Manitoulin Memories.

Manitoulin Island certainly didn't disappoint again this year, having just returned from a few days away.  It may not be as remote or isolated as other northern destinations, but the island certainly has that laid back small community feel.  It's a nice diversion from the hustle and bustle of daily life.

The common Ring-billed Gull posed nicely on the ferry crossing

Lake Mindemoya has for the last few years been the go-to destination to rent a cabin and this year was no exception.

Daily scans of the lake frequently produced resident loons and Red-necked Grebes among other things.  The island vicinity is a known fall staging area for the grebes and although I didn't see any great number it was still great to find a species I hadn't seen before.  They were only visible through the scope so no photos.

Warblers were passing through the island in small numbers, the most common being the American Redstart.

Sandhill cranes are congregating.

Common nighthawk were frequent evening visitors.  Unfortunately the only one I managed to look at closely was dead on the road shoulder.

Providence Bay with waterside boardwak and sandy beach is always a great spot to check out.

  A number of shorebirds were working the water's edge.  Although in constant motion, they had little fear of humans and provided great views and photo opportunity.

American Golden Plover

Baird's Sandpiper 

Semipalmated Plover with the Bairds.

Sanderling

Bridal veil falls is a popular tourist destination.  An advantage of being there this time of year is that it is not quite so busy.  

This Chinook Salmon was fighting it's way up the shallow stream in the direction of the falls.  It was really impressive how such a large fish managed to come so far up in such low water level.

The trip concluded in South Baymouth with a short walk on the nearby Bowerman Trails before boarding the ferry.  I met Mr. Bowerman, the creator of the trails, a few years ago here while walking them.  It really is incredible the amount of work he put into making this trail system through beautiful northen landscape.

Just an old telephone on a tree- one of numerous unique features along here.

A great few days away!  Back to work now.

Some Summer Winged Things

Since my last post, the collared dove seems to have finally moved on.  It stayed around for about a month giving periodic sightings.  Some visitors were able to find it and some weren't (sorry Barb Charlton). 

As summer winds down and I start to spend more time watching migrating birds, it seemed appropriate to look back at some highlights of my other winged sightings.

 I've always considered White Admiral to be more of a northern species compared to our common Red Spotted Purple, but this year I found what is now my second for the county.

Skippers can take some careful studying to be able to ID.  This one pictured below has caused some interesting discussion on Inaturalist.   The tentative identification so far is a dark Tawny-Edged Skipper

I managed to bump into the larval form of two of Ontario's more common giant silkmoths.

Polyphemus Moth

Cecropia Moth

I found the camouflage on this Porcelain Gray moth to be exceptional.

And of course it's the time of year for monarch migration.  I'm again participating in the Monarch Watch tagging program.  A lot of data on this incredible migration is gained through recoveries of tagged individuals.

Next week I'm planning to be spending a few days on Manitoulin Island.  It will be later in the year than past visits and I'm looking forward to what might be migrating through.