Amazing Summer Hairstreak Day at NBC, 6/3/26

 After doing some bee stuff for a couple of days I was back at the National Butterfly Center yesterday to get the June list going.  The new June Big Board was at 37 species for the month when I arrived and was at 60 when I finished so it was a pretty good day.  A little Common Sootywing out front got me off to a good start.

After signing in, I went out the back door to the garden and quickly found a striking fresh guava Skipper.

And then the hairstreak show started.  It's been a few months since the last Marius Hairstreak.

Likewise for this Ruddy Hairstreak.  I don't know why my photos were off on this one.

A common but still striking Gray Hairstreakwas nearby.

Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak is usually the most common.

My only Dusky-blue Groundstreak brought the morning hairstreak total to five species.  Pretty good for June.

I should be able to find a Clytie Ministeak.  And I did find one on the frostweed.

And then I found another ministreak but this one had a black eye and was missing some red spots.  Gray Ministreak!  There were two of them.  We had one just a month ago.  Hairstreak #7 for the day.

I put the Gray Ministreak on the Dischord alert and Stephanie came running after a bit.  It was a lifer for her.  She's usually too busy running the NBC to get to chase butterflies.  And while we were standing there by the frostweed this big stonking Clench's Greensteak magically appeared.  It was also a lifer for Stephanie.  I think we're up to at least eight of them in the last month.

Eight species of hairstreaks in June is pretty incredible.  I wanted more but got sidetracked by this Banded Cucumber Beetle.

Then a brief look at a Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak.  #9 for the day and all before lunch!.

After luch I thought there was a good possiblity for Silver-banded Hairstreak or Red-lined Scrub-Hairstreak in the balloon vine but it was not to be.  Red-bordered and Curve-winged Metalmarks were nice.

After lunch it gets hot fast and the humidity was stifling.  So I was done for the day.  Along with the nine hairstreaks I saw four species of blues whitch makes for a total of 13 Lycaenids!  I think that's my all time high.

Amazing 54 species!

• Giant Swallowtail 5
• Checkered White 20
• Great Southern White 6
• Large Orange Sulphur 6
• Lyside Sulphur +s
• Little Yellow 5
• Mimosa Yellow 1
• Dainty Sulphur 3
• Marius Hairstreak 1
• Clench's Greenstreak 1
• Gray Hairstreak 5
• Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 8
• Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak 1
• Ruddy Hairstreak 1
• Dusky-blue Groundstreak 1
• Clytie Ministreak 3
• Gray Ministreak 2
• Western Pygmy-Blue 1
• Cassius Blue 5
• Ceraunus Blue 6
• Reakirt's Blue 1
• Red-bordered Metalmark 1
• Curve-winged Metalmark 3
• American Snout 2
• Gulf Fritillary 8
• Mexican Fritillary 3
• Bordered Patch 10
• Texan Crescent 20
• Pale-banded Crescent 10
• Phaon Crescent 8
• Red Admiral 1
• White Peacock 6
• Mexican Bluewing 5
• Tropical Leafwing 1
• Tawny Emperor 12
• Queen 12
• Soldier 6
• Guava Skipper 1
• Brown Longtail 6
• White Checkered-Skipper 4
• Tropical Checkered-Skipper 10
• Desert Checkered-Skipper 1
• Laviana White-Skipper 5
• Common Sootywing 1
• Clouded Skipper 20
• Double-dotted Skipper 6
• Southern Skipperling 2
• Fiery Skipper 2
• Whirlabout 8
• Southern Broken-Dash 15
• Celia's Roadside-Skipper 12
• Eufala Skipper 8
• Purple-washed Skipper 1
• Mexican Crescent 15

National Butterfly Center, 5/31/26

I ran over to the National Butterfly Center on Sunday to see if I could add anything to the Big Board as we finished up May.  With the decent spring rain lots of stuff is still flying.  This spring is certainly more interesting than the past several dry springs.  A couple of husky Double-dotted Skippers in the front gardens were nice.  There have not been many around lately.

Some of the Ocherous Skippers (Nick Grishin has split our Clouded Skippers) were nearly as large.  The remaining Texas thistle blooms were popular.

Lots of Great Southern Whites around lately.

This female was ovipositing on some kind of pepper grass (not really a grass).

Female Tepanec Long-horned Bees are easy to ID with the black spot on the white band on T4.

A short drive to the south garden included a stop at the blooming Tenaza tree.  Lots of common butterflies here but best were a couple of cavorting Double-dotted Skippers.

Curve-winged Metalmarks were easy to find.  We had a bunch this past winter and they seemed to have raised babies.  I totalled five today.  Glassberg lists them as rare in is guide but not anymore.

Soldiers are back for the summer.

Mexican Crescents were mating in the Consevatory.  Meanwhile Vesta Crescents seem to be absent.  Have they been replaced by Mexican Crescents?

A walk of the bait logs turned up nothing rare but it was nice to see a few Mexican Bluewings.

Back in the front garden this Mournful Duskywing showed the tell tale white spots on its hind underwings.  iNaturalist's Ai missed on this a couple of weeks ago but got it right this time.

I love Red-bordered Metalmarks.

This ratty Long-tailed Skipper brought the May "Big Board" toatal to 92 species.  I think that's an all time high for May.

Looking good for June.

National Butterfly Center, 10/16/25

Over five hours spent at the National Butterfly Center turned up 48 species.  Despite hot dry conditions, crucita is starting to bloom and butterfly numbers have really increased compared to five days ago.  This Red-crescent Scrub-Hairstreak is the first I've seen this year.

It's been a good fall for Brown-banded Skippers.

