Rio Grande Valley Butterflies: Red Rim

Showing posts with label Red Rim. Show all posts

Sunday, January 4, 2026

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.

Monday, December 22, 2025

Black Hairstreak at National Butterfly Center, 12/21/15

I took it easy this morning, thinking about where I might go today. Chris Balboni had a pretty good report from Yturria Brush. Or maybe I'll stay home and watch football. It was warm and yesterday had a good south wind so I decided to just go over to the National Butterfly Center. As I passed the front garden I noticed a Mallow Scrub Hairstreak and though maybe it'll be a good hairstreak day.

I checked in. and proceeded to the sunken garden. Lantana Scrub-Hairstreaks continue.

I was disappointed to see little on the brush holly that was blooming so heavily just a couple of days ago. They bloom out fast. So I checked the blooming fiddlewoods and got a Dusky-blue Groundstreak.

It was getting close to luch time so I started to wander back to the visitor's center and noticed Chris Balboni and Ryan Shaw looking at the litte brush holly. I yelled "What you got?" Ryan shouted "Some weird hairstreak."

I ran over and recognized it immediately. Black Hairstreak! I had been waiting for this Mexican visitor since I missed the last one ten years ago. It just sat there feeding on the few brush holly flowers that were left on the plant. I guess I had missed it just a few minutes earlier. What a cool hairstreak. The photos in the book didn't do it justice. RGV lifer #230.

After lunch I found a Great Purple Hairstreak up high in the chomonque.

And then I found a Clytie Ministreak in a nearby fiddlewood. This one is a beauty.

Finally John Rosford found my seventh hairstreak for the day, Marius Haistreak. I missed common Gray and Silver-banded Hairstreaks.

He also got me a lifer hemipteran which I haven't IDed yet.

Mimosa Skipper is uncommon at the NBC but easier to find at Santa Ana and Resaca de la Palma where the host Black Mimosa is more common.

Some visitng birders from my old stomping grounds at New Mexico State were happy to see a Red Rim.

There have been several reports of Mexican Silverspot in the Valley lately and people wanted to see one. Jon McIntyre found this one today by the corky-steed passionvine where they have oviposited in the past.

Wow! What a good day! A big fresh Malachite wished me "Adios" as I left.

No cold weather in the forecast. Dry and 80's. More good stuff on the way.

Sunday, December 14, 2025

Just Another Fantastic Day at the NBC, 12/13/25

Any other December this would be considered a pretty fantastic day. But this year it's ho-humm. Same old stuff. I was telling Chris Balboni and Terry Mortier how spoiled we are. They concurred. After a two week absence, Ruby-spotted Swallowtails were back.

The cry "Malachite on the bait log!" usually brings people running. With most of the visiting butterfly watchers gone, this one fed in peace.

Here's a fresh male Mexican Bluewing. Not many of these guys around lately.

Yesterday's pristine Band-celled Sister now has a bite missing from the hind wings. It's a dangerous world out there.

A formerly rare Mexican Crescent was on the tiny Tridax patch.

I am not a photographer. I set my camera ISO from 400 to 1600, depending on light, and shift it into P Mode and let the old Canon 7D Mk II do all the thinking. RAW? What the hell is that? It's JPEG all the way. This works OK most of the time. But she really stuggles with black and red as in a Red Rim. The black makes it want to open for more light and then it doesn't know what to do with the red. So here's pre and post editing. I don't love it.

I really didn't like what I was seeing on the back of my camera while in the field. So I desparately switched to C1 mode. I don't know what is stored in that setting but it actually gave me a pretty realsitic color. How about that!

Up front there were both Florida and Giant Whites.

Julias have been hard to come by this fall.

I walked the ditch a couple of times hoping for the Malicious (Northern Faceted) Skipper but had to settle for a Potrillo (Caballo) Skipper.

It was a really good December day with 61 species. Usually we've had some cold weather by now and species totals are much lower. A cool front comes in today. But it's only supposed to drop into the 50's. Full steam ahead!

