Blue-eyed Sailor, Mercurial Skipper at Progreso Lakes, 12/16/19

Wind was still blowing hard out of the south to southwest this morning and just about the first butterfly I saw was this sharp Blue-eyed Sailor.  They occur in small numbers at nearby Santa Ana NWR so it was not a surprise but still it was great to add it to our yard list.  Wished I could have got a closed wing shot but I'm happy with this one.

Later in the day the wind shifted to the west and we got more good butterflies.  This Mercurial Skipper was yard butterfly #119.  They are pretty rare but are reported most years.

The same purple Duranta also gave us our second Zilpa Longtail.

And a tailless Long-tailed Skipper.

A colorful female Orange-barred Sulphur nectared in the nearby papaya.

Florida Whites and Mexican Yellows are occurring daily.

And even the Boisduval's Yellow appeared.  It seems as though there has been several of them but maybe it's just the same one each day.

Our usual Double-dotted Skipper.

And then there was this skipper.  It seems to lack the costal dashes of a Clouded Skipper but I see no reason to call it a Fawn-spotted so we're left with the rare stuff.  As of now it remains unidentified.

50 species on the day!  Temps are in the 40's and 50's tomorrow so this may be it for awhile.

• Pipevine Swallowtail 1
• Florida White 1
• Checkered White 2
• Great Southern White 1
• Southern Dogface 1
• Cloudless Sulphur 5
• Orange-barred Sulphur 1
• Large Orange Sulphur 1
• Boisduval's Yellow 1
• Mexican Yellow 1
• Little Yellow 3
• Mimosa Yellow 2
• Sleepy Orange 1
• Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 2
• Dusky-blue Groundstreak 2
• Ceraunus Blue 1
• Fatal Metalmark 1
• American Snout 1
• Gulf Fritillary 1
• Texan Crescent 2
• Vesta Crescent 6
• Phaon Crescent 3
• Painted Lady 1
• Red Admiral 1
• White Peacock 2
• Blue-eyed Sailor 1
• Common Mestra 1
• Carolina Satyr 1
• Monarch 2
• Queen 10
• Soldier 1
• Mercurial Skipper 1
• Zilpa Longtail 1
• Long-tailed Skipper 1
• Dorantes Longtail 1
• Brown Longtail 6
• Sickle-winged Skipper 1
• Funereal Duskywing 2
• White Checkered-Skipper 3
• Tropical Checkered-Skipper 3
• Laviana White-Skipper 2
• Julia's Skipper 2
• Fawn-spotted Skipper 1
• Clouded Skipper 2
• Double-dotted Skipper 1
• Southern Skipperling 2
• Fiery Skipper 3
• Whirlabout 1
• Common Mellana 1
• Eufala Skipper 2

Red Rim at Progreso Lakes, 12/15/19

Today the wind was howling from the south ahead of an approaching cold front so I was hoping something good might blow into our Progreso Lakes yard.  The prize came in the form of a Red Rim missing one of it's hind wings.  Still 3/4 of a Red Rim is still good enough to count as butterfly #117 for our yard.  I'm glad I put the cantaloupe rinds out.

Earlier it was a male Florida White.  We had a female yesterday.

In fact we've had so many Florida Whites lately that this Great Southern White almost slipped by unnoticed.

More than usual Dorates Longtails passing through also.  This one is well marked.

I later saw this Gulf Fritillary ovipositing on my passion vine.

Yesterday we had another or the maybe same Boisduval's Yellow.

Another warm day for butterflies is forecast for tomorrow and then it cools off again.

Spot-celled Sister at National Butterfly Center, 12/9/19

Strong southerly winds ahead of an approaching cold front were predicted for today.  That usually means good butterflies.  But the wind was blowing so hard this morning at Progreso Lakes that finding anything in our yard was going to be tough.  And not very much fun.  I did see the Boisduval's Yellow again but I decided that the National Butterfly Center might be more productive.  and I might have a chance to see the Isabella Heliconian that was found yesterday.

I spent the afternoon in the south garden and along the Hackberry Trail to stay out of the wind.  First good one was an uncooperative Mexican Yellow followed by what I think was a Boisduval's Yellow.

This Marius Hairstreak was a bit worn.

Then Mike Rickard found this stonking Gray Cracker.  I've never seen one with so much color.

Then Craig Lipski found the Isabella Heliconan.  Unfortunately it refused to land and these feeble shots of this beautiful butterfly were all I could get.

The staff put out some fresh butterfly brew on the bait logs but there were few takers.  Here's a Tropical Leafwing bellied up to the bar.

I was making my last round when I glimpsed some orange and white on a bait log.  A couple I had met earlier had seen a sister.  Maybe this was it.  I fired a few shots and realized the white band did not reach the costa.  It was a Spot-celled Sister.  I think it's only the third I've ever seen.

Unfortunately it supposed to turn cold tomorrow.  But the sun is supposed to be out the following day so maybe some of these rare butterflies will be seen again.

