Trans-Pecos Trip, Pine Canyon at Big Bend, 4/8/26

I've been keeping an eye on iNaturalist and decided it was time for my first butterfly expedition for 2026.  I could get more lifers in Arizona but I wanted to work on my Texas list so I headed out to work the Trans-Pecos region of west Texas.  My first stop was in Zapata at the Stripes convenience store and yielded a flock of Chuihuahuan Ravens working on a breakfast taco.

My usual first butterfly stop on the way west is always at the Pecos River boat ramp on US 90.  The target here is Dotted Checkerspot.  I didn't see any but it's a little early in the season.  I'm hoping the colony is still alive after the severe drought that has plagued western Texas.  Things didn't look that bad, a few floweres were blooming.  Here's the usual Marine Blue on guajillo, a butterfly symbol of west Texas.

The rest of the trip was through dry flowerless desert.  I got a room at the humble OYO Motel Bien Venido which charges about a third the price of the other Alpine hotels.  The affable long term residents look like they came from an episode of Breaking Bad.  You get what you pay for😅

Next morning I made the long drive down to Pine Canyon in Big Bend National Park.  I like Pine Canyon.  I've had some good luck there in the past and it's nice to be away from the throngs of tourists in the Basin.  As I approached from the Terlingua side, things looked pretty good on the western slopes of the Chisos Mountains.  But after I passed the visitors center at Panther Gulch, things got a lot dryer.  The dirt road up to the Pine Canyon trailhead was through lifeless desert.  Many of the xeric plants adapted to this are of low precipitation looked dead.  I lowered my expectations.

It was 11am by the time I made the Pine Canyon trail head for the two mile walk to the end of the box canyon known as the "pour off".  A little late for birds but good for bugs.  Unfortuately not a flower in sight.  The tough beargrass and sotol made things look green but grass and forbes all looked dead.

Carpenter bee at a nest hole in a dead agave stalk.  I haven't worked out an ID yet.

At the bushy juniper a half mile up that serves as a convenient rest stop I was surprised to see a fat tailed dragonfly land in front of me.  Clubtail?  It rested for a few seconds and them started skimming.  What the...?  My mind imagined all kinds of cool things like White-tailed Sylph but reason pointed me to Pale-faced Clubskimmer.  I don't have a lot of experience with these but upon further review that seems to be what it is.

Halfway up the scrubby grassland turns to scrubby oaks and junipers with a few pinyon pines.  And finally a showy Arizona Sister passed me and posed coyly on an oak.

And some kind of a duskywing.  I saw a lot of these and right now I'm guessing Meridian Duskywing.

Red Satyr in a spot of sun.

This shaded portion of the trail is a welcome respite on a hot day.

                                                     

                                                    

Up in the wooded portion of the canyon a side trail leads to a seep that someties has some water.  I wasn't expecting anything but there was a small pool and it was attracting insects.  Here's aother probable Meridion Duskywing.  It lacks the spiny gray thoracic hairs of Rocky Mountain duskywing.

My guess on this brilliant blue damselfly was Springwater Dancer and still is.

Arizona Sisters came for a drink and a rest.

My target for the day was the rare Chisos Banded-Skipper.  I had a few glimspes of banded-skippers streak past me and when one finally landed it was the more common Golden Banded-Skipper.  Still a welcome sight!

Then I repositioned myself and hopped to another rock and found the Arizona Sister motherlode.

And mating Springwater Dancers.

I think this is a Texas Powdered-Skipper as the median band isn't spikey enough for Arizona.

More presumed Meridon duskywings.

Returning to the main trail I finally found a Mexican Yellow.

And another Golden Banded-Skipper.  Otherwise the pouroff at the end of the canyon was dry and afternoon shade put an end to the insect activity.

Returning down the trail I saw a Black Bear walking the dry stream below.  I figured it would spend some time at the wet seep.  Meanwhile another Red Satyr stole my attention.

Then a bit down the trail there was the bear again.  We looked at each other and decided to go our separate ways.  Life must be tough for these guys when it's so dry.

I had left my phone in the jeep to charge and when I returned I was shocked to see five hours had passed.  Not many butterflies but not too bad considering the dry conditions.  What a pleasant day!

