TAGGING MONARCH BUTTERFLIES, PRESQU'ILE PROVINCIAL PARK, BRIGHTON, ON

   This past weekend we attended Monarchs & Migrants Weekend at Presqu'ile Provincial Park.  Expert Monarch Butterfly tagger Don Davis gave a demonstration of tagging the butterflies.  The first photo is of Monarch Butterfly that had been tagged and then released.  The second photo is of another Monarch Butterfly that doesn't seem to be tagged. 

   The photos after the first two show the tagging process.  The butterflies had been caught a few days before and each kept in an envelope and refrigerated.  In the third and fourth Don removed the envelope from the storage container and the butterfly from the envelope.  The last four photos show Don emplacing the tag on the Monarch Butterfly's wing.  After this it is released.

HERRING GULLS, BEACH, PRESQU'ILE PROVINCIAL PARK, BRIGHTON, ONz

   The Herring Gull in the first two photo is in breedin plumage.  The gull in the last two photos is a 1st Winter Herring Gull.

DOWNY WOODPECKERS FEEDING AT TREE & FEEDER, LIGHTHOUSE AREA, PRESQU'ILE PROVINCIAL PARK, BRIGHTON, ON

   The Downy Woodpecker in the first three photos is a female, it does not have the red on the rear of head.  The Downy Woodpecker at the feeder in the fourth photo is a male; you can see the red at the rear of the head.

NONBREEDING SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, OWEN POINT, PRESQU'ILE PROVINCIAL PARK, BRIGHTON, ON

JUVENILE SANDERLINGS, OWEN POINT, PRESQU'ILE PROVINCIAL PARK, BRIGHTON, ON

   We can ID these sandpipers as juvenile Sanderlings as follows:

• Black legs and tubular, black bill.
• Clean white below.
• Spangled black and white above with alot of contrast.
• 
  

NONBREEDING MALE MALLARDS, PRESQ'ILE PROVINCIAL PARK, BRIGHTON, ON

   On the Mallard in front you can see the distictive speculum: blue-purple with black and white borders.  We can iD these Mallards as nonbreeding males by their yellow bills with a black dot (rather than the orange bills of the females) and by their grayish necks (rather than the green necks of breeding male Mallards).

CANADA GEESE, BAY OF QUINTE, ZWICKS CENTENNIAL PARK, BELLEVILLE, ON