• Pipevine Swallowtail 5
• Giant Swallowtail 2
• Great Southern White 1
• Large Orange Sulphur 3
• Lyside Sulphur 2
• Mexican Yellow 1
• Little Yellow 3
• Dainty Sulphur 1
• Marius Hairstreak 1
• Silver-banded Hairstreak 1
• Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 1
• Cassius Blue 3
• Red-bordered Pixie 1
• American Snout 1
• Julia Heliconian 1
• Isabella's Heliconian 1
• Zebra Heliconian 6
• Bordered Patch 1
• Texan Crescent 3
• Vesta Crescent 1
• Phaon Crescent 3
• Red Admiral 2
• White Peacock 1
• Tropical Leafwing 3
• Tawny Emperor 2
• Carolina Satyr 1
• Monarch 2
• Queen 3
• Guava Skipper 1
• Dorantes Longtail 1
• Brown Longtail 2
• White-patched Skipper 1
• Laviana White-Skipper 3
• Clouded Skipper 3
• Southern Skipperling 2
• Whirlabout 2
• Southern Broken-Dash 1
• Sachem 1
• Common Mellana 2
• Eufala Skipper 2

Progreso Lakes yard, 12/8/19

After the dull early fall and equally dull butterfly festival, things have been taking off.  It was another warm windy day between cool fronts so I spent most of it in the yard, watering my native plants and looking for butterflies.  We've had several Florida Whites in our Progreso Lakes yard this fall but this was the best looking by far.

Here's another Mexican Yellow.  I'm getting them almost daily as of late.

Also saw another Boisduval's Yellow but I could not get a shot.  It might have been the same as this one from three days ago.

I love Brazilian Skippers and this is the first we've had in quite a while.

Ho-hum....just a Double-dotted Skipper.

Finally saw a Gulf Fritillary on our Corky-stemmed Passion Vine and she was laying eggs.

I saw this big skipper with white spots on the wings and it really had me going, but it's just a tailless Long-tailed Skipper.

I'm wondering if two Red-bordered Pixies may have come from our Guamuchil Pixie Tree.

Here's today's list of 44 species.

• Pipevine Swallowtail 1
• Florida White 1
• Checkered White 1
• Cloudless Sulphur 3
• Orange-barred Sulphur 1
• Large Orange Sulphur 2
• Boisduval's Yellow 1
• Mexican Yellow 1
• Little Yellow 2
• Dainty Sulphur 1
• Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 2
• Dusky-blue Groundstreak 5
• Ceraunus Blue 1
• Red-bordered Pixie 2
• American Snout 1
• Gulf Fritillary 1
• Variegated Fritillary 1
• Texan Crescent 2
• Vesta Crescent 2
• Phaon Crescent 1
• Red Admiral 2
• White Peacock 5
• Common Mestra 1
• Carolina Satyr 1
• Monarch 4
• Queen 15
• Long-tailed Skipper 1
• Brown Longtail 5
• Sickle-winged Skipper 3
• White Checkered-Skipper 5
• Tropical Checkered-Skipper 2
• Laviana White-Skipper 2
• Fawn-spotted Skipper 2
• Clouded Skipper 3
• Double-dotted Skipper 2
• Southern Skipperling 2
• Fiery Skipper 8
• Whirlabout 4
• Southern Broken-Dash 2
• Sachem 1
• Common Mellana 2
• Brazilian Skipper 1
• Ocola Skipper 1

Emerald Aguna at Quinta Mazatlan, 12/6/19

A couple of days ago, I dropped Honey off at the gym in McAllen and ran over to the mall do do some Christmas shopping.  I finished early and was right next to Quinta Mazatlan so a visit was in order.  I wasn't seeing too much, lots of Cassius Blue, and then I saw some green in a pink Lantana and figured it was a Long-tailed Skipper.  Well, it didn't take long to see I was wrong.  Wow.  My most wanted butterfly.....Emerald Aguna!  It darted around a few seconds and luckily I got some shots.  And then it was gone.

When found Emerald Agunas tend to not stay long and are never refound.  Glad to finally add this beautiful rare green Mexican skipper to my life list.

Orange-crescent Groundstreak, Green-backed Ruby-eye at NBC,12/1/19

A gentle cool front blew in last night dropping temperatures to the 60's so I spent the morning at home looking at birds.  However yesterday an Orange-crescent Groundstreak was found at the National Butterfly Center south of Mission so as the day warmed a little I thought I might give it a try.  I was examining the Dusky-blue Groundstreaks in a clump of whitebrush when Phil Kelly joined me in the search.  Just then word came over Phil's walkie talkie of a Green-backed Ruby-eye in the south garden by the old visitor's center.  A brisk run of a couple of hundred yards got me there in time to get a few shots.  Big tropical grass skippers with their long probosci seem to enjoy the esperanza flowers.  I've seen Brazilian, Guava and Double-dotted Skippers feeding the same way.

As is the nature of Green-backed Ruby-eyes, it darted around a lot and was hard to photograph.  The nearby Tropical Leafwing was begging for attention though.

So I headed back to the whitebrush and with some effort managed to find the Orange-crescent Groundstreak among the Dusky-blues.  This was a much wanted life butterfly for me, # 212 for the Valley.  In fact my last RGV lifer was the Green-backed Ruby-eye on 11/28/17!

Here's the common Dusky-blue Groundstreak.

This past week has gone from dull to sizzling!