BANDING OF MONARCH BUTTERFLIES, EGGS & CATERPILLAR, PRESQU'ILE PROVINCIAL PARK, BRIGHTON, ON

   This past weekend we went to the "Monarch & Migration Weekend" at Presqu'ile Provincial Park in Brighton, ON.  We walked the beaches in early morning to see the migrating shorebirds, saw a Monarch butterfly banding, saw a bird banding, went on on a  guided birding hike to Owen Point, drove to Calf Pasture Point to see humingbirds (we saw some) and had a great time.  The beaches at the park in the early morning are a great hotspot for migrating shorebirds.

   The banding of the Monarch butterflies was fascinating.  The first two photos show a Monarch butterfly being banded. The next photo is of Monarch butterfly eggs in a bowl.  The fourth photo was taken on the hike to Owen Point and is of a Monarch butterfly caterpillar on a Milkweed plant leaf.  Their eggs can only be layed on a Milkweed plant; they would die anywhere else.  The last photo shows the difference between male and female Monarch butterflies.

FRINGED GENTIAN FLOWER, PRESQU'ILE PROVINCIAL PARK, BRIGHTON, ON

JUVENILE SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, PRESQU'ILE PROVINCIAL PARK, BRIGHTON, ON, 9/5/2015

      This plover is identified as a  juvenile Semipalmated Plover as follows:

• Single black breast-band
• Black patch around eye : in an adult this black patch extends across the forehead and above its bill; in a juvenile the extention is pale and may not be continuous.
• The bill in a juvenile can be all black, while in an adult it is orange and black.

   The Semipalmated Plover is new to our life List, which now stands at 152.

JUVENILE SANDERLING, PRESQU'ILE PROVINCIAL PARK, BRIGHTON, ON

HERRING GULLS, PRESQU'ILE PROVINCIAL PARK, BRIGHTON, ON

   The first photo is of a 1st winter Herring Gull in flight.  In the second photo, the gull in the upper right is an adult Herring Gull and the gull in the center is a 1st winter Herring Gull.

PAIR OF MERLINS, PRESQU'ILE PROVINCIAL PARK, BRIGHTON, ON

      We identified these falcons as a Merlins  (rather than as Peregrine Falcons) by the observation that the wingtips do not reach the tail tip (as they do in the Peregrin Falcon).  These falcons were seen at the same time very close to one another and thus are probably a pair, male and female.

   The Merlin is a new species to our Life List, which now stands at 151.

OSPREY, PRESQU'ILE PROVINCIAL PARK, BRIGHTON, ON