Small can be beautiful...

The murky world of microlepidoptera can be a daunting and intimidating one. After all in Ontario alone there are many hundreds of tiny species to wade through, most of which are not illustrated in the field guides. However, help is now at hand in the form of various web sites - all you need is access to a computer. The most useful site is called the "Moth Photographers Group". It features thousands of high quality colour photographs of both live moths and pinned specimens - both invaluable in their own ways. Check it out!

Below are three micros in the family Yponomeutidae. All lovely in their own pint-sized ways. All were caught, photographed and released in my back yard here in Toronto.


This moth is called Plutella xylostella, otherwise known as the Diamondback Moth. It is very common in southern Ontario in mid summer.


This speckled beauty is called Yponomeuta multipunctella - the American Ermine Moth. Not quite as numerous as the above species but regular in my back yard throughout the summer. Pretty distinctive though there are one or two lookalike species to deal with.


Lastly the beautiful Atteva punctella or Ailanthus Webworm Moth. I seem to do well for this species in Toronto though some years are better than others. There is a lot of detail packed into this little gem of a micro!

Hopefully you are all hooked on the micro scene now. No? Alright, I'll show you some more later...

Northern Gannet...

A quick check of Ontbirds at lunchtime revealed the presence of a juvenile Northern Gannet in with the feeding gulls offshore from Port Credit harbor. So, a quick call to my friend Hugh and off we went.


The bird was easy to locate within the sizeable mass of feeding gulls offshore from the west side of the harbour. I took some very poor video through the scope and ended up with possibly the worst ever photos of a Northern Gannet ever taken...quite an achievement and one I'm certainly proud of! What do you expect with 200 X magnification, a biting cold wind and dreary British-winter-like conditions!! Whatever, the pix DO show the general shape of a gannet.


I well remember KT pointing out to me when she saw a Gannet at the spit many moons ago that the bird looked like a "flying hockey stick" what with the pointy head angled downwards and all. Well, from the photo you can see this is an excellent description...should be quoted in the field guides thinks MM.


Juvenile Northern Gannets are predominantly dark brown with a paler belly and narrow crescent on the upper tail coverts. Not that you can see any of the finer points on this appalling videograb. However, you can see the long and narrow pointed wings and the long dagger-like bill quite nicely. Also seen where a Red-necked Grebe, a Bonaparte's Gull and a first-winter Iceland Gull. A great bird to see in the GTA. Maybe it will stick around for all those winter listers...

Acrobatic Moth of the Month - The Angel

Olceclostera angelica, otherwise known as The Angel has to be one of the strangest-looking moths occurring in Ontario. It is on the northern edge of its range here in southern Ontario and seems to be uncommon at best. The only place where we have seen this heavenly vision is in the South Walsingham area near Simcoe. The larvae feed on ash trees and lilac.


The moth itself is not too outlandish but it's preferred resting pose most certainly is. Out of all the moths I've seen this is the only one to adopt such an acrobatic pose whilst passing the day. I love those crazy "flanges" on the legs. What does it all mean?


One of the most curious aspects of this delightful creature are those two silvery nodules on either side of the inner abdomen. They must serve some purpose but what could it be? Answers on a postcard please boys and girls. Also, check out those translucent spots on the forewing near the apex...just superb!

This fantastic moth was caught, photographed and released in southern Ontario in mid July this year. It surely fully deserves the rather unique title of - "Acrobatic Moth of the Month".

Oh, I forgot to mention - if you invert the top photo the moth does actually look a bit like an angel...hence the name!

Moths and snow...

A phone call late yesterday evening sent me rushing around to my sister-in-law's house to pick up a mystery moth she had just discovered and "jarred" for me. Upon looking at it under a light I could clearly see it was Ufeus satyricus, a bit worn but no mistaking it. This is late flyer, but usually in October. To see one this late is, I think, exceptional. Also, I've not seen the species before in the Toronto area. The moth world is full of surprises thinks the MM.

Another Big Silky...

