Invertebrates of Hawk Cliff Sepember 6-9 (near Port Stanley, ON)

It is hard to wake up early, but when it comes to Hawk Cliff , it is always worth it.

Morning started wet September 9, but quickly cleared.

It is difficult to spend time here not see something interesting. Most (human) visitors come to observe birds which are migrating along the shore of Lake Erie.  August 7th, we spied two adult eagles locking talons in the sky. Amazing!!! (No photos of this, sometimes you have to take in the moment).  But for our group, it is mostly about the invertebrates, specifically, Monarchs.

From left to right clockwise:  Silver-spotted Skipper, Eastern Tailed Blue, Viceroy, Ailanthus Webworm, Bluet (?), Damselfly, Orb Spider.

Preying Mantis hiding in winter wheat

Bruce Parker leads the monarch tagging effort.  Lisa Carriere  and I are lucky to assist since 2011. Our group of three looks forward to tagging all year.  I do not have many Monarch tagging photos, since when I see one it is all business. (Here is one I tagged last year).   I quickly collect the butterfly and pass it to Bruce to tag.  We do this as quickly and gently as possible so that we minimize the stress on the animal. Since Bruce started this work, about 15 years ago, 15 of his tagged butterflies have been recovered in Mexico. All the data are collected on behalf of Monarch Watch.

Not much beats this: me and a butterfly net on the cliff. Photo: Lisa Carriere

There is some concern about the status of the monarchs this year with the widespread drought: http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/09/06/drought-diminishing-monarch-butterflies/  We will have to wait to see how things unfold. These things can be difficult to predict, but Bruce, our regional monarch authority, has a feeling that we will see a "protracted non-dynamic" migration this year.  By this wording, Bruce means that the monarchs are likely to migrate over a three week period, gradually building to higher number and then declining.    (I will have to double-check that I got his wording correct).

I was a little worried our first day out, September 6, since we saw less than 20 monarch total.  Bruce assured me, numbers will continue to pick up until the peak.  August 8, Bruce conducted a count at the Cliff and reported 75 Monarchs headed west in his location between 12:15 and 12:45 PM (EST); however, many other monarchs could be seen crossing the field from the mound all the way up to the ravine. We tagged 11 total on the 8th, which was more than the 7th (I think we got less than 10) and the day before (3 or 4).  On the 9th things slowed again, unexpectedly.  The weather was good, and other butterflies were around.  We tagged less than 5 and observed less than 20 monarchs.  Things should start to really pick up around the 11th if the weather co-operates.  At this point, I am somewhat concerned that this year we are experiencing a smaller migration than previous year.

Bruce's September 9 report (you may have to be Bruce's facebook friend to view this):
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151215315130808

 Other observations: 
The milkweed a little yellow and weathered, but in otherwise decent shape.  We have found a few 3rd instar caterpillars over the last two days.  Bruce collects these caterpillars and raises them at home.

Another highlight for me is the beautiful Fringed Gentian.  Sadly, this year, it isn't around.

Milkweed, host of the monarch caterpillar, is still in decent shape.

There are times on the cliff when monarchs can't be found.  We pass those periods looking for spiders, dragonflies, butterflies etc.  With three sets of eyes we continually find interesting things to examine.  Lisa has a keen eye for raptors and was the one to alert us to bald eagle locking talons yesterday.  September 8 and 9, we saw hundreds of black saddlebag dragonflies. We were amazing by the numbers, stopping a couple times just to take it all in.  According to Dennis Paulson's Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East, Black saddlebags dragonflies are highly migratory.  Ha, that explains the high numbers. Here is a link to an article that explains how little we know about dragonfly migration.

Black Saddlebags

Green Darners and Twelve-spotted Skimmers, also seen on the cliff, are known to be migratory too.  Today, a surprise, an unfamiliar reddish coloured dragonfly.  I asked Bruce "are female black saddlebags lightly coloured?"  He whipped out his Photo Field Guide to Dragonflies and Damselflies of Southwestern Ontario and showed me the Red-mantled Saddlebags Dragonfly.  How exciting a new dragonfly for me and only an occasional immigrant to Southwestern Ontario, according to the guide.  My other reference further describes Red-mantleds "often feeding in swarms of Black Saddlebags."   For comparison sake here are some links to Carolina Dragonfly images:

Photos of black on section 8 and 9 stretching around the abdomen and smaller male hamules of Carolina Saddlebags

Red-mantled Saddlebags Photos

Red-mantled Saddlebags -  An occasional immigrant to southwestern Ontario.
Note that the spots on section 8 and 9 do not stretch around the abdomen.

Hard to see, but the arrow points at the longer pointier male hamule that distinguishes Red-mantled from Carolina Saddlebags.

