A Battalion of Butterflies

The Monarch caterpillar feeds almost exclusively on Milkweeds from which it absorbs a toxin, cardiac glycosides. This makes the adult butterfly poisonous, or at least very distasteful. Predators learn this fast. One or two might get eaten and spit out, but the rest get a free pass to the mountains of central Mexico. A few other butterflies have apparently evolved to mimic the Monarch, the closest copy is probably the Viceroy, which is very similar to a smallish Monarch except with a black line across its hindwing. I believe its range could put it down here, but I have not seen one. 

Here is a hierarchy of some butterflies I did photograph today. 

Queens are all over south Texas. Close-winged they look similar to a Monarch, though noticeably smaller. Open-winged the ribs are not noticeable and to my eye they are brown rather than orange-tone. 

There are 73.2 Queens for every Monarch in Hildago County. Give or take.

That famous migrator, her majesty the Monarch, is the toughest, strongest butterfly in North America, maybe in the world. Some butterflies have wings so thin they are a wisp in the air and are wind tattered in a matter of a day or two. The Monarch hindwing exteriors are cream, the rest of the wing surfaces are a rusty orange with black ribs visible inside and out.

Factoid: It is a little known fact that the Monarch wing is actually made of 3-ply birch plywood.

And for every 37.3 Monarchs there is one Soldier. I guess that makes them fairly rare and local. I saw a couple today that I took to be Soldiers, not positive but leaning strongly in that direction. I think I read that the Soldier caterpillar also feeds on milkweeds so it probably tastes like a Monarch too. 

And just for the name, I will throw in an Admiral. A beautiful thing, spread or closed.

Getting late, goodnight  - Gunnar

When Fate Gives Me Lemons

A little slow for birds this year - my deteriorating eyesight may be contributing to that, but I don't think so. Still, an amazing year for butterflies. Here is some of the lemonade I made this morning. I have a stack of books, a memory (and wife), so I either know, or can rapidly find the I.D. of all of these bugs, but I have a couple of friends who couldn't make it down here this year and they are butterflying vicariously through me and I don't want to steal the pleasure from them. ;-)

I apologize for the quality of the Zebra Heliconian photos below, but it is almost like they are born, live and die airborne, and when this longwing stopped rowing through the air for a heartbeat or two and floated down into the shadows, I panicked, and rather than taking a deep breath, slowly counting to three and changing my settings, I just pulled the trigger, and took several megapixels of junk mail.

Next, butterfly royalty, - Gunnar

The Birds and the Butterflies

Edinburg Wetlands today. Saw some waterbirds.

I have never seen as many butterflies as I did today.

Here are some of them.

Be well, get a complete physical exam as soon as you are able, -Gunnar

Pelicans

The forecast was for the mid 80s and winds to 30 mph so we were at Estero Llano early. There were over a dozen people assembled on the deck for the morning guided bird walk. While it is fun to quietly visit with friends as we look for birds that is way too many people so Lorna and I broke away to hike up on the levee, the highest ground for miles, before the wind became unmanageable. The wind was probably only 20 mph so we scanned the Llano on the far side of the levee for waterfowl which were mostly Ruddy Ducks, Shovelers, a few scattered waders and shorebirds. I shot a few pelicans as they flew over. Only 20 mph? It continued to pick up so we moved off the levee.

Eventually we joined the birding group for a while by Alligator Lake, checked out the Black-crowned and Yellow-crowned Night-herons, Grebes and Anhingas, took the obligatory Pauraque photo and we broke away from the birder herd again which had grown even larger by then.

Didn't see much, the heat and wind were energy sapping, and eventually we rejoined the group which was being guided by our friends Steve and Sue, in the Tropical Zone. We talked with friends in the group as it was dispersing and went to lunch with Steve and Sue - second day in a row at the Blue Onion.  Could be worse.

(the last I saw the wind was reported gusting to 40mph+)
Stay warm, be well, - Gunnar

Texas 2017: Day Three

We drove the four miles down to the Santa Ana NWF today. It was almost midday by the time we got there and there really weren't many birds around by then, but it was a beautiful sunny day in the LRGV, so we just went for a walk and I took a few pictures along the way.

- Gunnar

Bluebird of Happiness

Late in the afternoon, following rumors of a sighting of a Mountain Bluebird and slightly conflicting directions, at least as interrupted by Mr. Norris, Lorna and I, Steve Norris and Sue Keefer took off north of Mercedes to get a look at the bird. The bird quite a bit out of it's range and would be a lifer for both Lorna and myself. 

The directions were specific: "Take Road 2 1/2 between Road 11 and 12, usually on the fence just past the big horse ranch with pipe fencing and roses." How could a person miss it? So began a clusterfuck of driving around on rough back roads, with multiple sightings of no Bluebird, we seemed to be surrounded by no Bluebird. There followed a couple of phone calls and eventuaally bumping into another birder who noticed Steve's Vermont plates, recognized our fumbling around on the shoulder with empty binoculars and stopped to tell us that we were waaay lost and told us where to go. To see the bird. After another long "its just up the road" drive, we found the bird as described and took some photos. The first photo is mine, taken with a "modest" camera, The second is Steve's, taken with something looks like a white howitzer mounted unto a large expensive black box. It really works.

Here are a few I took early in the day; nothing special, although I do kind of like the immature Yellow-crowned Night -heron.

Wilson's Snipe

I took a handful of pictures today at Santa Ana, but it is sweet outside right now, 77F and sunny, no relief in sight. Maybe I will look at them if it rains some day.

Be well ... mind, spirit and body, -Gunnar

A Quick Kvale Shot

Merry Christmas. Here is a picture of my Chris Kvale with the recent Ely Rodriguez made bags and the Cody Davis bicycle stand.

And a Happy New Year.

We are gathering and organizing our clothing and optics to hit the road for the Lower Rio Grands Valley on January 1, 2017 for a couple of months. We have to get back in early March because Lorna is going to Costa Rica with birder yoga women friends. Categories and sub-categories: friends, women, yoginis, birders.

Bicycle Stand

I have a couple of bicycles displayed at our weekend home. "Displayed" is a bit of a reach. One is a literal wall-hanger, another one or two are just leaning against the wall. Most bicycle stands are functional, but pretty utilitarian in appearance, so when I saw a wooden one on Etsy it caught my eye. It didn't seem very practical or functional, but it got me thinking so I contacted Cody Davis at Woody's Fenders who has made a couple of sets of fenders for me. My initial thought was to just put a couple of legs on a a fender. Cody made a couple of prototypes, which revealed some issues. 

The stand I had seen on the internet just had rear legs. Cody found that no matter where he put a single set of legs the stand was unstable. The stand above is the first really functional stand he came up with.

While it functions quite well I didn't care for the downhill stance of the bike, so I moved the legs two inches fore and aft which dropped the rear wheel down to ground level. Maybe the rear legs could be shortened a little, but that was not a quick option.

If you are interested in a stand you contact Cody at Woody's Fenders.

Be safe, Gunnar