Insects - July 2025

Photos of some birds I've seen and I have been looking for butterflies and dragonflies which I have listed below. 

Komoka Park

Willow Skimmer, Powered Dancer, Blue-fronted Dancer, Clouded Sulphur, Cabbage Whites and one Monarch.

Indigo Bunting

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Coves

Widow Skimmer, Common Whitetail, Cabbage Whites, Ebony Jewelwing, and one Black Swallowtail

Also saw 1 White tailed Deer, Carolina Grasshopper - FOY, Painted Turtles, large Common Carp in the water.

Osprey trying to keep cool

Wood Ducks

Black Swallowtail

Westminster Ponds

Black Saddlebags - 1, Common Whitetails, Eastern Pondhawk - 1, Blue Dasher - 2, Monarchs - 8, Black Swallowtail - 1, Silver-spotted Skipper - 3, Wild Indigo Duskywing - 2, Common Wood Nymph - 2

Monarch

Indigo Duskywing

Black Swallowtail

Black Saddlebags

Eastern Pondhawk

Blue Dasher

Canterbury Park

Common Whitetails, Eastern Forktail - 1, Monarch - 1; Cabbage Whites - 5; Black Swallowtail - 1

Also saw a Painted Turtle

Painted Turtle

Monarch

Cabbage White

Late June Birding - 2025

Indigo Bunting

Brown Thrasher

Cedar Waxwing & Northern Flicker

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Baltimore Oriole

I saw some butterflies last week.  Lots of Cabbage Whites, European Skipper, Little Wood Satyr and a Hackberry Emperor which I don't see often.  

European Skipper

Hackberry Emperor

Little Wood Satyr

Today, I saw my first Eastern tailed-Blue.

Lots of newly fledged Barn Swallows waiting for food.

Black-necked Stilt - Lifer

 June 6, 2022 - Komoka

I went for a walk on a few trails to try to find an Indigo Bunting.  I have not seen one yet this year.  I did find two and I also saw the Eastern Bluebirds which was a real treat.  I don't see them too often.

Eastern Bluebird

Indigo Bunting

I also saw an Eastern Towhee, Catbirds, and Field Sparrows.  A few butterflies were around...Monarchs, Cabbage Whites and Little Wood Satyrs.

Little Wood Satyr

I went to Strathroy Lagoons today (June 8) to find the Black-necked Stilt.  I finally found it at the opposite side of one of the lagoons in the mudflats.  One was walking around in the tall grass and the other was up and down on the nest.  This is a Lifer.  I got a distant photo.  A scope is needed.

I also heard and saw the Common Gallinule.  It was difficult getting a photo.

Week Adventures - July 20-22, 2020

July 20, 2020  Westminster Ponds, London, Ontario

I went to Westminster Ponds to mainly look for insects.  There were a few butterflies around.  A nice warm day 25c and sunny,  feeling like 31c.  Birds I saw were House Wrens, Catbirds, Downy Woodpeckers, and Barn Swallows to name a few.

Wild Indigo Duskywing

Monarch

Northern Broken-Dash

Halloween Pennant

Turkey Vulture

July 21, 2020 - The Coves

I decided to go to The Coves this morning.  It was 21c and cloudy,  I saw a nice variety of birds.  Wood Ducks, Great Blue Herons (8), Catbirds, lots of Robins, American Goldfinches, House Wren, Carolina Wren, Indigo Bunting, Song Sparrows, Red-winged Blackbirds, House Finches, and Northern Cardinals.

Catbird

I was watching this Great Blue Heron wading around for fish. 

Great Blue Heron

As it was moving around, the heron kept looking up to the trees.  I thought I would look to see what the heron was seeing. 

There was another heron up there.  It looks like a young heron.  Maybe the heron in the water was trying to entice the young heron down to the water.

Great Blue Heron (young)

I always love to see Indigo Buntings!

Indigo Bunting

Wood Ducks (female and young)

Midland Painted Turtle

Group of Common Whitetails 

July 22, 2020 - Hyde Park, London, Ontario

A cloudy morning almost felt like rain.  It was getting more humid throughout the morning.  I saw swallows busy catching insects over the water - Barn Swallows, Tree Swallows and Northern Rough-winged Swallows.  This time of the year one starts to see sandpipers as they fly back down south.  There were lots of Killdeers, a Lesser Yellowlegs and a Least Sandpiper.

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Tree Swallow

There was a lot of action in the woods and fields.  A lot of juvenile Robins and Starlings around.  I saw an Eastern Kingbird feeding its fledged young in a nearby tree.  There were Cedar Waxwings, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Catbirds, Field and Song Sparrows, and a Willow Flycatcher, 

Cedar Waxwing

Eastern Kingbird