Progreso Lakes, 10/29/19

We've returned to hot and breezy after the last cold front.  And butterflies have increased a bit.  Linda Cooper, Barbara Volkle and Steve Moore are in the Valley for the upcoming Texas Butterfly Festival and dropped by for a visit yesterday at our Progreso Lakes yard.  It didn't take long for sharp eyed Linda to find this White Angled-Sulphur.  It was a long overdue butterfly #114 for our yard.

 

A Giant White dropped in for a few seconds today.

Two days ago some nice nymphallids dropped in.  It's been a while since we've hosted a Mexican  Fritillary.

Gulf Fritillaries are more common.  Hope they find my Corky-stemmed passion vine.

We don't get many Common Buckey's and I have a tough time getting a photo when they're on the ground.  This nectaring individual was more cooperative.

We've had a few American Ladies lately.

Large Orange Sulphurs have been common lately.

The last cold front finally pushed a few Monarchs down.

We have a hot, muggy breezy day on tap for tomorrow followed by a strong blast of cold air and then a warm up.  Let's hope this bodes well for the Festival.

Progreso Lakes, 10/17/19

Butterflies have really increased in both numbers and diversity in our Progreso Lakes yard, with over 50 species seen during the past week.  Best was yesterday's Red-crescent Scrub-Hairstreak.

Not much else unusual but Guava Skipper is always a treat.

Dorantes Longtail has been present the past few days.

Nice to see a Common Mestra.

I'm estimating about 75 Queens in the yard.

And maybe ten Soldiers.

Been a long time since we've had a Common Sootywing.

This Common Mellana retains a portion of the chrysalis scale on it's eye.

I hope the Gulf Fritillaries find my Corky-stemmed Passionvine.

Pipevine Swallowtail likes everything except my giant pipevine.

Well let's hope something rare shows up soon.  It's that time of year.

Progreso Lakes, 10/6/19

A warm sunny day ahead of an approaching cool front had the butterflies going at Progreso Lakes today.  Lots of betony mistflower is blooming and the crucita is about to explode.  At least fifty Queens in the yard today.

And a few Soldiers.

It's been a while since we've had a White-patched Skipper.

Same with this Tailed Orange.  This is the summer form.  My camera had a difficult time capturing the right shade of orange.

Only our second ever Mexican Bluewing oviposited on Vassey's Adelia.  I would love to see a caterpillar.

Double-dotted Skippers are back.

32 species for the day.

• Giant Swallowtail 3
• Southern Dogface 1
• Cloudless Sulphur 6
• Large Orange Sulphur 6
• Tailed Orange 1
• Little Yellow 3
• Gray Hairstreak 1
• Dusky-blue Groundstreak 1
• Ceraunus Blue 2
• American Snout 3
• Phaon Crescent 2
• White Peacock 1
• Mexican Bluewing 1
• Tawny Emperor 2
• Queen 50
• Soldier 5
• Brown Longtail 3
• Sickle-winged Skipper 5
• White-patched Skipper 1
• White Checkered-Skipper 5
• Tropical Checkered-Skipper 10
• Laviana White-Skipper 4
• Julia's Skipper 1
• Fawn-spotted Skipper 3
• Clouded Skipper 8
• Double-dotted Skipper 2
• Southern Skipperling 3
• Fiery Skipper 2
• Whirlabout 5
• Southern Broken-Dash 2
• Common Mellana 3
• Celia's Roadside-Skipper 8