This afternoon I got a look at a Tropical Parula, not in the open enough to get photographs, but still a good look. It was not a life bird for me, but it is still rare and lovely. Satisfied.
The morning was overcast and foggy, typical for this locale and season. We stayed in the apartment until after a hearty homemade chili lunch, and then drove over to Estero Llano for the butterfly walk led by Rick Snider with Mike Rickard going ahead as a spotter - two extremely knowledgeable butterfly experts. It had heated up by then and was nearing 80F when we started and the butterflies were reacting to the heat. Eventually it got up to a very humid mid 80s, maybe hotter. Tomorrow 92F is forecast here, but more importantly, it may be 89F in Brownsville where Lorna and friends will be walking in the Women's March.
We saw a lot of butterflies today. I am familiar with most of the large ones, but today there were a number of species of small Grass Skippers and Hairstreaks, which are flitty and only about 1/2" long. I can only identify about half of these if I'm lucky. Some of these photographs are bad, with sticks in the way, etc. I am not going to even attempt to tag them right now, but posting them now will allow me to more easily go back and hang an I.D. on them later. I somehow missed getting a picture of the White-scrub Hairstreak. And bunch of others, but that Hairstreak is a little rare and I really should have gotten it. Enjoy, they are just as wonderful even if we don't know all their names.
The next two plants are the Mexican Olive, a native, and the Bougainvillea which is native to Brazil. The Bougainvillea do very well here and they add a splash of color to the yards of humble shacks to giant mansions. The butterflies have evolved with the Mexican Olive trees and today it seemed there were butterflies in every flower. Twenty feet away there was a large Bougainvillea, a butterfly desert - not a butterfly on it. None.
An uncertain time right now; our country will survive - Gunnar
14 comments:
Gunnar. Great photos! I'd say that 2nd photo on your blog page IS a White-Scrub Hairstreak!
You also have a Marine Blue on the right, and to its left is a Texas Satyr.
Okay, I've studied your butterflies and I think this is what they are from top to bottom:
1. White-patched Skipper
2. White Scrub-Hairstreak
3. White Scrub-Hairstreak (topside)
4. Common Mestra
5. Julia Heliaconian
6. Silver-banded Hairstreak
7. Cloudy or Fawn-spotted Skipper
8. Pair of Queens
9. Phaon Crescent
10. South Texas Satyr
11. Marine Blue (very faded image, so possibly a Cassius Blue)
12. Mallow-scrub Hairstreak
13. Southern Skippering
14. Phaon Crescent (underside)
Faded image? Faded butterfly! ;-) Definitely a Cassius.
Damned near got the White Scrub full spread before airborne.
Like the Silver-banded. A lot.
And why no I.D. on the lizard? (Brown Anole)
I'll leave the lizards to you! But thanks for the ID. As for the Cassius Blue, I apologize for calling into question the photographer.
I agree. I find the Silver-banded Hairstreak to be a gorgeous butterfly.
I'm wrong on the South Texas Satyr. That butterfly to the left of your Cassius Blue looks like a Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak, and yet there's something odd about the coloring...Seems too reddish/brown for a Mallow...
Maybe seasonal; like Mike mentioned, the Red-bordered Metalmark has two seasonal color phases that look like two different species.
There is a brand new clean Guava Skipper in the Alamo Inn garden. Lorna got it yesterday. I should try to get it this afternoon.
Ooooh, yes, get a photo so I can enjoy it vicariously. I've never seen a Guava Skipper, what a classy butterfly.
Tried in 95F sun. Failed.
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