Birding has been good this spring with three new warblers for our Progreso Lakes yard. But butterflies... not so much. After a little birding this morning I took Honey to Nuevo Progreso across the river for a haircut and some good food. After returning home with a belly full of camarones rancheros, I decided to check out the butterflies in our yard. Not much was going on till I found a good sized skipper with a purplish wash. First thing to come to mind was tailess Dorantes Longtail. But upon further inspection, the fore wings lacked the white spots and there was the round dark spot on the costa of the hind wing. After a few camera shots I knew it was the first Hammock Skipper for our yard, butterfly species #144.
Hammock Skipper is actually one of the more common of the "rare" RGV butterflies and is found annually. In fact I'm a little surprised it took us over five years to get our first. On the other hand I'm even more surpised by the number of really rare things that have found their way to our yard.
