Juniper Hairstreak in <drumroll> Toronto!

[rick cavasin]

Hi All,

This observation was recently submitted to iNaturalist:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/214054368

Either this is the result of some kind of recent introduction, or somebody in Toronto hasn't been doing their job!

Hard to imagine them going unnoticed for so long.

Is there a significant amount of Red Cedar in Rouge Park?

In other news, Bog Elfin are already on the wing.  I had a large number (maybe a couple dozen) at Newington yesterday during brief visit that didn't cover much ground - they were all over the leatherleaf.  Today, I had just one at the Coxville bog near Ardoch.

Cheers, Rick

[Peter Hall halljp@rogers.com]

Hi folks:

Following on Rick's note about the Juniper Hairstreak at Rouge Valley National Urban Park that appeared on Naturalist, I visited the location today. It was cool but some sun. The trail at first appeared unsuitable, as it ran along a high ridge through a maple/beech/hemlock forest. However, after about 800 metres, it opened out into a clearing with a hydro line running across it. It is being colonized along the clearing edges with mostly pines, but I did find about 10 scattered Red Cedars, from about 3 to 10 feet in height. I checked them all, but no Juniper Hairstreak. I also checked the few flowering crab apple and cherry trees. I wouldn't have thought there were enough Red Cedars to support a colony, but maybe it is just starting. More visits and perhaps a wider search might turn up more of them. Good luck

Peter Hall

[rick cavasin]

Hi Peter,

I'm glad you made the effort to follow up on that observation.  A wider search is definitely a good idea - folks who post to iNaturalist (including long time contributors to the Atlas) are notoriously inaccurate when it comes to placing their location markers.   In this case, the observer put an accuracy circle of 1.35km on the observation.   I checked iNat for observations of Red Cedar, and there are a number of them scattered through the park.  That might be another approach to take.

Cheers, Rick

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[rick cavasin]

Here's another tip for anyone considering going to Rouge to look for Juniper Hairstreaks.  They are big time nectarers, and they seem to be drawn to daisies in particular.  So if you wait until the daisies are in bloom, it 

might be easier to find them.  Hopefully, the daisies are similarly ahead of schedule this year.