pussytoes | Brtthome's Blog

Burwash, Tree swallow, Hawk, Dragonfly, Bee-fly, Damselfly, Dragonfly, Painted Lady, Clearwing Hummingbird Moth, Pussytoes, American Redstart, Lupin, Viburnum, Painted turtle, Eastern Meadowlark, Bobolink, Savannah Sparrow, Barn Swallow, Skipper, Crab Spider

We made an afternoon trip to Burwash to see Clearwing Hummingbird Moths on the honeysuckle blossoms. We saw a lot more than expected.

In the way into the site, a Tree Swallow welcomed us from a telephone cable…

A little further on this hawk eyed us. I did not see it in flight or from any other angle and can’t ID it.

Dragonflies were munching on the flying insects along Neilly Lake.

This is the first Bee-fly I’ve seen since photographing one pollinating Coltsfoot blossoms on Harris Lake Road.

This might be a female Marsh Bluet…

Maybe a Dot-tailed Whiteface. I didn’t see the rest of the body.

Painted Lady on Yellow Hawkweed…

Aha! Here it is, as predicted:

Pussytoes … showing some sort of different flower structure … worth of further research!…

Unknown bee/wasp or fly on the newly blooming Ox eye daisy …

American Redstart serenading, showing rictal bristles…

Patches of multicoloured lupins are developing.

Nice shadow on the leaf of the V. trilobum…

Lots of painted turtles were on the move …

A first for me! Eastern Meadowlark singing away. The bird kept its distance from me. It was foraging for food, perhaps with a nest nearby?

Another birdie that I rarely see, only at Burwash ….

While the bobolink and meadowlark were singing and going after insects, this lil Savannah Sparrow stood on the fence, seemingly unimpressed by all of the activity…

On the way out of the old prison farm this other common swallow said goodbye. Notice the difference in undercolouring of the Tree Swallow (above) and this Barn Swallow …

This is about the size of a skipper. Probably one of these. EDIT: Probably Columbine Duskywing. It was nectaring on this roadside Birdsfoot trefoil near a rock outcrop which has a lot of blooming columbines.

It didn’t take long for this Crab Spider to find an Ox Eye Daisy to lie in ambush on. The Daisies only opened up the previous day.

Click on the photo to see the eye structure….

While at Burwash I met a photographer who lives just north of Sudbury. He gets great wildlife imagery at Burwash and Killarney. He’s a very interesting man, a practitioner of some of the iceman and breathing techniques at Innerfire.

Choke cherry, vireo, pearl crescent, puddling swallowtails, orange hawkweed, pussytoes, tamarack, lily of the valley, sandcherry, blueberry, blue-eyed grass

“Loveliest of trees, the cherry now,

Is hung with bloom along the bough,

…..”

When I first saw this flower I thought it was a goatsbeard. Now, I don’t think so. We’ll have to watch it on the Old Still Road to see its progress.

This unknown birdie on the Old Still River Road might be a red eyed vireo. It sang then flitted.

I suspect that this sparrow is bringing a protein lunch to a nearby nest, well hidden in the low thicket. I was lucky to get a focus on the birdie!

Pearl Crescent in a driveway on Old Still River Road …

Ah! Thanks for the profile:

In same driveway, three Eastern Tiger Swallowtails (canadensis) are either puddling or mating.

First appearance of Orange Hawkweed. In spite of its red/orange colour, to which bees are blind, I still see lots of pollinators coming for a visit. Pilosella aurantiaca (fox-and-cubs, orange hawkweed, tawny hawkweed, devil’s paintbrush, grim-the-collier)