Sightings of a world traveler: July 2012

Tree swallow adult male

Another month spent at the tip of Long Point, Ontario... This one was a bit slower than the last. Since the weather was so warm reptiles have had little need to search out good basking spots to heat themselves up and are less active after the urges to mate and nest have gone away. I did still see many garter snakes and mostly painted turtles.

Juvenile melanistic garter snake

My volunteer Alia, and the garter snake for perspective in size

Can't forget the fowler's toads! Night brings out most of the amphibians I have seen. One night as I was searching for fowlers on the beach with Alia she asked me what that was and pointed n the direction of a long dead piny softshell turtle on the beach. I told her what it was and she said no not that the frog beside it. There was a huge bullfog sitting beside this rotting turtle getting what I assume to be a very large meal of flies. It shouldn't surprise me that insect eating animals should be drawn to carrion (dead things) for an easy meal like this one.

My name is Jabba the fat toad...

Fowlers (left) and American (right) toads for comparison

GIANT bullfrog!

The birds I have been seeing for the most part are local nesters, however, a few odd sighting and some early arrivals have managed to appear at the tip. The most interesting bird I have seen and a lifer for me with regrettably no pictures was a long tailed duck seen on the boat ride back to the mainland from the tip.

Brown thrasher

Eastern kingbird nest

Ruby throated hummingbird

Bank swallow nests

Bank swallow in flight

Juvenile barn swallows were fledging in the nests on the sides of our buildings

Ring billed gull

Many predatory insects were enjoying the season so many tourists curse at. Stable fly season!

Tiger beetles on the beach

Orb weaving spider

One afternoon after a morning of hiking 10 km Alia and I found that a racing pigeon actually had walking right into one of the UNSET traps. Our curiosity could not be helped so we found out his band number and discovered he was a first year bird on a training run.