Belle Isle: Started and ended with Green Heron

I parked in the small parking lot next to the tennis courts and the YMCA building.  About a minute later this Green Heron flew silently by just over the water and through the little tunnel under the road.    I walked across the road to the head of the woodland trail and there it was perched and preening. 

Above and below:  The Green Heron standing on both legs.  

A couple of times I thought it would flush, but overall it seemed unperturbed and continued preening or just standing on one leg.  I sat and the edge of the bank and took these photos.

Above and below:  Cannot tell with Sympetrum species but I'm guessing Ruby Meadowhawk (S. rubicundulum) - above male, below female.  Sympetrum sp. dragonflies are those that I first learned must be identified in the hand.  See addendum below.
  

Purple Fringed Orchid (Platanthera psycodes)

Belle Isle trail now has stands of cattails in the woods on the south side.

Female vs. 1st year Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea).

Above:  A very worn Eyed Brown (Satyrodes eurydice) vs. a Northern Pearly Eye (Enodia anthedon).  If it was a better photo and fresher butterfly it would be easier.

Least Skipper (Ancyloxypha numitor)

Above:   Did I see an Elfin Skimmer (Nannothemis bella)?  I should have been more attentive to this.  About 3/4 of an inch long, hovering mostly, landed once but I missed the shot, looked like a dragonfly but so small I couldn't quite believe it.  When I got home to do some more research ... regretfully, I think it may have been.  See addendum below.

I submitted another new, for me, dragonfly from this morning to Odonata Central for confirmation of ID.  When confirmed, I'll do a separate entry. 

   

Spotted Touch-Me-Not (Impatiens capensis)

For comparison with Silvery Checkerspot from last Sunday, here Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos).

Would you believe that over an hour and a half later, the young Green Heron was still perched in the same spot?  I saw a group of kayakers come down this stream and to do this they would have had to paddle right by this bird. 

I went to the east end of Lake Okonoka which had been so good for dragonflies earlier in the summer.  I did not see a single one, but I did flush this probably adult Green Heron to the opposite side of a small island for my last photo of the morning.

The crowds were large because of a boat race on the Detroit side and a run that was going on around the park.  The baseball diamonds are being improved and there were large mounds of dirt, along with earth moving machines parked on the diamonds.  Canada Geese were in large numbers on the baseball diamonds despite the disruption. In spite of all this, Belle Isle was beautiful this morning.

08/28/2017 addendum to the above - with assistance from Darrin O'Brien.

1.  The Meadowhawks appear to be a male White-faced and possibly a female Autumn, not confirmed but a guess at a likely ID based on abdominal markings and size.  Looking at the genitalia would be more diagnostic. Female Autumns are easy to ID in the field due to their scoop-type ovipositor.  Even under a microscope, the White-faced/Ruby/Cherry-faced species may not be determined due to the confusing overlap occurring in SE MI.

2.  The suspect insect is not an Elfin Skimmer. They are a species of bogs and we only found them in NW Wayne County near some now destroyed (due to subdivisions) wetlands near 5-Mile and Beck. They stop flying in early August.   The insect actually looks to be a fly of the Genus Ocyptamus.