Fireworks Continue at NBC, 7/5/26

It's hot and dry in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of south Texas, but the good butterflies keep coming.  Gotta get em before they fry!  Still getting hairstreaks.  Along with the usual for this summer Clench's, Ruddy and Marius, I found this guy.  It kind of looks like an Orange-crescent Groundstreak but I'm not getting a lot of support for that ID.  Most think it's a Ruddy.

My first Statira Sulphur for the year was in front in the white Duranta.

Nearby was a Brown-banded Skipper.  Woody found a second in the nursery.

Giant Whites were in the Mexican Orchid.

There were at least two Gray Crackers on the bait logs.

It took me several tries to finally see the Dingy Purplewing.

It was getting really hot and I was ready to head home when Woody reported two Ruddy Dagerwings by the nursery.

Today's list of 53 species

• Giant Swallowtail 10
• Checkered White 2
• Great Southern White 20
• Giant White 2
• Cloudless Sulphur 2
• Large Orange Sulphur 20
• Statira Sulphur 1
• Lyside Sulphur 40
• Little Yellow 3
• Dainty Sulphur 2
• Marius Hairstreak 3
• Clench's Greenstreak 8
• Gray Hairstreak 2
• Red-crescent Scrub-Hairstreak 1
• Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 5
• Ruddy Hairstreak 1
• Dusky-blue Groundstreak 6
• Clytie Ministreak 6
• Cassius Blue 3
• Ceraunus Blue 3
• Red-bordered Metalmark 1
• Curve-winged Metalmark 2
• American Snout 500
• Gulf Fritillary 2
• Mexican Fritillary 2
• Theona Checkerspot 1
• Bordered Patch 3
• Elada Checkerspot 1
• Texan Crescent 2
• Pale-banded Crescent 3
• Phaon Crescent 5
• Question Mark 1
• White Peacock 10
• Mexican Bluewing 12
• Dingy Purplewing 1
• Gray Cracker 2
• Ruddy Daggerwing 2
• Tropical Leafwing 8
• Empress Leilia 1
• Tawny Emperor 25
• Queen 3
• Soldier 2
• Brown Longtail 5
• Brown-banded Skipper 2
• Tropical Checkered-Skipper 10
• Laviana White-Skipper 5
• Clouded Skipper 10
• Southern Skipperling 1
• Whirlabout 3
• Southern Broken-Dash 3
• Celia's Roadside-Skipper 5
• Eufala Skipper 2
• Mexican Crescent 10

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Progreso Lakes, 6/14/23

I was sitting on the back porch this morning and thinking about going to the NABA Butterfly Center in Mission.  A lot of good stuff was seen there yesterday.  And then a Dingy Purplewing landed on the hummingbird feeder so I just stayed in the yard.

A little later something orange buzzed by the Ficus elastica.  I've read that Ficus species are the host plant for Ruddy Daggerwings.  We've had several in that tree.

First Tailed Orange of the year.  This is the summer form.

A Sleepy Orange was ovipositing on the Senna pendula.

While a Mexican Fritillary did the same on the Turnera.  They are supposed to have some pretty cool caterpillars.

Boisduval's Yellows are present daily along with Double-dotted Skippers.

It's always nice to get a Question Mark.

Here's today's list.

• Giant Swallowtail 4
• Great Southern White 4
• Cloudless Sulphur 10
• Large Orange Sulphur 5
• Lyside Sulphur 1
• Boisduval's Yellow 2
• Tailed Orange 1
• Little Yellow 5
• Sleepy Orange 1
• Clytie Ministreak 1
• American Snout 6
• Gulf Fritillary 6
• Mexican Fritillary 1
• Bordered Patch 3
• Vesta Crescent 2
• Phaon Crescent 2
• Pearl Crescent 3
• American Lady 1
• White Peacock 5
• Dingy Purplewing 1
• Ruddy Daggerwing 1
• Tawny Emperor 2
• Queen 5
• Brown Longtail 6
• Sickle-winged Skipper 2
• Mournful Duskywing 2
• White Checkered-Skipper 1
• Tropical Checkered-Skipper 8
• Laviana White-Skipper 3
• Clouded Skipper 8
• Double-dotted Skipper 5
• Fiery Skipper 1
• Whirlabout 3
• Southern Broken-Dash 3
• Celia's Roadside-Skipper 3
• Eufala Skipper 1

First Dingy Purplewing at Progreso Lakes, 7/15/22

Dingy Purplewing is a very uncommon to rare mostly summer butterfly in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of south Texas.  Lately several have been seen at the National Butterfly Center so I've been keeping an eye open for them in our Progreso Lakes yard.  The other day I put out some bait and Tawny Emperors came in as usual but one of them was a little small and not shaped right.  I put the camera on it and I fired away as I was pretty sure it was going to be a Dingy Purplewing.  I was right!  Yard butterfly species #145!

