Slender Baskettails on Pelee Island

[Y. Robert Tymstra]

For the third consecutive year, Slender Baskettails have appeared on Pelee Island. I found three males hunting along the dirt road 200 metres north of the Fish Point Provincial Nature Reserve parking lot. I caught and photographed two of them here. I found five more (and caught one to verify) over Stone Road (near the old schoolhouse). Photographs are posted on today’s iNaturalist. I suspect more will appear over the coming days if 2022 action is any indication; they should be around for two or three weeks. In 2022, I found dozens on June 1 and a few were flying into the third week of June. Last year, i only saw one (June 24) but I was away for much of the month.

Earlier this month, i photographed a teneral baskettail at Lighthouse Point; it was likely this species.