Butterflies and Dragonflies at Waseeka Wildlife Sanctuary

The rain finally stopped and the sun broke through the clouds.  Yesterday, before I made it over to Waseeka, it downpoured and put a stop to my hiking plans.   Today, I headed over as early as possible to catch the sun while it was shining.  More t-storms were predicted for this afternoon.

Waseeka has changed since I last visited before my 10 days in Arizona.  Waterlilies are taking over the open water.

These purple flowers are providing a splash of color all along the edges of the water.

The ospreys were born and appear to have fledged without me ever having a chance to see them (I heard they were born around Father's Day).  Dragonflies flit through the air up and down the dam and all along the edge of the water.  Scarcely any birdsong filled the air, although I did hear one Ovenbird in the forest and one osprey near the nest was calling out warnings the entire time I was on the dam.

Osprey

The trail across the dam had been freshly mowed.  I saw a half of a garter snake in the grass on the trail and wonder if that was from a mishap with the mower.

A second garter snake slithered down the grass embankment as I passed by.  I also wonder how much of an impact the mowing had on nectaring sources for the butterflies.

I saw my first Great Spangled Fritillaries of the year, flying along the dam.  Only one landed for any period of time, and it was shy and hiding behind some vegetation in the woods.  It is a spectacular butterfly....

Great Spangled Fritillary

Hobomok Skipper

Slaty Skimmer (male)

Widow Skimmer (male)

Spangled Skimmer (male)

Eastern Pondhawk (female)

Banded Hairstreak on milkweed

Banded Hairstreak

Meanwhile, I had a couple winged creatures enjoying the sun in my yard, too.

Summer Azure

Spangled Skimmer (female)

(missing a pretty big part of one wing)

Now...if the sun would just stick around for a while!!!!!