If there are any moth freaks out there who like the odd silky or two can you please put a name to this beast? I found this on a wall outside my hotel room on the island of Bohol in the Philippines a couple of winters ago. It was quite large!

The silk Moths are quite a large group of moths with a worldwide distribution. Many are big and colourful. They often have dramatic eye-spots or transparent panels or spots on their wings. In Ontario we only have eight of the larger species but they are all rather nice. The Polyphemus Moth featured yesterday is one of these. I'll go into more detail about these brilliant creatures at a later stage.

I'm back!

With a brand new and very shiny i-mac I can now resume normal computer activities. Thanks for waiting. For now enjoy this fine Polyphemus Moth. More later.

Fun and games in Barrie...

Well, what a great day to be outside! A chance meeting with a friend saved me from the doldrums of toiling away at the drawing table and instead sent me in the direction of some interesting birds. First stop was a muddy cow field in deepest Durham Co. where a Cattle Egret had been seen the previous day. In spite of valiant efforts to relocate the pallid cow-chaser we couldn't pull it outta the bag...or rather the cow-pat! I did spot a late Clouded Sulphur fluttering across a field though. Of course, we later found out the Egret WAS still there...but in a different field. Oh well, there is always tomorrow I guess.

Next was the shores of Lake Simcoe at wonderful Barrie. Our main target gave itself up rather easily - a brilliant juvenile Pomarine Jaeger (see videograbs). We were able to watch this rare visitor at close range both swimming and in flight...a real treat. There were lots of Bonaparte's Gulls feeding close offshore, amongst which were at least 12 lovely Little Gulls. They were mostly adults with, I think, two first-winter individuals. Fantastic to watch as they dipped and wheeled around at close range. The Franklin's Gull failed to show for us but had been seen shortly before we arrived. We did see a first-winter Iceland Gull a couple of times though. Also present were numerous Common Loons and a couple of Red-necked Grebes. All in all a great time spent in most pleasant company.

Mockers at the berries...

Not much to report this morning but I have been seeing the odd Northern Mockingbird in my back yard feeding on the Virginia Creeper berries. Always nice to see...

Cor - look at those hindwings!

Well, as promised, here are some underwing moths with their hindwings well and truely on display! I hope all my faithful viewers like what they see. From the top we have the ghostly White Underwing, followed by the rather gothic Yellow-gray Underwing and lastly the lovely and oddly-named Once-married Underwing. Enjoy these superb creatures and book your place on a gooping session somewhere in southern Ontario next summer...

A closer look at some big (well, medium actually) Underwings...

One of the joys of late summer mothing is the chance to go "gooping for underwings". Is not as messy as it sounds and is actually rather pleasurable! The underwing moths are all in the genus Catocala. There are about 50 species in Ontario alone. Some are common and widespread, others rather scarce and local. Some are large, others are on the small side and, believe it or not, some are medium! At rest they all tend to have the typical delta shape as they hold their ample wings flat on a suitable tree trunk of nearby building. The cryptic paterns on the forewing create a near-perfect camouflage (except on green leaves) and they are often hard to find.

The best way to see underwings is to employ a method known as sugaring, which I've mentioned in previous posts. At the risk of boring my regular reader(s) I'll just mention that this is the process of painting a solution of beer, sugar, molasses and rotten bananas on suitable tree trunks and then waiting to see what comes in to feed. It should be remembered that every moth man (or woman) has his or her own favourite concoction. It can be spectacular...or mundane. On rainy nights it can be a waste of time, on warm humid nights it can be brilliant with many different species of underwings (and other species) supping-up the golden nectar. When they are feeding the underwings often reveal their trade mark feature - the vividly colourful hindwings they are famed for. They range from yellow to orange to red to carmine with variable black bands. Several species (my favourites) are totally black on the hindwing, whereas one species is black-and-white.

The three examples shown are (from the top) Briseis Underwing, Habilis Underwing and The Old Maid. Maybe next time I'll show you what the hindwings look like...