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!
