I had not been to Falcon State Park in a few weeks so I thought I would run up and check the bird and bug situation. The lake levels were still very low, about the same as my last visit. There were just a few Least Sandpipers and Spotted Sandpipers and tiger beetles were just the regular Ocellated and S-banded. Here's a Western Giant Swallowtail sucking out minerals from the mud.
So I checked out the butterfly garden. The park staff has done a pretty good job of keeping a little water on the garden and they have had a bit of rain so the garden was actually looking good. As has been the case, there wee not a lot of butterflies present. But I did find a good one as I was watching bees in the blooming kidneywood. A small hairstreak over my head, back lit agaist a bright sky, turned out to be a rare Telea Hairstreak. This is the fifth I've ever seen and my first for Starr County. And she seems to be oviposting.
Bee-wise there were a couple of good ones. One clump of blooming kidneywood was hosting both of our Valley large Oxaeine Andrenid bee species. This is the fourth time this summer I have found Mesoxaea texana. Maybe it's not as rare as they say.
