Boca Chica area, 7/23/13

Yesterday Mike Rickard and I took my truck over to the mangroves of Boca Chica near the mouth of the Rio Grande in search of Mangrove Buckeyes.  We found a large patch along the river and sure enough Mike dug out a pink Mangrove Buckeye but wasn't able to get a photo and I didn't see one at all.  So in consolation here's a photo from the same spot from 8/30/11 which may or may not be a Mangrove.

We did see Obscure Skippers but they were unusually uncooperative.

Due to excessive mud I wasn't able to get further down the river so we checked out the mangroves just before the dunes on TX 4.  A couple of buckeyes teased us but turned out to be dark Tropical Buckeyes.

On the way back we checked out "the smiley face" for Pale-rayed Skippers and Saltbush Sootywings.  We struck out.  But a bit bit down the road Mike saw some likely looking saltbush plants and expertly flushed out a Saltbush Sootywing.

A couple of days earlier I helped out with the National Butterfly Center's butterfly count.  I heard we finished with 65 species which isn't bad for late July.  Best were the several Ornythion Swallowtails and a Dark Kite-Swallowtail.  Unfortunately I left too early.  But I did get to see several Dingy Purplewings.

This ovipositing Brown-banded Skipper was a treat.