2026 Essex County Butterfly Count Summary

By Jeremy Hatt

It was an exciting summer for butterflies and Essex County struck gold on the weather front, enjoying three beautiful days during the Ojibway Butterfly Count, the Pelee Island Butterfly Count, and the Point Pelee Butterfly Count. Count dates for these events are spread out nicely across July to early August giving a good representation of butterfly species and their abundance. The Ojibway Count was held on July 11 and organized by Tom Preney, the Pelee Island Count was held on July 25 and organized by Antonia Guidotti (Vice President of the Toronto Entomologists’ Association), and the re-established Point Pelee Count (the first since 2011) was held on August 8 and organized by Jeremy Hatt with help from Parks Canada staff.

I had the pleasure of volunteering for all three counts. Each count was made possible by keen and dedicated volunteers searching every habitat, host plant, and wildflower within the count circles in search of as many butterflies as possible. Butterfly Counts run quite similar to Christmas Bird Counts. Volunteers are assigned an area, park, or trail by the organizer and proceed to count every butterfly they see. Prime butterflying occurs between 10am to 3pm but many volunteers start earlier and end later to maximize their lists.

The Ojibway Butterfly Count includes the Ojibway Prairie Complex as well as other hotspots like Malden Park, Brunet Park, and surrounding areas. It is one of the premiere butterflying locations in all of Ontario boasting an impressive list of species and the annual count reflects this. In 2026, 30 volunteers counted 38 species and 701 individual butterflies.

Highlights of the count included a Southern Cloudywing, a rare resident of Southwestern Ontario and only found in Essex County in the Windsor area. This year was the first time Horace’s Duskywing was recorded on the Ojibway Count and volunteers ended up finding four separate individuals! This species has been present in higher numbers than usual this summer in our region. Skippers were well-represented with 11 species tallied including two Common Checkered-Skippers, a good count of 26 Northern Broken-Dash, and 16 Broad-winged Skippers within Malden Park.

The Pelee Island Butterfly Count includes the entirety of the island and is split into four sections to maximize coverage from volunteers. In 2025, only two volunteers attended the count, so it was amazing to see 15 counters this year and the results reflected the extra effort. 36 species and 2,320 individual butterflies were tallied during the count. Three members of the Butterfly Committee were on hand to count including me, Cameron Chevalier, and Olivia Galloway.

Pelee Island Butterfly Count volunteers

The main highlight was a Long-tailed Skipper found just outside of the Fish Point Provincial Nature Reserve entrance. This southern vagrant is extremely rare in Essex County (and southern Ontario) with only five previous records listed in the Ontario Butterfly Atlas (three of which pertain to Pelee Island). Another major highlight was nine Zebra Swallowtails. Over the last two years, small numbers of Zebra Swallowtails have begun to colonize Pelee Island. The island is home to many native paw-paw stands as well as a paw-paw farm where several adults have established and been observed laying eggs. After two previous attempts to see a Zebra Swallowtail on the island, it was great to finally catch up to this lifer butterfly.

Long-tailed Skipper and Zebra Swallowtail on Pelee Island – photos by Emma Gignac and Olivia Galloway

Other highlights included two Horace’s Duskywings, a Pipevine Swallowtail, and a good count of 19 American Snouts. Monarchs were found in good number across the island with 234 tallied. A roundup was held at the Dog & Goat Restaurant on the island where volunteers discussed their findings for the day and planned for the Odonata Count held the following day on the island.

Nerve-wracking weather reports preceded the Point Pelee Butterfly Count with various sources predicted scattered showers to outright thunderstorms on August 8, the date of the count. Fortunately the predictions proved wrong and the count day was beautiful and sunny. A strong breeze throughout the day may have had a slight effect on the count but butterflies were still abundant in areas protected from the winds. One of the goals of the Butterfly Committee was to reinstate the Point Pelee Butterfly Count and it was wonderful to see it come back after a 15-year absence. The count covers the entire Point Pelee Circle, which includes the national park, Wheatley Provincial Park, Hillman Marsh, and the town of Leamington.

In total, 23 volunteers tallied 39 species and 2,514 individual butterflies. This was comparable to the average species totals of previous counts. Butterfly numbers were a bit scarce within Point Pelee itself but outside of the park, abundance of butterflies was high and the area of Hillman Marsh was particularly productive.

The highlight of the count was a Compton Tortoiseshell found in the Tip area. Although relatively common in the rest of southwestern Ontario, this species is very rarely seen in Essex County. According to the Ontario Butterfly Atlas, there are 18 previous records from Point Pelee National Park. This species was a high priority target after a number of individuals were reported in Essex County leading up to the count. Another highlight was three Horace’s Duskywings at the Tip area of the park, reflecting the abundance of this species in Essex County this summer.

Other noteworthy sightings included three Common Sootywings, a good count of seven Zabulon Skippers across the count area, a Great Spangled Fritillary at Solcz Family Foundation Forest, Silvery Checkerspot in the Tip area of the park, and seven Dukes’ Skippers in the Wheatley Area. The Dukes’ Skipper is primarily an Essex specialty in Ontario with extremely localized populations found across the county with fewer records from Chatham-Kent and Lambton Counties. Surprisingly low in numbers were Hackberry Emperor and Tawny Emperor within the park.

A few notable misses for the count included European Skipper, American Snout (with their abundance in the county this summer, this species almost seemed like a guarantee), Little Yellow (several of this rare vagrant from the south were found within Point Pelee leading up to the count), Mourning Cloak (missed on all three local counts!), and Common Wood-Nymph.

A note on the Northern Crescent Complex: recent studies have discovered that Northern Crescent is made up of two distinct species, Phyciodes cocyta (Northern) and Phyciodes diminutor (Diminutor). The two species are essentially identical in appearance so identification is determined by flight times and freshness of specimens. If it’s late summer and the crescent is relatively fresh, it is now labeled as P. diminutor. A couple records submitted during the Pelee Count on iNaturalist have already been assigned to P. diminutor. As of the count, this new split hadn’t been fully recognized so all crescents identified to species were assigned to “Northern.”

Pelee Island Odonata Count

There is currently only one sanctioned Odonata Count (dragonflies and damselflies) held in Essex County. Odonata counts are run through the Toronto Entomologists’’ Association and the Pelee Island Odonata Count is organized by Antonia Guidotti. To capitalize on the number of volunteers available, the count takes place on the same weekend of the Pelee Island Butterfly Count so that many of the same volunteers can participate in both.

Similar to the Butterfly Count, the Odonata Count covers the entirety of Pelee Island. We split into two groups to try to cover as many habitats as possible. Identifying dragonflies and damselflies is far more difficult compared to butterflies, so nets and containers are imperative for accurate identification to species, particularly in bluets; a group of small blue damselflies. Cameron Chevalier, Olivia Galloway, and I covered a private property on the west end of the island, Scudder Docks in the north end, and Lighthouse Point. One of the members of our group included Emma Gignac of the Pelee Island Bird Observatory, who is proficient in odonate identification.

In total, 14 species were tallied during the count and 183 individual dragonflies and damselflies. The most abundant species were Widow Skimmer and Eastern Forktail, both common in marshes and ponds. Other species found in decent numbers included 12 Calico Pennants, 11 Familiar Bluets, 11 Blue Dashers, and 10 Tule Bluets. Singles of Citrine Forktail, Spot-winged Glider, and Band-winged Meadowhawk were also recorded.

The count provided good practice for all of us, both in identification and the proper handling of dragonflies when removed them from a net. Although belonging to a different order, the Butterfly Committee will be discussing the possibility of starting an Odonata Count somewhere on mainland Essex County in 2027. Stay tuned!