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Butterfly counts/Birding update
Tuesday, June 10, 2003
Butterfly counts will be taking place throughout the summer beginning later this month. Pinery/Port Franks is on the 28th. Clear Creek in SE Chatham-Kent and Elgin is on July 12. It is organized by the Nature Conservancy. The annual Rondeau count is the following day on the 13th. Point Pelee is sometime in mid August.
These counts are very much like the Christmas Bird Counts, where teams go out into certain areas to see what they can find. At the end of the day, the numbers will be tallied. It is always fun because you never know what will turn up. As long as the weather co-operates, it will be a good day. The weather is a little more important for butterflies than birds. Warm, sunny days are best.
The attached photo is of a Great-spangled Fritillery that I found a couple of years ago at the McKeough Floodway.
BIRDING UPDATE
I have to say, this spring has been the dullest and most disappointing one in my fifteen years of birding. The cool, damp, windy (easterly) weather played a big part. There was never a day when large numbers of birds could be seen. There were some half decent days, and some ÑgoodÑ birds this May, but it was rather uneventful. The unusual relentless NE winds never seemed to cease, and made birding uncomfortable at times.
Some warblers were rather late in migrating, as expected. On June 7 at Rondeau, I saw 7 Blackpoll, 1 Blackburnian, 1 Golden-winged, 3 Magnolia, and some others.
It is now time to do some breeding bird atlas surveying. We are now into the third year the of the five year program. Much data has been gathered to date, and has given us a good indication of the birds that nest in Ontario.