It's always a good sign when the Giant Whites are blowing up from Mexico.

My first Ocola Skipper for the fall.

Saw a couple of Lantana Scrub-Hairstreaks.

There were hundreds of Queens on the crucita.

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And even a few Soldiers.

I liked this Red-bordered Metalmark.

I can't tell who she is eating.

Here's today's list of 48 species.

• Pipevine Swallowtail 1
• Giant Swallowtail 2
• Giant White 1
• Southern Dogface 25
• Cloudless Sulphur 4
• Large Orange Sulphur 50
• Lyside Sulphur 10
• Little Yellow 5
• Gray Hairstreak 10
• Red-crescent Scrub-Hairstreak 1
• Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 3
• Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak 2
• Ceraunus Blue 30
• American Snout 80
• Gulf Fritillary 15
• Mexican Fritillary 3
• Bordered Patch 25
• Elada Checkerspot 1
• Phaon Crescent 25
• Red Admiral 1
• Common Buckeye 1
• White Peacock 3
• Mexican Bluewing 2
• Tropical Leafwing 3
• Empress Leilia 2
• Tawny Emperor 60
• Queen 300
• Soldier 5
• White-striped Longtail 2
• Sickle-winged Skipper 5
• Brown-banded Skipper 1
• White-patched Skipper 8
• Mournful Duskywing 1
• White Checkered-Skipper 10
• Tropical Checkered-Skipper 5
• Laviana White-Skipper 20
• Clouded Skipper 60
• Double-dotted Skipper 1
• Southern Skipperling 5
• Fiery Skipper 30
• Whirlabout 6
• Southern Broken-Dash 3
• Sachem 5
• Common Mellana 5
• Celia's Roadside-Skipper 15
• Eufala Skipper 20
• Ocola Skipper 2
• Mexican Crescent 1

National Butterfly Center, 9/14/25

Well....  My original plan was to go to the HEB supermarket yesterday for groceries and then watch football.  But it was a nice moring so I thought what the hell.  I'll just go to the butterfly park and watch football afterwards.  The decision had disasterous consequences.  Well sort of.

Things started out great with at least a dozen Western Giant Swallowtails in the Mexican Orchid by the nursery.

Then a nice Guava Skipper popped in.  Probably the same one I glimsped last weekend.

Male Red-bordered Metalmarks are vastly under rated.

A few grasskippers were out.  Here is Clouded, Eufala, Wirlabout, and Double-dotted Skippers.

A walk up to the front gardens produced a nice Lanatana Scrub-Hairstreak.

And the first Common Sootywing I've seen in a while.

I'm discovering long-horned bees are a pain to ID except for a few easy ones like the female Tepanec Long-horned Bee with the black blotch on the stripe on abdominal segment four.

A return to the Mexican Orchid tree brought on a flurry of good butterflies.  First it was a Yellow Angled-Sulphur that my camera refused to focus on.  It was only present a few seconds as it often the case.  So I had to settle for a nearby Giant White.

I studied the flock (Do butterflies flock?) of Western Giant Swallowtails searching for an Ornython Swallowtail.  I got one!  It seems most of the ones we get are missing a large chunk of wing.  They have been blown a long ways in the wind and had to fight off a few predators.

Within a couple of minutes all three good butterflies were gone.  I watched the Mexican Orchid a while longer but nothing else unusual showed up.  So I headed for home.  

When I arrived I noticed I had a text from birder, butterflyer, and odester extraordinaire Martin Reid.  A Double-striped Thick-knee had just been found east of San Antonio near Nixon.  Yikes!  It is only the second ever north of Mexico.  As the first was taken as a specimen from the King Ranch in 1961, we've been waiting a long time.  I've seen a number of them in Chiapas near Palenque.

Well it was 2pm and I was exhausted and covered in sweat and sunscreen.  I just wasn't up for the five hour drive to maybe see the bird.  As it turned out a lot of people got it and it was still present in a pasture under a tree as the sun set.  But thick-knees are nocturnal shorebirds so it was just chilling as the hundred or so birders ticked it for their lists.  During the night it would be out feeding and there's a good possibility it might be elsewhere come morning.  So I decided to wait to see if it was refound.

Had I just gone to HEB and then watched football, I might have chased the bird when the word got out.  As I type this the Double-striped Thick-knee has not be refound.  Birders are searching on the private ranch.  I've always got an eye open for these guys as I bird the grasslands of Willacy county.  I guess I will just have to find my own.

Here's today's list of 38 species of butterflies.

• Pipevine Swallowtail 1
• Giant Swallowtail 20
• Ornythion Swallowtail 1
• Giant White 1
• Yellow Angled-Sulphur 1
• Cloudless Sulphur 1
• Large Orange Sulphur 15
• Lyside Sulphur 2
• Little Yellow 2
• Gray Hairstreak 1
• Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak 1
• Cassius Blue 1
• Ceraunus Blue 8
• Red-bordered Metalmark 3
• American Snout 5
• Gulf Fritillary 1
• Bordered Patch 4
• Phaon Crescent 20
• White Peacock 1
• Mexican Bluewing 1
• Tropical Leafwing 3
• Queen 15
• Soldier 1
• Guava Skipper 2
• Brown Longtail 1
• White Checkered-Skipper 5
• Tropical Checkered-Skipper 20
• Desert Checkered-Skipper 1
• Laviana White-Skipper 4
• Common Sootywing 1
• Clouded Skipper 8
• Double-dotted Skipper 3
• Southern Skipperling 1
• Fiery Skipper 1
• Whirlabout 3
• Southern Broken-Dash 1
• Common Mellana 1
• Eufala Skipper 6