It rained during the night as a front came through and dropped the morning low into the upper 40's in Alpine. But the forecast said high in the 70's so maybe things would be OK butterfly wise. I headed north up TX 118 toward Fort Davis and was happy to see stuff blooming along the highway. But it was way too cold for bugs. So I stopped by Davis Moutains State Park to check the bird feeders and let things warm up. Nothing fantastic but it was nice to see a few western birds up close like this Acorn Woodpecker and Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay.
The day was warming up nicely so I got back on the road and drove toward the high country. My goal was to look for skippers. It was also dry up here in the Davis Mountains. Past the solar demonstration park, I saw a few tiny flowers along the road and stopped. I foud a skipper but it was the common Huron Sachem.
And then a beat up Arizona Powdered-Skipper.
And then a dark cloudywing with a pale underwing edge. This is the albosuffusa subspecies of Northern Cloudywing. Nick Grishin has decided this taxon merits specific status. He calls this one Cecropterus albosuffusa, White-washed Cloudywing. I've seen it before and called it Northern Cloudywing. It goes by both names on iNaturalist.
And some more albosuffusa.
A brightly patterned duskywing was a female Mournful Duskywing.
We rarely get Orange Skipperings in the RGV so it was nice to see a few.
A half mile up the road I made another stop and was rewarded with what I had hoped was a rare roadside-skipper. But upon further review it was a Sheep Skipper. At least it was a Texas lifer and one I had hoped for on this trip
Another mile up the road I finally got a real Amblyscirtes roadside-skipper. But it was the common Dotted Roadside-Skipper.
I pulled into the grounds of the McDonald Observatory at noon and it was clouding up. I parked by a field and watched Western Bluebirds as I ate my lunch.
No time for tourist stuff. I had butterflies to find. I walked the field which had some purple Verbena like stuff and found my only Painted Lady and Southern Dogface for the trip.
I drove up towards the telescopes where I had seen Poling's Hairstreaks a few years ago but there was nothing in bloom. So I drove back out to the highway and hoped for flowers and sun. About two miles down the road I found these fuzzy legume like things. And more Dotted Roadside-Skippers.
And then an orange thing caught my eye. An orange thing with white dots... Dang. I didn't know what it was but I knew it was a good one. I got a few shots and consulted the field guide. Pahaska Skipper! Not many Texas records for this one.
Little was going on at the LE Wood Picnic Area and it was thinking about raining. More rain was off to the north. So I headed back towards Fort Davis and it just got wetter and colder. No more butterflies for this day. Not a fantastic day but OK. I wanted Oslar's and Simius Roadside-Skippers but I'll be happy with the Pahaska.
