Guatemalan Leafwing at NBC, 1/2/26

There's no rest for the weary.  I was at home trying to get caught up on photos, blog and iNat when the Discord bonged.  Dennis Vollmar had a Fitzgaertner's Flat in the ditch at the National Butterfly Center.  Damn!  I was hoping for some rest.  A few minutes later he posted it wasn't being seen.  Back in 2015 several were seen at Bentsen and I found one these crepuscular butterflies at Santa Ana NWR in the visitors center restroom. (I got interruped as I was writing this and spent several uneventful hours chasing butterflies at the NBC.)  But that was enough to prompt me to return for another day of butterflying at the NBC.

The flat was not seen again.  And actually it was kind of a dull day.  I did manage to find a Red Rim.

I was working the bait logs and had reached the "bird's nest" when a report of Pale-spotted Leafwing popped up on Discord.  I needed one for the new year so I started sprinting.  It feels good to stretch the muscles after all the slow walking and standing associated with butterfly watching.  And sometimes a few seconds can make all the difference between seeing a butterfly and being too late.  Terry and Chris came running from the sunken garden but I put on the after burners and skunked there asses.  With all the depressing craziness in the world these days it's so refreshing to see septuagenarians running and laughing gleefully!  A few people were gathered at a bait log when I arrived.  The Pale-spotted Leafwing had flown up to a nearby small branch and was posed knife edge to us.

That pale line runing to the wing tip didn't look like a Pale-spotted Leafwing.  I told them "I don't think this is a Pale-spotted.  It's a Guatemalan Leafwing!"  The leafwing flew and posed more favorably.

My only previous experience with this taxon was the beat up one at Estero a few years ago.  This one was really nice.  I moved to the other side to get it in better light and manage a brief open winged shot.

Accordng to the specimens on Butterflies of America the mostly black wings are indicative of a male.  It flew again and gave excellent views.

Unfortunately a couple of jackasses, one of them a semi well known butterfly lister who spends a lot of time in the tropics, got within inches with their cameras, flashing for an open wing shot, and flushed the butterfly.  It was not seen again.  This will not be forgotten and their reputations will always be tarnished in the sight of those who were present.  Such an unpleasant way for a brilliant butterfly experience to end.

A lovely Malachite helped wash some of the bad taste from my mouth.

Guatemalan Leafwing at Estero Llano Grande St Pk, 12/1/24

As a birder and butterfly watcher I am amazed by of the serendipity of nature.  As a long time naturalist in the Rio Grande Valley I know what's supposed to happen, but there are often surprises.  

This morning I woke up and tried to decide where to go.  South Padre Island with maybe some late migrants seemed tempting.  Maybe check out Delta Lake or Santa Ana?  In the end I decided to go west and walk the trail at Yturria Brush.  I was thinking about Sage Thrashers and towhees.  At the very least I would get in a good walk. 

Well not only did I get in three and a half miles of walking but I also saw seven species of sparrows, including a couple of Green-tailed Towhees.  So I was eating lunch in the jeep, exhaused but satisfied with the morning when the Discord "bonged".   Usually it's the WhatsApp or the GroupMe "dinging" to catch my attention, but Indiana butterfly watcher Phil Kelly moved our RGV Rare Butterflies alert to the Discord plantform.  So now I get a "bong".  And what a bong it was.

Kristy Baker was reporting a Guatemalan Leafwing at Estero Llano Grande State Park in Weslaco.  Hmmm....  There's been a Guatemalan Cracker.  Is that what she meant?  No, she replied it was a leafwing.  Dang!  Guatemalan Leafwing is probably my most wanted Valley butterfly.  I chased this cool Mexican leafwing with the blue upper wing surfaces a couple of times and came up short both times.  There are just a handful of records.

So I raced over from Yturria, about thirty miles total, parked in the lot at Estero and raced to the bait log near the park entrance.  About a dozen happy butterfly watchers saw me running towards them and they yelled "It's right here!"  So fifteen years after my first chase I finally get my Guatemalan Leafwing.  This one was missing half of one rear wing and had a chunk gone out of the other.  Now that's a leafwing!

The little bit of tail on one wing indicates a female.  Males have a smooth hind wing.  She flew up into the tree, found a sunny spot and opened up her wings.  The pale violet also indicated a female as males are much more dark blue.  I like that hook on the trailing edge of the fore wing.  A number of the tropical leafwing species (like the Pale-spotted below) share this trait.

She flew back to the bait log where she was joing by another leafwing, the rare Pale-spotted Leafwing.

Then Kristy yelled that she had the Guatemalan Cracker.  It's been a few years since I've seen one.  This is my third cracker species for the year.

The more common Gray Cracker put in a showing back behind the bait log.

I missed the Blomfild's Beauty which was seen earlier but I can't complain.  The Guatemalan Leafwing was my 227th RGV butterfly species.  It's not every day you see two Guatemalans!  Only warm weather in the extended forecast so full steam ahead.  What's going to be next?