From Left to Right clockwise: Red-tailed Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Great Spangled,  Fritillary, Red Admiral, Flycatcher, Banded Argiope 

It is certainly a strange year for butterflies. September 9 I found a Sachem at Hawk Cliff.  According to Butterflies and Moths of North America the range of this species is: Southern United States from Virginia west to California; south through Mexico and Central America to Brazil. Strays and colonizes north to central North Dakota, southern Michigan, Manitoba, and northern Pennsylvania.  Well then what is is doing here?  According for the Photo Guide to Butterflies of Southern Ontario is very rare and erratic.

Here is an interesting article by Bob Bowles of The Orillia Packet and Times (or Kids for Turtles as I know him) on the topic:
 http://www.orilliapacket.com/2012/08/24/local-science-and-nature

I have cut and paste a portion of the article:

I think 2012 will be remembered as the year of the sachems since in August I would estimate we may have had up to a dozen on Pelee Island during the weekend of the count and there have been up to two dozen reports for Point Pelee and along the north shore of Lake Erie and as far east as Hamilton.

Butterflies have been moving north in recent years, but an even better indicator of the northern movements as warming continues is the dragonflies. Southern species, like comet darners, great blue skimmers, painted skimmers, variegated meadowhawks, red saddlebags, Carolina saddlebags and striped saddlebags, are being found in southern Ontario. This year, the Pelee Island dragonfly count recorded the second Ontario record for blue-faced meadowhawk. This species was first discovered in Canada at Point Pelee National Park by Corbet on Sept. 9, 1964. Species like eastern amberwings, unicorn clubtails, spatterdock darners and Halloween pennants are now being found more often in our area. I recorded the first Halloween pennant on Cameron Ranch for Carden Alvar in 2002 during the count. Five were reported during the 2008 count, 31 during the 2011 count and this year, we recorded the amazing high number of 86 Halloween pennants. This species appears to be now firmly established in the area. Eastern pondhawks have recently been reported in Muskoka and this year, blue dasher was reported in Muskoka.
I could give many other examples of dragonfly species moving north, but if we had not been recording these counts every year at these locations, we would not have been aware of these movements. What will happen to the truly boreal species as these new southern species move north? Will they recede or will climate change cause the decline of lily pad clubtail, boghaunters and emeralds? We will continue to conduct the counts each year at these locations and watch for new species arriving from the south and to see if any of our present species decline in number as the temperatures increase.

Thanks AGAIN to Blake Mann for confirming that this butterfly is indeed a Sachem

Same individual, showing bordered underwing, which isn't present in the Fiery.

Butterflies

1.  Eastern Tailed Blue (many)
2. Viceroy (More than we normally observe at this location)
3. Cabbage White (many)
4. Great Spangled Fritillary
5. Monarch
6. Painted Lady (Many)
7. Northern (?) Crescent - Erin observed, thought probable Northern Crescent
8. Black Swallowtail (5 fresh, September 9)
9. Orange Sulphur
10. Common Buckeye (Many, again this year)
11. Red Admiral (few)
12. Fiery Skipper  -  (3 - September 9)
13. American Snout (September 6)
14. Silver-spotted Skipper (3 - September 8)
15. Summer Azure +
16. Clouded Sulphur
17. Mourning Cloak
18. Sachem (September 9)

Female Eastern Tailed Blue.  Many of these were seen each day. 

 (Select) Moths

• Ailanthus Webworm
• Tussock Moth (caterpillar)
• Arctiid moths (caterpillar)

Dragonflies

1. Black Saddlebags
2. Red-mantled Saddlebags (September 8) *
3. Green Darner
4. Twelve-spotted Skimmer
5. Lance-tipped Darner+
6. Carolina Darner +
7. Widow Skimmer 
8. Shadow Darner
9.  Eastern Pondhawk (female)

*There have been a few reports of Carolina Saddlebags on the cliff.. Red-mantled and Carolina Saddlebags  are difficult to tell apart without inspecting closely.  Based on the spots on segments 8 and 9 and the long shape of  the male hamules, I believe the species I've observed on the cliff have been Red-mantled.  There may also be Carolina's mixed in the swarm.

+ Reported on Ontario Birds

Male Shadow Darner - These dragonflies are known to defend territory on small ponds.

Twelve-spotted Skimmer

More about Hawk Cliff:
 http://www.lfpress.com/2012/08/31/hawk-watchers-welcome-raptors-back-to-erie-cliff

And for those interested in Raptor Counts:
http://hawkcount.org/day_summary.php?rsite=392&rmonth=09&ryear=2012&rday=06

Just a side note: this area is private land. Please respect property boundaries and keep the area tidy. Here are some of my pictures, but I will make an effort to write-up a more thorough report.