Butterfly Watching

Butterflies are fascinating insects, which come in a variety of colours, shapes and sizes. Butterfly watching can be just as exciting and rewarding as bird watching; finding new species, discovering a rarity or just observing their natural beauty. In fact many “birders” will substitute bird watching for butterflies in the summer months because most of the birds are nesting and the leaves on the trees make it very difficult to view the birds. If you’re interested in getting started you’ll need two pieces of equipment, binoculars (preferably ones with close focus) and a good field guide to the butterflies of  your region. The two guides I use are, Peterson Guide to the Butterflies of Eastern North America and my favourite, Butterflies Through Binoculars. Generally all of the species that you’ll encounter can be properly identified through binoculars, just remember to bring your camera because you never know what you might discover! 

Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus)

Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes)

Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes) 

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) 

Male

Female

Viceroy (Limenitis archippus)

Monarch (Danaus plexippus) 

Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos)

Northern Crescent (Phyciodes selenis)

American Copper (Lycaena phlaeas)

Summer Azure (Celastrina ladon neglecta)

Eastern Tailed-Blue (Everes comyntas)

Copulating (female below)

Hickory Hairstreak (Satyrium caryaevorum)

Acadian Hairstreak (Satyrium acadica)

Least Skipper (Ancyloxypha numitor)

Northern Broken Dash (Wallengrenia egeremet)

Crossline Skipper (Polites themistocles)

Peck's Skipper (Polites peckius) 

Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus) 

Juvenal's Duskywing (Erynnis juvenalis)

Wild Indigo Duskywing (Erynnis baptisiae) 

Great Spangled Fritillary 

Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa)

Cabbage White (Pieris rapae)

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia)

Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)

Common Wood-Nymph (Cercyonis pegala)

Morels

I've been wanting to eat morels for a long time, but usually when I find them, I either find too few or more than I'm prepared to collect. This spring I brought a couple home to try; a lot of people had told me how delicious they are so I wanted to see what I was missing out on.  I found a recipe on the internet and my wife and I cooked them and we were both blown away by the flavour of these mushrooms!  I'll definitely not pass another morel without picking it--they're just too good.  

Morels are easily identified, which make them a choice edible. 

The recipe I used was simple.  First clean the mushrooms, making sure all the sand and bugs are gone. For some reason, wood louse (potato bugs) love to hide inside the hollow stems.  After a good wash,  soak the mushrooms in a bowl of salt water overnight to kill any unwanted visitors that cannot be seen with the naked eye.  The following day, make sure to rinse the mushrooms one last time before you cook them.  Heat a medium frying pan with a half inch of vegetable oil.  Dip the morel into an egg, roll it in bread crumbs (I like using cajun Fish Crisp) and place it into the pan.  Cook until golden brown; this only takes a few minutes.  There are many awesome recipes that I have found online, but now that morel season is done I'll have to wait until next year to try them.

Mute Swans

Mute Swans were introduced to North America from Eurasia in the 1800's as an ornamental bird, but now they can be found here in great numbers.  These elegant birds can be detrimental to other species of waterfowl because of their large numbers and voracious appetite.  The aptly named Mute Swan is less vocal than other swan species; however they will make many different noises such as grunting, whistling and hissing. 

Mute Swans can be easily distinguished from other species of swans from their orange bill and large protruding black knob above the bill. 

Mute Swans construct large nests in shallow water using aquatic vegetation.  The nest in the picture below was constructed from cattails.

Mute Swans usually lay 5-8 eggs per clutch; however as many as 11 eggs have been recorded.

Young swans are called cygnets.  I counted a total of seven in this nest and was lucky enough to watch one hatch from its egg!  Even though the Mute Swan is an invasive species, it's a fascinating and beautiful bird that I enjoyed observing in the wild.

Muskrat Behaviour

I’ve wanted to photograph muskrats for some time now.  After observing their behaviour from land I decided that a kayak would be the best way to photograph them. I went back the following day launched my kayak and positioned myself outside a large lodge and in a matter of minutes I was photographing some interesting muskrat behaviour.   

The muskrat is the largest member of the vole family. In appearance, muskrats closely resemble beavers; however, muskrats have a long slender tail, unlike the flat tail of the beaver.

Their diet consists of aquatic vegetation, fresh water mussels, fish, and sometimes carrion.

The muskrat's teeth are in front of its mouth allowing it to feed on underwater plants without drowning.

 Muskrats inhabit marshes, shallow lakes, and slow flowing rivers.

  Muskrats live in lodges constructed from aquatic plants and mud and they will often create burrows above the waters edge.

During the breeding season male muskrats mark their territory using scent glands. These glands secrete a musky smelling liquid; giving the muskrat its name. Males will defend their territory sometimes fighting to the death fortunately this fight only lasted a few seconds.

Male chasing female, she was playing hard to get. 

These animals can be found almost anywhere in Canada except the coast of British Columbia.

Muskrat Tracks