Tanned Blue-Skipper and Pale Sicklewing at National Butterfly Center, 12/28/21

Here in the Lower Rio Grande Valley we've recently had a lot of days with temperatures reaching the mid 80s and strong southerly winds resulting in what will prove to be the warmest December on record.  Butterflies have been decent but not fantastic.  Well that all changed today.  

I was at the National Butterfly Center having a pretty good day.  There was a Curve-winged Metalmark, a couple of Silver-banded Hairstreaks and a Mexican Silverspot.  It was nearing 3pm when Honey texted me from the gym and said she was ready to go eat.  So I was heading to the car when I distantly hear butterflier Lorna Graham calling my name.  I yelled back and she yelled that they had a strange skipper.  I ran over and wow! What a skipper!  I had recently perused the skippers in Glassberg's Butterflies of Mexico that might possibly show up in the US someday.  I recognized this strange spread wing skipper as one I had seen in the book.  It was tawny brown with a dark brown band that crossed the hind wings and abdomen.  However a projection our from the hind wing made me think of the spurwings.  I told the few butterfly watchers assembled that I thought it was a first US record and maybe it was a spurwing.  It certainly was not in the North American field guide.  I also mentioned that there were some blue-skippers with a horizontal band like that but I was still thinking spurwing.

I put the word out on Facebook and on the birding What's App and soon recieved a response from Latin American butterfly expert Will Carter that it was a Tanned Blue-Skipper (Quadrus lugubris).  And it was a first record for the United States.  It ws my 215th species for the RGV.

After getting a bunch of photos I ran over to the gym in Mission, picked up Honey and we decided to try a nearby Mexican seafood restaurant.  Well I was working on a big plate of seafood stew with fish, shimp and octopus when the phone dinged and Mike Rickard had just found a Pale Sicklewing.  So we finished our meal and made the short drive over to the NBC and danged if I wasn't soon looking at my first Pale Sicklewing.  There are very few US records and for me it was RGV butterfly #216.

After going two years without getting a local lifer butterfly, I get two in one day.  And there's four more days of warm southerly winds to blow up butterflies from Mexico ahead of the next cold front.  We may not be done yet.  And here's the other butterflies from today.

• Orange Sulphur 3
• Large Orange Sulphur 1
• Lyside Sulphur 6
• Little Yellow 2
• Silver-banded Hairstreak 2
• Gray Hairstreak 1
• Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 6
• Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak 2
• Dusky-blue Groundstreak 2
• Western Pygmy-Blue 2
• Reakirt's Blue 2
• Fatal Metalmark 1
• Curve-winged Metalmark 1
• Gulf Fritillary 2
• Zebra Heliconian 8
• Texan Crescent 5
• Phaon Crescent 1
• Question Mark 1
• Red Admiral 6
• White Peacock 4
• Mexican Bluewing 6
• Carolina Satyr 3
• Monarch 3
• Queen 30
• Soldier 5
• White-striped Longtail 1
• Long-tailed Skipper 1
• Dorantes Longtail 3
• Brown Longtail 3
• White-patched Skipper 1
• Funereal Duskywing 1
• Tropical Checkered-Skipper 3
• Laviana White-Skipper 4
• Julia's Skipper 1
• Clouded Skipper 6
• Orange Skipperling 1
• Fiery Skipper 6
• Whirlabout 4
• Sachem 1
• Common Mellana 2
• Eufala Skipper 2
• Ocola Skipper 3
• Purple-washed Skipper 6

National Butterfly Center, 12/21/21

A beautiful sunny day after a brief cold spell brought our the butterflies at the National Butterfly Center today.  Best was this sharp Isabella Heliconian.  It's been a few years since I've seen one though several have been reported this fall.

The afternoon started with a male Pavon's Emperor up front in the fiddlewood.  There have been several around lately.

Still a Mexican Silverspot where I saw one a few days ago.  From the underside they are quite similar to Gulf Fritillaries but note the bold black bars beneath the costa.

I have never seen so many Purple-washed Skippers.  Had at least a half dozen today.

Potrillo Skippers are being found after a long absence.

Found another Mazans Scallopwing.  They are normally very uncommon here.

Finished the afternoon with this bright Two-barred Flasher.

Here's the list of 55 species seen in three hours.

