Blue Dashers Emerge!

Blue Dasher

On June 16th I visited Petrie Island to look for birds and bugs. While the birds were my primary focus this outing, I was curious as to whether any Blue Dashers were present. I was hoping that last year’s colony had successfully reproduced, and given that my Algonquin field guide indicates they fly in June, this seemed as good a time as any to check.

A Beetle-ful Day

On the last day of July Bob Bracken, Chris Lewis, Mike Tate and I went out to do some dragon-hunting. We started off at the Bill Mason Center where the birds seemed to be more plentiful than the odonates. We found robins, waxwings, Swamp Sparrows, Song Sparrows, one Yellow Warbler, at least half a dozen Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, a Northern Flicker and an Alder Flycatcher in the marsh; in the woods we heard a Veery, a Hermit Thrush and an Eastern Wood-pewee. The best bird of the day, however, was a juvenile Marsh Wren which responded to Bob’s pishing by hopping onto the boardwalk rail!

A Visit to Roger’s Pond – Part I

The first day of the Victoria Day long weekend was warm and sunny and gorgeous; it felt more like a day in mid-summer than late spring. I took my insect net out for the first time this season and headed over to the Cedar Grove Nature Trail in Marlborough Forest to see what I could find. Although I knew many of the butterflies and dragonflies unique to Marlborough Forest would not have emerged yet, I still had hopes of finding some interesting reptiles and amphibians. I was also curious as to whether I would find any interesting birds there, as I had never been there before during migration.