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June 15 - Balsam Lake, City of Kawartha Lakes June 16 - Innisfil area, Simcoe County June 17 - Bala area, Muskoka District June 18 - From Bala to Elk Lake, Timiskaming District June 19 - Elk Lake to Fraserdale June 20 - Boreal Butterflies and Woodpeckers of Fraserdale June 21 - Smooth Rock Falls to Hearst Birding, Matachewan Mothing June 22 - Matachewan to Hilliardton Marsh June 23 - Purplish Coppers in Parry Sound District The sun pierced through the low branches of the trees by the time that I awoke the following morning. It had been a late night of mothing! I was still shaking off the cobwebs that was created by the lack of a sufficient sleep when I peered out of my car's window and noticed an odd shape. It took a second but I quickly realized that the object of my gaze was, in fact, a pair of Luna Moths. They were preoccupied with each other, to say the least.  Luna Moths (Actias luna) - Matachewan, Timiskaming District
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June 15 - Balsam Lake, City of Kawartha Lakes June 16 - Innisfil area, Simcoe County June 17 - Bala area, Muskoka District June 18 - From Bala to Elk Lake, Timiskaming District June 19 - Elk Lake to Fraserdale June 20 - Boreal Butterflies and Woodpeckers of Fraserdale June 21 - Smooth Rock Falls to Hearst Birding, Matachewan Mothing June 22 - Matachewan to Hilliardton Marsh June 23 - Purplish Coppers in Parry Sound District I enjoyed a sleep in at the Moose Motel and spent some time catching up on emails, editing photos, and researching for the upcoming days. By late morning I left the motel and continued west. Today would mostly be a birding day along Highway 11, between Smooth Rock Falls and Hearst. Like many other birders, I keep more than a few lists. County-listing has become an interest of mine pretty much since I began birding, and Cochrane District is one of my "better" county lists. Over the years I have embarked on five rarity-filled expeditions to the coast of James Bay, several shorter autumn forays to Moosonee, and numerous trips during the spring and summer to complete breeding bird surveys for employers, so my Cochrane District list is one of the higher ones (behind Doug McRae and Alan Wormington, and possibly a few others). However, my Cochrane list still had several few holes that needed filling. Most of these are breeding species that reach the northern extent of their range in the southern part of the district - species like Bobolink, Virginia Rail, Black-billed Cuckoo and Pine Warbler.
The latest bird celebrity here in Niagara Region is a Townsend's Solitaire just west of St. Catharines in the town of Pelham. Local birder Nancy Smith discovered the thrush on Saturday January 16 at the bridge for Fifteen Mile Creek along Centre Street. Luckily for the birding community, the thrush has been reliably found in this same area for three out of the past four days.  Townsend's Solitaire - Pelham, Niagara Region A warm sunny day in early October provided the incentive that several friends and I needed to seek out one of Ontario's rarest reptile species. I had only laid eyes on Wood Turtles twice before - once in Michigan, and once in Ontario. It took a while but once we found the first, we could not stop finding them! All credit goes to my friend Dav who spotted every single turtle.  Wood Turtle (Glyptemys insculpta) My interests shifted to insects for much of the summer, as documented in my previous post. That blog was growing a little long and so I had left out some of the other insect highlights from the summer that were not moths. I’ve included a few of them below.  Common Sootywing (Pholisora catullus) My interest in moths really took off in 2020 due to a confluence of factors. In July 2019 I purchased a lightweight moth light, called a LepiLED, that uses little energy and can be operated with a small powerbank. We had brought this with us to South America and used it regularly, quickly getting addicted to Neotropical moths in the process. This interest carried over into 2020. While Ontario does not have nearly the same diversity as Ecuador, Costa Rica or Colombia, mothing here can still blow your mind. The Ontario list is over 3300 species with many more still to be added.  Common Spragueia Moth (Spragueia leo) Mothing is an activity that can be done anywhere, even in a suburban backyard. I’m all for naturalizing opportunities that can be done in your backyard with a beer in hand! Because of the impressive diversity here in Ontario, rarely did an evening pass without a few novel species appearing.
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