I checked our brush patch a little later and was surprised to find a second, much fresher Dingy Purplewing.  A flash brought out some extra color.

The next day there was still one hanging around.

I have some small gumbo limbro trees which is their host plant according to Glassberg so maybe we will get some more.

National Butterfly Center, 8/27/17

With a strong westerly wind blowing courtesy of Hurricane Harvey, I thought maybe something different might be found at the National Butterfly Center.  Bug of the day had to go to this sharp Ornythion Swallowtail.

The parade of Statira Sulphurs continues.

Finally got a Many-banded Daggerwing for the year.

It been a good summer for Dingy Purplewings.

Whenever I find Desert Checkered-Skipper at the NBC they are always in the sunken garden.

Brown-banded and White-patched Skippers are always worth a photo.

I think this is a Goatweed Leafwing.

So it turned out to be a fine afternoon with forty species though I don't think any were due to the westerly wind.

• Pipevine Swallowtail 1
• Giant Swallowtail 8
• Ornythion Swallowtail 1
• Southern Dogface 10
• Cloudless Sulphur 1
• Large Orange Sulphur 15
• Statira Sulphur 5
• Lyside Sulphur 80
• Little Yellow 5
• Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 3
• Western Pygmy-Blue 2
• American Snout 50
• Gulf Fritillary 8
• Julia Heliconian 2
• Variegated Fritillary 1
• Bordered Patch 3
• Vesta Crescent 2
• Phaon Crescent 8
• Painted Lady 1
• Common Buckeye 1
• Mexican Bluewing 8
• Dingy Purplewing 5
• Tropical Leafwing 1
• Goatweed Leafwing 1
• Tawny Emperor 50
• Queen 80
• Soldier 5
• Brown Longtail 2
• Brown-banded Skipper 1
• White-patched Skipper 3
• White Checkered-Skipper 1
• Tropical Checkered-Skipper 8
• Desert Checkered-Skipper 1
• Laviana White-Skipper 5
• Clouded Skipper 3
• Fiery Skipper 6
• Whirlabout 1
• Southern Broken-Dash 8
• Celia's Roadside-Skipper 1
• Eufala Skipper 4

Falcon/Salineno, 8-12-13

I made a trip upriver to check out the birds and bugs.  First stop was Salineno on the Rio Grande where birds were a bit sparse.  Odes were nonexitent almost.  And I was a bit early for butterflies but I did see a Malachite and my very first Nysa Roadside-Skipper.

Gray Crackers are everywhere this summer.  This one was on the shady trail along the river.

I stopped by Barry Nall's place where his bait had attracted another Gray Cracker, a Coyote Cloudywing and a Dingy Purplewing.

The next stop was the butterfly garden at Falcon State Park.  Despite the continuing drought, park staff has done a good job of keeping the plants going and a number were in boom.  This is usually a good place for Theona Checkerspot and a number were present.

Statira Sulphurs have been reported passing through the Valley in numbers but this was my first of the summer.

This sharp looking Great Purple Hairstreak kept coming back to this same cluster of flowers of a fiddlewood.

And here's a White-striped Longtail to end things.

Tailed Cecropian at NBC, 8/3/13

What a day for flashy Nymphalids at the National Butterfly Center south of Mission.  I parked in my usual spot and walked over to the bird feeding station and there's a Gray Cracker on a bait log.  So I walked north, checking the bait logs, and I found more Gray Crackers.  My final count was seven.  I kept walking north and a I saw a tall, well armed photographer ahead of me and he was photographing something good.  John Rosford had just found a Tailed Ceropian Historis acheronta.  I'm sure his photos are fantastic but here we'll have to settle for mine.

The Gray Crackers may have been outclassed but they're still pretty hot.

This one really blends in with the other butterflies.

This is certainly the summer of the Dingy Purplewings.  They are common across the upper Valley.  I even got some purple on this one.

Normally a Ruddy Daggerwing is the bug of the day.  But not today and this summer they've been pretty common.

White Angled-Sulphurs often nectar in the tops of the Mexican Olives where they are tough to photograph.

A beautiful Soldier.

Gee, I almost forgot about the Band-celled Sister.

And one more rockin' Nymphalid, a Questionmark.

This Texas Spiny Lizard was positioned by one of the bait logs.  It seems to know what it's doing.

And of course Martin Reid had to contribute something great.  But not a butterfly this time.  His sharp eyes spied a young Short-tailed Hawk.  Common in Mexico, this raptor is pretty rare in Texas.