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I agree with others who have said that there is a scarcity
of butterflies and bees this year. I have seen very few, either here
in the city or on my few outings this summer. Two weeks ago I spent
an hour on a lovely Sunday morning at Mount Uniacke estate, and saw
no butterflies except for Whites, Sulphurs, and Common Wood
Nymphs. Not a fritillary to be seen. I recalled walking in the same
areas on field trips with Peter and Linda Payzant in former years and
seeing far more, and more varied, insects.
However, I have noticed good numbers of moths in the evening
in Bedford., including some of the larger ones. I have also seen
healthy numbers of odonates at several of my usual spots. On Sunday
I was in Point Pleasant Park, and observed an abundance of various
odes over the wetland on Pine Road. I particularly noticed a lot of
chalky-bodied skimmers, which I think were Common Whitetails and
reddish meadowhawks. (I realize I'm rusty!)
Patricia L. Chalmers
Halifax
At 05:06 PM 12/08/2013, Jim Wolford wrote:
AUG. 7, 2013 - I walked along the Wolfville Rail Trail this
afternoon, as I often do, and noted just a few butterflies (mostly
whites) flitting among the huge array of plants in flower, especially
Queen Anne's lace, common tansy, knapweed, etc., from Wolfville
Harbour but especially from Elm Street out to the Acadia Arena. BUT
what really struck me was how very few other insects I am
noticing on the flowers as I walk. Thinking back a couple of
decades (or more?), I used to see a wide variety of insects and
spiders on the flowers, and now I am seeing few to none, plus the few
butterflies. Has anyone noticed the same thing? And does anyone
know of a database somewhere out there in our world of information
that has decades of data like we have for breeding birds?
At 09:20 PM 13/08/2013, Nancy Dowd wrote:
>One thing I have noticed is far fewer Odonates on the shores of L
>Torment, Kings Co. I have been going there over 40 years and when I
>was a kid I used to search along the rocks and gather all of the shed
>nymphal skins I could find. And I found a lot. I still come across
>remnants of my collection tucked into a drawer or matchbox to this
>day.
>
>Now I rarely find any shed skins on the rocks.
>
>Others may have also noted changes in the always-popular and obvious
>Dragonflies and Damselflies.
>
>Nancy
>
>On Tue, Aug 13, 2013 at 8:02 PM, Angus MacLean <cold_mac@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > Steve's "rant" & other comments center on the weather we have experienced
> > this spring & fall. However:
> >
> > I have been photographing insects since 2005. I recall thinking during the
> > first two years that this was a great hobby, insects wherever one looked so
> > that some days I took 300-400 photos. Then numbers started declining.... so
> > much so that in the past few years I consider it a good day to get 5-10
> > useful photos (excluding honey bees which are numerous here in the Valley).
> >
> > I am certain that some people still find high insect populations in their
> > area. For instance I have found that in northern Cape Breton,
> there are more
> > insects & in particular, populations of Bumble Bees.
> >
> > We do have good comparative data re birds & the Butterfly Atlas
> will collect
> > much useful data too, albeit somewhat late. There may be similar studies of
> > other groups although the only specific study that comes to mind is that of
> > Bumble Bees where data has been collected over a number of years (followed
> > by disturbing analysis!). Are there others?
> >
> > As birders we sometimes thought how exciting it must have been to
> be birding
> > in the forties through early fifties when populations were said to be
> > abundant. I wish now I had started my "new" hobby a few years or perhaps
> > decades earlier!
> >
> > Likely in 20 years from now, people will look at insect photos on the Net &
> > think (similar to the Eskimo Curlew).."Gee, I wish I had seen that".
