Nymphs and Satyrs

William T. Foster Woods

Kleinburg, ON

4 July 2014

     We are really getting into the dog days of summer from a birding perspective, with most species already on the nest or feeding young, and vocalization has pretty much ceased. Yesterday at William T. Foster Woods there was virtually no bird song at all, other than for the chattering of the odd American Robin Turdus migratorius, and a lone Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus scolded me as I passed by, probably too close to its nest.

     The meadows were alive with butterflies, however, most flitting around and giving barely a chance to view them well, let alone take pictures.  I did manage a couple of photographs, however.

     Little Wood-Satyr Megisto cymela vied for the title of Most Common Species and it was rarely that three or four of them were not fluttering in front of me. Hardly had they alighted than they would pick up again and move along, tantalizing me to take a picture.

     This was the best shot I managed, and it's too bad there is a stem in front of it. When you are photographing in nature a little bit of nature sometimes gets in the way!

      The second most populous species was Common Wood-Nymph Cercyonis pegala - at least this is what I believe it to be. I couldn't find a picture in my reference books that matches it precisely, but it is described as highly variable, and given the time of the year, its abundance and the location, I am pretty sure this is what it is.