian Tiger Swallowtails, having a hard time hanging on in a brisk onshore wind.  It took me a while to see what they were doing.

Yes, they are all taking water up through their proboscis…

A beautiful example of their translucent wings…

Coincidentally, this  morning I got an email from Mary Holland advising of this post:

https://naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com/2016/05/31/canadian-tiger-swallowtails-puddling/

(Those emails is one of the advantages of “following” a blog!)

All the gory details:   Mud puddling.

Canadian Tiger Swallowtails do not migrate.  Instead they overwinter in their pupae stage and emerge in May to visit wild cherries and lilacs, amoungst other flowering plants.  One brood per season. Very common in this neck of the woods.

Riverside Dr is a shoreline road on the north side of Byng Inlet (the Inlet, not the hamlet).  I often patrol it (after some sustenance and elder abuse at St Amants Waterfront Inn).  Yesterday I drove the 3 km from the Restaurant to the end of the public road and returned … with a camera full of images.  The trip took less than two hours and included a 30 minute conversation with amateur naturalist, Alex, about … you guessed it —- birdies.

This is a sample of what was seen during that 1.5 hour trek (south looking on the way out, north looking on the way back):

Singing Yellow Warbler in dead Tag Alder next to the late Mr LaChance’s sawmill.  Alex saw me and came out to tell me of a Yellow Warbler nesting site.

While we were chatting this Brown Thrasher visited on Alex’s driveway.   Alex is a very effective bird spotter.

Then a female Redwing Blackbird perched on a Tag Alder over the water, intent on catching a few morsels.

A little further on, in front of Shirley’s house I photographed some Canada Geese and this fellow:

Here is the morsel, complete with rictal hairs,  up close:

Further on, on the new curve just at the west end of “George’s Last Resort” I stopped to check on the milkweeds (up about a foot now, growing rapidly for the arrival of the Monarchs later in June) and saw the first Potentilla (Cinquefoil) of the season.

After turning around at the end of Riverside I saw this Northern Wild Raisin getting ready to bloom across the road from Dave and Maureen’s.  I also heard the Chestnut Sided Warbler singing but couldn’t spot it.

Then this yet-to-be-identified moth/butterfly.  Small, 2 cm tip to tip.  Just North of G Wright’s place.

Father was bringing goodies for his family, in an 8″ diameter Aspen, 20′ off of the ground, on the north side of the road, 100 feet east of Georges driveway.   Coincidentally this was in my mail inbox today.

I have yet to see either parent enter or exit the cavity nest.   Now I am thinking about the “big beak” in the earlier post on these folks.

Great display of wild columbines in the rocks across from “The Mushroom Lady”:

Wild rose in the rock at Doug and Doreen’s place.  Early because of the heat reflected off of the rocks:

Buttercup on the bank across the road from the main Marina parking lot/boatyard.

Lots to see in our back yards, eh?

We had a fleeting glimpse of an Indigo Bunting in the ash trees bordering the stream across Hwy 69 from my place.  It sang a few bars of its song and flew off.  Not the greatest photo, but I only see these beauties during this part of the year so I posted it for you.

The Black (Rum) Cherries are starting to bloom in protected areas, about a week later than Pincherries.

The Trilliums are starting to turn to pink/purple as they gradually fade from the understory:

Labrador Tea is starting to bloom.  Key identifier is the orange/rusty coloured hairs on the underside of their leaves.   The tea is very ordinary to my taste!   They will be in full bloom in the tamarack swamps on Hwy 529 next week, along the very attractive Sheep Laurel …

Here is some sort of Meadowhawk, I think.  A lot of them, dozens, were patrolling the wet roadside ditches along Hwy 529, flashing in the sun.  Occasionally they would alight, usually on a raspberry cane, to chew their food.  I don’t know how that works.  Do they carry a mouthfull of prey around or do they regurgitate?  It seems that the best strategy to photo them is to park in a likely spot, where you see some flitting about, feeding on flying insects and wait until they land.  Then it is sometimes possible to sneak up on a few.

http://onnaturemagazine.com/odonata-guide.html

Click on it for a close-up :

Common Grackle finding morsels at water’s edge.

This is a good reason for dragonflies to rest well above the water …

https://naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com/2016/05/27/eastern-newts-dining-on-hapless-dragonflies/

We were out and about early in the morning to greet a very soft day.  I always like to get the camera out on a foggy day to catch the soft light, the 3 dimensional effects, and the micro textures.   We were also blessed with our first observations of the new family of Hairy Woodpeckers.

First, some local scenery, taken with the FZ1000 camera:

Still River near the “Subdivision”.

