Fall? As a birder my fall season starts with the first returning migrants which usually starts about the first of July. Then the first Orchard Orioles, Black-andwhite Warblers and Louisiana Waterthrushes start to trickle though. Purple Martins are staging for migration. And the first Mexican butterflies start to wander northward.
It's been nasty hot and dry lately. "Hot and Nasty" as Black Oak Arkansas sang in the 70's. But somebody, might have been Ryan, found a Gray Cracker at the National Butterfly Center yesterday. When the alert with photo when out on the Discord app, I noticed the cracker had no red in the marginal "s" spot on the forewing. After last year's invasion of Glaucous Crackers I brought this up. The notion was quickly pooh-poohed by others. I wasn't so sure so I made a trip over there yesterday to try to locate the butterfly. It was easy to find on the sme bait log as the day before. The "s" spot seems to have a very sight pinkish wash but more importantly the tell tale seventh submarginal cell on the under side of the fore wing lack the diagnotic white spot of a Glaucous so it's a Gray Cracker as reported. And a really nice one at that.
Saw my first Soldiers for the fall.
This fat female Tropical Leafwing is missing a piece of wing. They use crotons for a host plant.
Last year I noticed Blue Spiny Lizards for the first time at the National Butterfly Center. This RGV specialty is partial to caliche outcrops but has adapted to concrete and brick structures. There's a nice colony at the entrace to nearby Bentsen State Park. Anyway they are making their selves at home at the NBC. This one was on the rest room in the lower garden.
A Yellow Angled Sulphur was also reported yesterday so stuff is on the move.
- Giant Swallowtail 6
- Southern Dogface 1
- Cloudless Sulphur 5
- Large Orange Sulphur 20
- Lyside Sulphur 2
- Little Yellow 6
- Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 1
- Cassius Blue 1
- Ceraunus Blue 3
- American Snout 2
- Gulf Fritillary 12
- Bordered Patch 3
- Elada Checkerspot 3
- Phaon Crescent 12
- White Peacock 1
- Mexican Bluewing 1
- Gray Cracker 1
- Tropical Leafwing 4
- Tawny Emperor 6
- Queen 15
- Soldier 3
- Brown Longtail 1
- White Checkered-Skipper 1
- Tropical Checkered-Skipper 10
- Laviana White-Skipper 3
- Clouded Skipper 3
- Southern Skipperling 2
- Fiery Skipper 1
- Southern Broken-Dash 1