• Checkered White 1
• Orange Sulphur 1
• Cloudless Sulphur 1
• Orange-barred Sulphur 1
• Large Orange Sulphur 2
• Lyside Sulphur 1
• Little Yellow 5
• Sleepy Orange 1
• Gray Hairstreak 3
• Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 5
• Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak 1
• Dusky-blue Groundstreak 4
• Clytie Ministreak 1
• Cassius Blue 3
• Reakirt's Blue 2
• Fatal Metalmark 1
• American Snout 1
• Gulf Fritillary 2
• Mexican Silverspot 1
• Julia Heliconian 1
• Isabella's Heliconian 1
• Zebra Heliconian 6
• Bordered Patch 1
• Texan Crescent 5
• Pale-banded Crescent 1
• Vesta Crescent 1
• Phaon Crescent 5
• American Lady 1
• Painted Lady 1
• Red Admiral 5
• White Peacock 3
• Mexican Bluewing 3
• Pavon Emperor 1
• Carolina Satyr 3
• Monarch 2
• Queen 50
• Soldier 1
• Long-tailed Skipper 1
• Dorantes Longtail 6
• Brown Longtail 6
• Two-barred Flasher 1
• Potrillo Skipper 1
• Mazans Scallopwing 1
• White Checkered-Skipper 5
• Laviana White-Skipper 8
• Clouded Skipper 20
• Double-dotted Skipper 1
• Southern Skipperling 3
• Fiery Skipper 6
• Whirlabout 8
• Sachem 1
• Common Mellana 1
• Eufala Skipper 8
• Ocola Skipper 2
• Purple-washed Skipper 6

Another Osca Skipper at Progreso Lakes, 12/11/21

I was hoping something good had blown in yesterday on the strong southerly winds and that I could find it in our Progreso Lakes yard before the approaching cold front would blast in.  Temperature was in the 70's but it was cloudy and I wasn't finding much.  Then a spotted skipper flew past my head and tangled with a Clouded Skipper and then diasappeared.  Hmmm..... I went back to the plumbago patch and there it was........ Our second Osca Skipper for this fall!  Most people would be happy to see one of these rare skippers from Mexico.  I've now managed to find three of them.  And this one posed for photos.

And just a few minutes later the cold front rocketed through and that was the end of butterflying for the day.  Here's a list from yesterday and today.

• Pipevine Swallowtail 1
• Giant Swallowtail 1
• Checkered White 1
• Giant White 1
• Southern Dogface 1
• Cloudless Sulphur 5
• Large Orange Sulphur 5
• Boisduval's Yellow 1
• Little Yellow 2
• Mimosa Yellow 1
• Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 1
• Dusky-blue Groundstreak 1
• Reakirt's Blue 1
• Gulf Fritillary 6
• Mexican Silverspot 1
• Pale-banded Crescent 1
• Phaon Crescent 1
• Red Admiral 4
• White Peacock 4
• Tawny Emperor 1
• Carolina Satyr 10
• Monarch 1
• Queen 8
• Soldier 4
• Long-tailed Skipper 1
• Dorantes Longtail 5
• Brown Longtail 5
• Sickle-winged Skipper 3
• Tropical Checkered-Skipper 8
• Laviana White-Skipper 3
• Clouded Skipper 25
• Osca Skipper 1
• Double-dotted Skipper 1
• Southern Skipperling 1
• Whirlabout 1
• Southern Broken-Dash 1
• Common Mellana 1
• Eufala Skipper 1

Ovipositing Mexican Silverspot at Progreso Lakes, 12/10/21

Strong southerly winds ahead of an approaching cold front can mean good butterflies during fall and winter.  Today the prize was a Mexican Silverspot, only the second ever for our Progreso Lakes yard.  I got a few shots of it and hoped it would find one of our passionvines.  Well, she did and laid several eggs.

The other exciting news is that the wind blew in our first Boisduval's Yellow since the hard freeze in February.  Not only have they been missing from our yard but none have been sighted at their ususal location at Resaca de la Palma State Park.  Hope it's a female and she takes an interest in our Senna pedula.

I call Giant and Florida Whites my barometer species.  When they blow in I tend to get some good stuff.  This Giant White was hunkered down in the shade but the black fore wing spot is barely visible through the hind wing.

Another good butterfly today was this Pale-banded Crescent.  They have been hard to find this year.

Today's ovipositing Mexican Silverspot came on the heels of another that I saw yesterday at the National Butterfly Center.

I thought about going back to the NBC today as I figured the wind would blow in some good stuff.  Turns out I missed both Angled and Pale-spotted Leafwings, two Pearly-gray Hairstreaks and a mega Orion Cecropian.  Ugh!!!!  Well I stand by my decision and maybe I can dig out something in the yard tomorrow morning before the cold front hits.