Becard Folly

We have been staking out the Rose-throated Becard for a week. Yesterday we were at Estero Llano at sun up. It was a holiday so there were about fifty people there by 9:00, all peering into the trees until their eyes hurt. No bird, maybe spooked by too many people? We gave up and left in early afternoon. The crowd thinned and at 4:10 the Becard showed up.

This morning we arrived at about 9:00. The bird had been visible 10 minutes earlier. This bird has our patterns figured out. There were far viewer people today, maybe a dozen, so we hung around looking for the bird and taking photos of butterflies. 

We sat at a picnic table talking to May Snider, all of us with one eye peeled for the bird. The conversation eventually turned to food and diet. Our bodies were eventually overcome by desire and they rebelled. We went up to the Blue Onion for lunch, then a pit stop at Feldman's Liquor on the way home. Wine - Beer - Fun their sign says. I went for the beer. We already had some box wine at the apartment and I do not believe I can afford the Fun.

Okay, here are some photographs I took today that I found interesting, or just liked the photographs for some reason. The first is a Orange Satyr, which interesting because it is actually not a butterfly, but a moth. Why? I do not know; I do not make the rules.

The next bug is a Sickle-winged Skipper. I posted photos of this one earlier, but this one clearly shows the curled wingtips. Sometimes evolution has a very quirky sense of humor.

White-patched Skipper

Metalmark?

Red-bordered Metalmark

I assume The Bird is out ... basking in the sun, visible - singing and dancing.

-Gunnar