Pipevine Swallowtail 1

Ruby-spotted Swallowtail 2
Florida White 1
Checkered White 2
Giant White 1
Orange Sulphur 1
Southern Dogface 3
Cloudless Sulphur 1
Large Orange Sulphur 8
Lyside Sulphur 6
Tailed Orange 2
Little Yellow 6
Marius Hairstreak 1
Gray Hairstreak 1
Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 3
Dusky-blue Groundstreak 3
Western Pygmy-Blue 1
Ceraunus Blue 6
Reakirt's Blue 2
Fatal Metalmark 2
Red-bordered Pixie 6
American Snout 20
Gulf Fritillary 6
Julia Heliconian 1
Zebra Heliconian 3
Mexican Fritillary 8
Bordered Patch 4
Texan Crescent 3
Pale-banded Crescent 2
Vesta Crescent 1
Phaon Crescent 12
American Lady 1
Red Admiral 10
Common Buckeye 1
White Peacock 3
Malachite 1
Band-celled Sister 1
Mexican Bluewing 2
Common Mestra 1
Red Rim 2
Tropical Leafwing 8
Empress Leilia 5
Tawny Emperor 8
Monarch 5
Queen 40
Soldier 2
White-striped Longtail 2
Brown Longtail 3
Potrillo Skipper 1
White Checkered-Skipper 8
Tropical Checkered-Skipper 8
Laviana White-Skipper 8
Clouded Skipper 10
Southern Skipperling 2
Fiery Skipper 8
Whirlabout 2
Sachem 1
Common Mellana 1
Eufala Skipper 6
Purple-washed Skipper 1
Mexican Crescent 1

Sunday, November 30, 2025

Turquoise Longtail at NBC, 11/29/25

Friday morning sharp eyed Ryan Rodriguez got a brief look at a rare Turquoise Longtail in the Mexican orchid by the nursery. Thoughout the day hopeful butterfly watchers kept a vigil and eventually the Urbanus made another appearance. Several people got diagnostic photos but I arrived too late. I was taking a day off ahead of the warm windy Saturday that was forecast ahead of a incoming cold front. It cost me a lifer.

So my plan was to spend Saturday looking for good stuff blown in on the southerly wind. But before I could leave, the Discord sounded. The Turquoise Longtail was back! I raced over and got lucky this time.

This proved to be a fantastic day of very uncommon butterflies. In the immediate area of the orchid tree Curve-winged Metalmark, Caballo (formerly Poterillo) Skipper and Giant and Great Southern Whites were reported. Here's the metalmark.

Red-bordered pixies continue in large numbers.

Checking the nearby Coma tree, I spied a Marine Blue which put the NBC November list at an all time high of 139.

Then I decided to break from the crowd and run the bait logs. Not much exciting. So I decided to walk the ditch and found what I had hoped for... Malicious Skipper! Well, I guess it's not called that anymore. Synapte malitiosa as been split with the Caribbean nominate race retaining the old common moniker. Ours is the Northern Faceted Skipper, Synapte pecta. It's only the third I've ever seen, all self found. I put it out on the alert but no one else was able to refind it.

Farther north on the bait logs I foud a couple of female Pavon Emperor's.

And then in the sunken garden Ken Wilson found me a male.

Good to see a couple of Fawn-spotted Skippers. They were wiped out in the 2021 freeze.

Back to the south a Mazan's Scallopwing was reported in the little Gregg's Mistflower patch where the Red-spotted Patch was found a few days earlier.

Perusing the mistflowers I dug out an uncommon Erichson's White-skipper.

Back at the orchid tree, another Ruby-spotted Swallowtail put on a show.

Someone put a rare Spot-celled Sister on the Discord alert. Was it misidentified? All I found was a less rare female Silver Empror.

An uncommon Glazed Pellicia was on the blue Duranta.

A little later there was another report of a Spot-celled Sister. I ran over expecting to see the female Silver Emperor but no, it was a beautiful Spot-celled Sister. These used to be mega rare but we've had several this fall.