Still River near the Legion ….

The “acid dock” taken from ET’s dock.

A barn swallow on the net thingamabob on ET’s shoal boat.  Not bad for the FZ1000 camera.

The rest of these were taken with the GH4 camera and the Panasonic-Leica 100-400 mm lens.

The most important realization is that 100% relative humidity, fog, causes very small water droplets to form on pretty well everything.  The size that the droplet eventually becomes seems to depend on wind, and the geometry of the surface, with hairs and sharp edges being the most interesting.

A vetch holding hands …

Tent caterpillars on a pin cherry showing droplets of water on their bristles …

And when you look closely you can see the huge amount of spider webbing on all of the plants in the forest.  This ant was walking gingerly, avoiding the inner parts of the bracken fern …

Pin cherry blossom enhanced by fine droplets of water …

Note the fine drops on the seed parachutes of this dandelion:

No, not a blueberry (Vaccinium Spp) but a huckleberry (Gaylussacia dumosa).    The famous Monsieur  Gay-Lussac certainly got around!

Here is the much more common blueberry:

The velvety, hairy leaf of a  Mullein holds  lots of water, leading to some speculation about the role of leaf hairs in holding water in arid regions.   Click on the photo to see the density of water droplets.

Sparkling wild strawberry leaf shortly after the fog had lifted.

I stopped to look for life in the Hairy Woodpecker nest hole that I wrote about a few weeks ago. Wonderful!   I could hear cheep cheep cheeps.   So I waited around for mom or dad to arrive with food.   I was rewarded a few times when both parents arrived and swiftly placed bugs and caterpillars directly into the mouths of the hatchlings.  That is a HUGE beak on that lil birdie!

Mom arriving with a caterpillar:

Dad has just delivered his morsel.

And finally, the petals of the Columbines seemed to be refreshed by the moisture.

Lessons learned:

• In addition to listening for Warblers I will listen for the cheep cheep of youngsters.   I might be lucky enough to see a parent delivering food.  A very nice experience.
• I will take advantage of fog not only to give soft light and 3-dimensionality but also to give increased texture to our micro-world.

Always something for an old doggie learning new tricks, eh?

On the way back from Parry Sound I detoured via Woods Road to check on a nesting pair of Canada Geese that I’ve been watching.  A new family!

See the two goslings and spent egg?  CG eggs take about 3-4 weeks to incubate, depending mainly upon temperature, I think.  During this time the parents molt their wing feathers and are “grounded” for a week or so.  Although I remained in the car, in the rain, a couple hundred feet away, Ma and Pa watched me intently the whole time.  That swamp is quite thick so I suspect that I’ll not see those goslings again.

On Shebeshekong Road  the cottongrass was in full bloom …. in the very welcome rain.  Since the plant is a sedge the alternate names cottonsedge or bog cotton are better.  “Sedges have edges. Grass has joints.”

The pin cherries are in full bloom now, about a week ahead of choke cherries and black cherries.

I can’t resist including this Pale Corydalis:

This morning (6:00 AM) the temperature is near the dewpoint ( 16ºC) so we have a nice frontal fog —- which will probably dissipate as the air warms up with midday heating.  I think that it will linger, though, as a stationery front    is stalled over the eastern part of Georgian Bay.

So I think that we’ll get out to enjoy the “soft” air/light.

We decided to check out the progress of spring at the old Burwash Industrial Farm … a prison farm closed in the 1970s … now a source of interesting flora and fauna.

On the way we detoured to the Hwy 522 pond for some artsy photography…. stuff that caught my eye …

Log and lilies  à la  Claude Monet, one of  my favourite artists …

The wild mustard was blooming profusely at Burwash.   This bloom’s visitor looked ready to leap!

This visitor (with strange eyes) is having a drink  of nectar (from a mustard plant!)

withdrawing proboscis, lifting wings, lifting feet ….

In the air, with proboscis coiling and legs retracting.   I must pay more attention to what a butterfly does with its legs when flying or flitting.

Yes, the above butterfly  is called this descriptive name!

A week or so ago I misidentified a hawthorn blossom.  That was probably some sort of wild apple (Malus)  of the rose family.  This is the haw that we have around here.

This barn with pincherries in bloom is on Hartley Bay Road, west of Hwy 69, just north of the French River.

It has been about a year since I got serious about posting my little sights and insights on this blog.  So, just now, I just decided to spend 10 minutes enjoying Louie Schwartzberg: Nature.  Beauty.  Gratitude.     Best when full screen.

Nice, eh?   Highly recommended every once in a while.  (I think that Schwartzberg also liked Monet.)