Friday, March 27, 2015

Santa Ana NWR, 3/24/15

Mike Rickard has seen some good butterflies lately at Santa Ana NWR so I ran over there a couple of days ago to check things out.  There's still lots of blooming azureun and the vervain is putting on a good show along the tour road near the cemetery.


Saw my first Two-barred Flasher for the year.


Guava Skippers put on a good show last fall at Santa Ana and they're back again this spring.


A Pipevine Swallowtail enjoying the vervain.


Thistle seems to be sprouting everywhere this spring.  I think the winter rain on ground that was barren because of the long drought provided good conditions for the seeds to sprout.  A common Mellana is nectaring on the thistle bloom.


This was my first Tamaulipan Clubtail for the year.  They will be out along the river for the next couple of months.


Hope he doesn't get eaten by this guy.


  • Pipevine Swallowtail 2
  • Giant Swallowtail 12
  • Checkered White 2
  • Southern Dogface 2
  • Lyside Sulphur 8
  • Little Yellow 2
  • Dusky-blue Groundstreak 4
  • Fatal Metalmark 1
  • Red-bordered Metalmark 1
  • Bordered Patch 4
  • Vesta Crescent 3
  • Phaon Crescent 50
  • Pearl Crescent 6
  • American Lady 6
  • Red Admiral 20
  • Mexican Bluewing 1
  • Empress Leilia 5
  • Carolina Satyr 5
  • Guava Skipper 2
  • Two-barred Flasher 1
  • Funereal Duskywing 8
  • White Checkered-Skipper 5
  • Tropical Checkered-Skipper30
  • Laviana White-Skipper 10
  • Common Sootywing 1
  • Fawn-spotted Skipper 1
  • Clouded Skipper 4
  • Fiery Skipper 10
  • Whirlabout 1
  • Southern Broken-Dash 1
  • Common Mellana 1
  • Celia's Roadside-Skipper 3
  • Eufala Skipper 8