Urquhart Butterfly Gardens

It seems to be a tradition for us to go over to the Urquhart Butterfly Garden in Dundas, Ontario every year during the August long weekend.  Why?  It is August, it is hot, there's usually a few species of butterflies and other things present; plus it is the long weekend and we don't mind the near hour long drive there since we have the extra day off.  Last year it was a bit of a shit show getting to the spot due to some accident and it took us over 90 minutes.  Yikes!

Anyway, this year's visit did not disappoint...

Hummingbird clearwing moth.  A species we seldom see.  I remember when we learned about this creature, we were like "WHAT?!?!  NO WAY!!!"  Four of the last five years we have been successful in seeing either this moth or it's near twin the snowberry moth.  They look like little flying lobsters.

Another highlight from this trip was seeing a red-spotted purple butterfly.  Another not so commonly seen species for us.  We did have 2 in our yard a number of summers ago.  Both were hanging out in our lilac tree.  It was funny how some saw my photos and did not believe that it was in our backyard, or even in Canada for that matter.

We did see some monarch butterflies, a black swallowtail, some viceroys which look like monarchs and others.  Our other highlight from this trip was this Giant Swallowtail.  Big beauty, eh?

Last year's visit was different but just as exciting.

A common buckeye thrilled us and other visitors to the spot for a while.  It was probably a decade since we last saw one.  Not so common, is it?

The biggest thrill for me that day was being shown a black and yellow garden spider.  I love seeing spiders and this species I rarely see anymore.  I remember them being in abundance every summer as a kid, finding them in gardens and meadows all around the neighbourhood.  What isn't a declining species out there these days?

There are some nice gardens much closer to home but there's something special about Urquhart.  I highly recommend checking it out at some point during the peak of summer.  Make a nice outing of it and go into Dundas for lunch too.  The Thirsty Cactus and Collins Brewhouse are both on the main strip and we've had great meals from both places.

Well, thanks for stopping by my blog.  I'll have to do a story blog again soon.

Cheers!