John Howard made a checklist of all the butterflies we are likely to see in Shawnee in August- and I have lifted the Hairstreak portion for your enjoyment. The upcoming conference field trips may be my big opportunity to photograph a White M or Olive (Juniper) hairstreak. Can you tell I am excited? :) Who knows what we may find flying in Shawnee? Thanks for the chart, John.

Daniel's Butterflies of Ohio lists 8 different species of Fritillaries, and most are flying right now. Here is a recent photo of two species: Great Spangled Fritillary in the foreground and an Aphrodite Fritillary in the distance. The subtle difference between the two is most easily noted by the yellow margin between the hindwing spots on the Great Spangles.

The Ohio Leps dedicated this weekend to a search for the elusive Regal Fritillary, which has not been seen in Ohio since 1991. We have not totally written them off, but unless someone can produce a location for them in the fairly near future, these bold beauties of the prairies, currently classed as endangered, may well be reclassified to the extirpated list. That would be a sad record for Ohio, indeed.

Another frit of great interest was recently seen in southern Ohio; a Gulf Fritillary sighting was posted on Jim McCormac's blog (July 14). These similarly colored fliers have much longer, narrower wings. You can bet we will we watching for them on the Appalachian Butterfly Conference field trips! If you haven't signed up yet, you'll want to get your registration in the mail soon, as trips are starting to fill completely.

I knew I was in for a real treat- and the photo would be an American Snout, Libytheana carinenta. There will be no prizes given for those who can guess how this butterfly got its moniker, "snout". Those are actually labial palps, an adaptation butterflies have for covering their proboscis (tongue) and possibly used for sensing food.

American Snouts do a great imitation of a dead leaf when their wings are completely closed, but these little Hackberry lovers are quite colorful when found flitting around the forest edge. This week must have been a good hatch week for them, several of us have witnessed the usual and comic looking butterflies, but Warren Uxley got this fantastic photo. Even if you have never seen one before, you will be able to instantly recognize one in the field- just by the Jimmy Durante snout.

A keen observer will note an "extra" dot on the side of this Karner Blue. The Toledo Zoo's staff places a red spot on captive raised butterflies in order to sort them out from any of the population that is currently breeding in the wild. It is a fascinating program, and Jackie Riley counts the butterflies at the Kitty Todd transect (a set path). Ohio has a fabulous butterfly monitoring system, and these volunteers really know their stuff. Jackie wrote a great article about this subject and you can go right here to read it.

If you like butterflies and would like to help collect data about Ohio's butterflies, I hope you will consider becoming a butterfly monitor. Check the Ohio Lepidopterist's website for more details.

The Karner Blue butterfly, Lycaeides melissa samuelis is an exclusive butterfly indeed. This little blue wonder is closely tied to its host plant Wild Lupine, Lupinus perennis and when the lupines fell into decline, due to urbanization and overgrowth of their sand barren habitats, the blues completely disappeared. Now a federally listed plant, wild lupine is nurtured along at Kitty Todd, where the once extirpated Karner Blue butterfly has been re-introduced with little blues raised at the Toledo Zoo.

Another of the rare and endangered plants which grow freely at the Oaks region is Dotted Horsemint, Monarda punctata. An unusual mint, with showy pink or white bracts held above the yellow flowers with purplish dots. Once seen, this is a plant you will never forget. Add a Karner Blue butterfly and... instant bliss. Butterflying just doesn't get any better than this. :)

My friend Jackie Riley, who does the butterfly count at Kitty Todd, had an unusual beastie this week and was kind enough to send along the photo. An Acadian Hairstreak, Satyrium acadica was a very exciting find. What stands out to me, is the roundness of most of the spots. Kudos to her for looking this little fellow over long enough to see it is not just your average "Edwards" of the Oaks. The rarities are so common up there- I suspect most of the local horses are zebras.

And if you're into rarities, be certain to look at the Golden-wing Skimmer on Ohio Birds and Biodiversity. This must be the most unbelievable dragonfly known to Ohio. What an amazing find! Rick Nirschl has found some awesome stuff in the past, but this is the grand-daddy of great finds. It just goes to show how important discoveries can be made by regular folks in the field.

There were Roundleaf Sundews, Drosera rotundifolia- the carnivorous plants, hummocks of mosses and a moss expert along to identify each genius and species. This highly acidic environment, comprised of decaying peat, is the only place you find native cranberry and blueberry plants, as well as poison sumac. It is such a unique plant and animal community it nearly defies description, and so it is difficult to choose one photo to represent it.

This stunningly colored Smeared Daggermoth caterpillar, also known as a Smartweed caterpillar was found under the leaves of a Swamp Loosestrife, Decodon verticillatus.

Perhaps that Swamp Loosestrife (this is a "good" loosestrife- a native) is the most important pioneering plant in the bog. It lays down a framework of roots with aerenchyma tissue, having channels in spongy-like tissue that can siphon air down to the underwater roots, allowing it to form communities in the water, not unlike rice.

However, these strong root and stem systems criss-cross and create a form for other plants to utilize. The sphagnum mosses move in, and decaying matter from years of loosestrife and moss create a platform for the acidic loving bog plants. A quaking-bog mat is a trampoline-like surface created entirely of plants.

Bog are a fascinating place to visit, and a few have boardwalks to expedite access and reduce damage from foot-traffic. To learn more about these plant communities and the rare fauna they attract, visit Brown's Lake Bog in Wayne County.

A carload of us went to Pickerel Creek Wildlife Area to check out the Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid, Platanthera leucophaea a Federally and State threatened listed plant. And a hauntingly beautiful plant is too. Found hidden among the prairie overgrowth, it would be easy to pass by this scrubby-looking field without a second glance, but that would be a mistake.

This rarity blooms the last week of June or very early July, and this was the second time I have travelled to see it. Several years ago, we planned the trip too late- and the orchids were no longer in bloom. This year we scored big on this unusual orchid with the humongous nectar spur. I would love to see the moth that must pollinate this beauty. It may well be as rare as this wet-meadow orchid.

A bonus American Avocet and Black-necked Stilt made the day quite a bonzer event, and one that won't be soon forgotten!

This lovely scene was photographed from the window of my hotel room last weekend. It is the site for my favorite family tradition: watching fireworks on the 4th of July from the Hotel Lakeside's front lawn. Thousands of people descend upon the lakefront with their lawn chairs and blankets, to watch fireworks mount the sky, blast into brilliant forms of sparkling colors, and reflect across the water. On a good Fourth of July, you can see the displays of Lakeside, Put-in-Bay and Port Clinton all at the same time!

If you like ice cream, lakefront walks, fantastic floral displays, unique architecture, friends and family, well... you just might be a Lakesider. Lakeside is better than ever, I hope you get a chance to visit soon. And the "new" Abigail's restaurant, "Evelyn's at the Abigail" has delicious food. Don't wait for the Mid-west Birding Symposium in '09! Schedule a trip there this summer or fall to see how beautiful Lakeside has become.