> >
> > Angus
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<body>
<font size=3D3><x-tab>
</x-tab>I agree with
others who have said that there is a scarcity of butterflies and bees
this year. I have seen very few, either here in the city or on my
few outings this summer. Two weeks ago I spent an hour on a lovely
Sunday morning at Mount Uniacke estate, and saw no butterflies except for
Whites, Sulphurs, and Common Wood Nymphs. Not a fritillary to be
seen. I recalled walking in the same areas on field trips with
Peter and Linda Payzant in former years and seeing far more, and more
varied, insects.<br><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>However, I
have noticed good numbers of moths in the evening in Bedford., including
some of the larger ones. I have also seen healthy numbers of
odonates at several of my usual spots. On Sunday I was in Point
Pleasant Park, and observed an abundance of various odes over the wetland
on Pine Road. I particularly noticed a lot of chalky-bodied skimmers,
which I think were Common Whitetails and reddish meadowhawks. (I realize
I'm rusty!) <br><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>Patricia
L. Chalmers<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>Halifax<br>
<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab><br><br>
At 05:06 PM 12/08/2013, Jim Wolford wrote:<br><br>
</font><font face=3D"Helvetica, Helvetica" size=3D3><b>AUG. 7, 2013
</b></font><font face=3D"Helvetica, Helvetica" size=3D3 color=3D"#001EE6">- =
I
walked along the
</font><font face=3D"Helvetica, Helvetica" size=3D3><b>Wolfville Rail
Trail</b></font><font face=3D"Helvetica, Helvetica" size=3D3 color=3D"#001EE=
6">
this afternoon, as I often do, and noted just
</font><font face=3D"Helvetica, Helvetica" size=3D3><b>a few butterflies
(mostly whites)
</b></font><font face=3D"Helvetica, Helvetica" size=3D3 color=3D"#001EE6">
flitting among the
</font><font face=3D"Helvetica, Helvetica" size=3D3><b>huge array of plants
in flower</b>, especially<b> </b>Queen Anne's lace, common tansy,
knapweed, etc.,
</font><font face=3D"Helvetica, Helvetica" size=3D3 color=3D"#001EE6"> from
Wolfville Harbour but especially from Elm Street out to the Acadia
Arena. BUT what really struck me was
</font><font face=3D"Helvetica, Helvetica" size=3D3><b>how very few other
insects I am noticing on the
flowers</b></font>
<font face=3D"Helvetica, Helvetica" size=3D3 color=3D"#001EE6"> as I
walk. Thinking back a couple of decades (or more?), I used to see a
wide variety of insects and spiders on the flowers, and now I am seeing
few to none, plus the few butterflies. Has anyone noticed the same
thing? And does anyone know of a database somewhere out there in
our world of information that has decades of data like we have for
breeding birds?<br><br>
</font><font size=3D3>At 09:20 PM 13/08/2013, Nancy Dowd wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=3Dcite class=3Dcite cite=3D"">One thing I have noticed is f=
ar
fewer Odonates on the shores of L<br>
Torment, Kings Co. I have been going there over 40 years and when I<br>
was a kid I used to search along the rocks and gather all of the
shed<br>
nymphal skins I could find. And I found a lot. I still come across<br>
remnants of my collection tucked into a drawer or matchbox to this<br>
day.<br><br>
Now I rarely find any shed skins on the rocks.<br><br>
Others may have also noted changes in the always-popular and obvious<br>
Dragonflies and Damselflies.<br><br>
Nancy<br><br>
On Tue, Aug 13, 2013 at 8:02 PM, Angus MacLean
<cold_mac@hotmail.com> wrote:<br>
> Steve's "rant" & other comments center on the weather
we have experienced<br>
> this spring & fall. However:<br>
><br>
> I have been photographing insects since 2005. I recall thinking
during the<br>
> first two years that this was a great hobby, insects wherever one
looked so<br>
> that some days I took 300-400 photos. Then numbers started
declining.... so<br>
> much so that in the past few years I consider it a good day to get
5-10<br>
> useful photos (excluding honey bees which are numerous here in the
Valley).<br>
><br>
> I am certain that some people still find high insect populations in
their<br>
> area. For instance I have found that in northern Cape Breton, there
are more<br>
> insects & in particular, populations of Bumble Bees.<br>
><br>
> We do have good comparative data re birds & the Butterfly Atlas
will collect<br>
> much useful data too, albeit somewhat late. There may be similar
studies of<br>
> other groups although the only specific study that comes to mind is
that of<br>
> Bumble Bees where data has been collected over a number of years
(followed<br>
> by disturbing analysis!). Are there others?<br>
><br>
> As birders we sometimes thought how exciting it must have been to be
birding<br>
> in the forties through early fifties when populations were said to
be<br>
> abundant. I wish now I had started my "new" hobby a few
years or perhaps<br>
> decades earlier!<br>
><br>
> Likely in 20 years from now, people will look at insect photos on
the Net &<br>
> think (similar to the Eskimo Curlew).."Gee, I wish I had seen
that".<br>
><br>
> Angus</font></blockquote></body>
</html>
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