Thursday, September 14, 2017

Hermit Skipper at Progreso Lakes, 9/14/17

Wow!  What a day!  It was a bit windy this morning so I decided to work in our butterfly garden and enjoy the breeze before the heat turned on.  After two hours of digging up grass along the edges, I decided I was about worn out and would check out the butterflies.  Not much happening in the garden so I checked out our very productive Purple Duranta.  A Pipevine Swallowtail played in the wind and then I saw something white with dark edges.  Female Florida White!  Yard butterfly #74.


I had a difficult time with the Florida White as it played in the wind and refused to stay put.  And then suddenly this big brown spreadwing skipper lands right in front of me.  I knew what it was since everyone seemed to be posting photos of Hermit Skippers on Face Book lately.  A species I had chased several times and failed to see, Hermit Skipper was one of my nemesis species.  This was RGV butterfly #208 for me.



Another Yellow Angled-Sulphur was a sharp male.



I saw two Painted Ladies today.


Meanwhile the butterfly garden on the other side of the yard was picking up with two White-patched Skippers.


And a Mimosa Skipper.  With the river nearby and ditches with the thorny pink mimosa, I bet I will see more of these guys in the future.


And a Sickle-winged Skipper.


And then another Florida White,this one a little scruffier than the other but more cooperative.




Finished the day with thirty species.

  • Pipevine Swallowtail 1
  • Giant Swallowtail 1
  • Florida White 2
  • Yellow Angled-Sulphur 1
  • Cloudless Sulphur 5
  • Large Orange Sulphur 2
  • Lyside Sulphur 1
  • Little Yellow 4
  • Mimosa Yellow 1
  • Western Pygmy-Blue 1
  • Ceraunus Blue 3
  • American Snout 2
  • Gulf Fritillary 1
  • Painted Lady 2
  • White Peacock 1
  • Brown Longtail 2
  • Mimosa Skipper 1
  • Sickle-winged Skipper 1
  • Hermit Skipper 1
  • White-patched Skipper 2
  • Mournful Duskywing 1
  • Tropical Checkered-Skipper 6
  • Laviana White-Skipper 2
  • Fawn-spotted Skipper 1
  • Clouded Skipper 4
  • Southern Skipperling 1
  • Fiery Skipper 1
  • Southern Broken-Dash 1
  • Celia's Roadside-Skipper 1
  • Eufala Skipper 1