There's no rest for the weary. I was at home trying to get caught up on photos, blog and iNat when the Discord bonged. Dennis Vollmar had a Fitzgaertner's Flat in the ditch at the National Butterfly Center. Damn! I was hoping for some rest. A few minutes later he posted it wasn't being seen. Back in 2015 several were seen at Bentsen and I found one these crepuscular butterflies at Santa Ana NWR in the visitors center restroom. (I got interruped as I was writing this and spent several uneventful hours chasing butterflies at the NBC.) But that was enough to prompt me to return for another day of butterflying at the NBC.
The flat was not seen again. And actually it was kind of a dull day. I did manage to find a Red Rim.
I was working the bait logs and had reached the "bird's nest" when a report of Pale-spotted Leafwing popped up on Discord. I needed one for the new year so I started sprinting. It feels good to stretch the muscles after all the slow walking and standing associated with butterfly watching. And sometimes a few seconds can make all the difference between seeing a butterfly and being too late. Terry and Chris came running from the sunken garden but I put on the after burners and skunked there asses. With all the depressing craziness in the world these days it's so refreshing to see septuagenarians running and laughing gleefully! A few people were gathered at a bait log when I arrived. The Pale-spotted Leafwing had flown up to a nearby small branch and was posed knife edge to us.
That pale line runing to the wing tip didn't look like a Pale-spotted Leafwing. I told them "I don't think this is a Pale-spotted. It's a Guatemalan Leafwing!" The leafwing flew and posed more favorably.
