Milbert's Tortoiseshell

This colourful Nymphalid basked in the sun on a log at Port Munroe, just west of Marathon, this afternoon.

More on the species here.

Buff-breasted Sandpiper at Marathon (updated Sept. 3)

Not far from the rocky point where I encountered the Baird's Sandpiper last week, I found this Buff-breasted Sandpiper this morning. Migrating Buff-breasted Sanpipers are more typically found in drier, more upland habitats.

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Update: Sept. 3.

I relocated the bird just down the beach from where I found it yesterday. The waypoint is 48.72327, -86.38535.

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Baird's Sandpiper at Marathon

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One of the less common Calidris shorebirds we see on the north shore, this Baird's Sandpiper briefly visited the rocks beside the boat launch in Peninsula Harbour this afternoon.

Watching fish in Lake Superior

Matt Jackson shared these great shots of a school of 200-300 fish he encountered in Pukaskwa National Park. Matt wrote:

I was actually snorkeling in Horseshoe Bay when I encountered them. I swam from shore out to the small island that is about 300-400 metres off shore, and on my way back I encountered them along one of the underwater cliffs on the north side of the bay. I started following them and managed to stay with them for perhaps five minutes. They weren't moving all that fast.

Matt added that the fish were about eight inches long. The shape, colouration, behavior and presence of an adipose fin are characteristic of the whitefish/cisco/lake herring subfamily (coregoninae), of which a handful of species are known from the waters off Pukaskwa. Without a specimen in hand, my best guess is that these are juvenile Lake Herring, also called cisco, (Coregonus artedi).

Water temperatures in Lake Superior are very high this summer.

Thanks for sharing the great photos Matt.

Southbound shorebirds

Solitary Sandpiper in Marathon

Lesser Yellowlegs at Coldwell

A few southbound shorebirds have been seen around Marathon in the last week. Several Least Sandpipers were resting at the boat launch in Jellicoe Cove.

Summer Long-tailed Duck

I came upon this male Long-tailed Duck swimming among recently fledged Herring Gulls on July 13, about a kilometre north of the town boat launch - an area in which we typically see the species in the winter.

The endangered Pitcher's Thistle (Cirsium pitcheri) and a Hoverfly (Allograpta obliqua) on a sand dune in Pukaskwa National Park, June 28, 2010.

Photo by Martha.

Boreal Snaketail

An attractive dragonfly that haunts the clear streams and rivers of the north shore. I found this one beside Shack Creek, here in town.

European Goldfinch in Neebing

Sharon and Rob Illingworth had a European Goldfinch visit their feeder in Neebing today - one more of many sightings of Old World cage birds seen along the north shore in recent years. I listed some of these after a Eurasian Siskin visited our yard for a week or so in April.

Thanks for sharing the photos Sharon and Rob.

Solstice Bonaparte's Gull

I was surprised to find a lone Bonaparte's Gull in breeding plumage at Dunc Lake, about 50 km east of Marathon, along the Trans-Canada Highway.