Bee Crazy at National Butterfly Center, 3/27/26

The hot dry spring continues in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas.  Every day is low humidity with a high of around 90F.  Butterfly numbers have plummeted at the National Butterfly Center.  Instead of 50+ species, it's gettng hard to break twenty.  But the staff still keeps stuff watered and there is always something in bloom.  I finally got my first Black Swallowtail for the year.

This little Common Mestra deserves a shout out.  He has been faithfully patrolling his area for nearly a month.  Here are photos from 3/27, 3/22, 3/14 and 3/3.

Meanwhile the bees seem to be enjoying the dry spring conditions.  Bee of the day goes to this Spotted Wool Carder Bee, Anthidium maculosum.  Last spring I found one of these and couldn't identify it.  Paula Sharp came to the rescue and with some research discovered this species had not bee seen in Hidalgo County in eighty years.  Several others were later found scattered around the Valley.  I'm happy to see they are back for 2026.

The beautiful red flowered prickly pear was blooming and the leafcuter and cactus bees were havig a pollen orgy.

 

Looking like a green sweat bee this is actually a Cobalt Small Carpenter Bee.

Another tiny carpenter bee.  I think this is the Texas Small Carpenter Bee which is a lifer bee for me.  This bee measures maybe 5 mm.

All I can say about this one is it's in the genus Triepeolus.  It's some kind of a longhorn cuckoo bee.

The high pressure over the west may be breaking down in a couple of weeks.  Lets hope so.

Spring at National Butterfly Center, 3/5/26

Spring has sprung!  It is windy, dry and dusty in the Ruio Grande Valley of south Texas and trees are leafing out best then can despite the continuing drought.  The wind is screaming out of the south and the air is full of dust and pollen.  I'm itching all over, inside and out!  New arrivals today at the National Butterfly Center included this Florida White.  I think it's my first for the year.

Spreadwing skippers were abundant today.  Here's the first Sickle-winged Skipper I've seen in a while.

The four most common long-tailed Skippers popped in: Long-tailed Skipper (minus tails), Dorantes Longtail, White-striped Longtail and Brown Longtail.

And some of the little exotic spread-winged skippers:  Caballo Skipper, Common Streaky Skipper and Turk's-Cap White-Skipper.

Plenty of grass skippers too.  At least a half dozen Double-dotted skippers today.

Souther Broken-Dash has been numerous lately.

Here's a pair of cavorting Whirlabouts.

Finally got a Western Giant-Swallowtail.  Big butterflies ave been hard to come by,

An Elada Checkerspot was new but at the species' usual spot by the restrooms.  I am guessing this one hatched locally.  It's fun to speculate who is local and who blew in with the wind.

So I ran the Big Board species total up to 77 which is pretty good for five days into March.  Possible rain on the way!

• Giant Swallowtail 1
• Florida White 1
• Checkered White 1
• Southern Dogface 2
• Large Orange Sulphur 5
• Lyside Sulphur 3
• Little Yellow 5
• Mimosa Yellow 2
• Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 1
• Dusky-blue Groundstreak 1
• Cassius Blue 2
• Ceraunus Blue 1
• Reakirt's Blue 1
• American Snout 12
• Gulf Fritillary 1
• Mexican Fritillary 1
• Bordered Patch 1
• Elada Checkerspot 1
• Texan Crescent 8
• Pale-banded Crescent 6
• Red Admiral 1
• Band-celled Sister 1
• Mexican Bluewing 1
• Common Mestra 3
• Tropical Leafwing 3
• Tawny Emperor 1
• Queen 1
• White-striped Longtail 2
• Long-tailed Skipper 1
• Dorantes Longtail 1
• Brown Longtail 1
• Coyote Cloudywing 1
• Potrillo Skipper 1
• Sickle-winged Skipper 1
• Tropical Checkered-Skipper 10
• Desert Checkered-Skipper 1
• Laviana White-Skipper 6
• Turk's-cap White-Skipper 1
• Common Streaky-Skipper 1
• Julia's Skipper 1
• Fawn-spotted Skipper 1
• Clouded Skipper 6
• Double-dotted Skipper 6
• Southern Skipperling 2
• Fiery Skipper 2
• Whirlabout 4
• Southern Broken-Dash 6
• Sachem 2
• Common Mellana 2
• Mexican Crescent 2