Sunday, December 1, 2019

Orange-crescent Groundstreak, Green-backed Ruby-eye at NBC,12/1/19

A gentle cool front blew in last night dropping temperatures to the 60's so I spent the morning at home looking at birds.  However yesterday an Orange-crescent Groundstreak was found at the National Butterfly Center south of Mission so as the day warmed a little I thought I might give it a try.  I was examining the Dusky-blue Groundstreaks in a clump of whitebrush when Phil Kelly joined me in the search.  Just then word came over Phil's walkie talkie of a Green-backed Ruby-eye in the south garden by the old visitor's center.  A brisk run of a couple of hundred yards got me there in time to get a few shots.  Big tropical grass skippers with their long probosci seem to enjoy the esperanza flowers.  I've seen Brazilian, Guava and Double-dotted Skippers feeding the same way.



As is the nature of Green-backed Ruby-eyes, it darted around a lot and was hard to photograph.  The nearby Tropical Leafwing was begging for attention though.


So I headed back to the whitebrush and with some effort managed to find the Orange-crescent Groundstreak among the Dusky-blues.  This was a much wanted life butterfly for me, # 212 for the Valley.  In fact my last RGV lifer was the Green-backed Ruby-eye on 11/28/17!




Here's the common Dusky-blue Groundstreak.




This past week has gone from dull to sizzling!