A productive day butterflying :o)

Well, this morning started out with rain and temps hovering around 62. I had planned to go out butterflying and in search of the 'Red-spotted Patch' that made the news out here earlier in the week...but with weather like that I decided to run a few errands instead...but by noon time the sun had come out and the weather warmed up so I hopped in the xterra and went tearing off to Bensten Birding Center and to the NABA Butterfly Park. Must say I am quite pleased with myself!!! I had a very productive day photographing some not so common butterflies...even if I didn't come across that record-breaking Red-Spotted Patch.

Here are a few photos of butterflies we usually see this time of year. We've had a bumper crop of Crimson Patch and Banded Peacock!!! Last year I saw only one CP and a very beaten up BP...glad to see lots of fresh butterflies out on the wing!!!

~ Cat

Banded Peacock (anartia fatima)

Crimson Patch (chlosyne janais)

Dusky-blue Groundstreak (calycopis isobeon)

Wonderful art work.... Elaine
sorry for jumping in...:)))

This message was edited Nov 11, 2006 9:10 PM

A photo I couldn't resist taking - White Peacocks, Great Purple Hairstreak and a Snout hanging underneath :o)

Red Rim (biblis hyperia)

Zilpa Longtail (chioides zilpa)

Julia Longwing (julia dyras) - we see this one more often...but they are always pretty to look at :o)

Zebra Longwing (heliconius charithonia) - we get to see these throughout the year but they get plentiful during the fall season.

another Great Purple Hairstreak (atlides halesus) - this one has a pale abdomen as opposed to the usually bright orange

It was also cool and cloudy enough for moth caterpillars to be out feeding

Tersa Sphinx caterpillars (both a green and brown one!!!)

and lastly....a Vine Sphinx caterpillar (eumorpha vitis)

Great group of shots Texas PP, you really have a good eye for them.

BEAUTIFUL photos! Thanks for posting them TPP!

OMG Cat what a day. How awesome. Wish I could have been there

Me too. What fantastic photos!!

Cat, great pictures of a lovely group of butterflies.

Could you please add these image to BugFiles, most of them are species for which we have no images so far, including some that are not even entered into BugFiles so far.

Here is the entry for the Banded Peacock, just waiting to receive your image: http://davesgarden.com/bf/go/3577/

Ken

Great pics! That Dusky Blue Groundsteak is so pretty with those zebra legs and that Zilpa is unusual. You are so lucky to have all those in your area.

Beautiful,,, Elaine

Thanks Ken for noticing those weren't in the bug file. We can all benefit from them in the future there.

Ken...I added some to the bug files and have been going through my butterfly photos to see what else I can add. Ya'll don't have many of the butterflies south Texas gets :o) Gotta love those Mexican butterfly border crossers!!!

Thanks everyone...I love going out into the field looking for the occasional and rare strays to photograph. Of course, more often than not, I still can't pass up the beauty of the longwings and other more common butterflies too!

~ Cat

Oh yeah Cat!

Border crossers, lol! I will buy you a gigantic fan for next Spring so you can blow them up this way...hehe

Thank you so so much for sharing these pictures gf...they are nothing short of outstanding!!

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Thank you for sharing...just beautiful!

Woohoo...got to photograph the Red-Spotted Patch today!!! This one was a bit worn out...but it's a lifer for me. Also got to photograph a Guatemalan Cracker too....and a gorgeous Malachite.

I've got citrus trees in my back yard and had quite a few tangerines on the ground so I gathered them up and took them to the NABA park along with some butterfly bait on Monday before I went to work. I walked around with Derek Muschalek for about two hours looking for that elusive Red-Spotted Patch and finally had to give up and head out to work. As I was leaving I took one last look around the trees where the fruit had been placed and yelled back to Derek , "I know there's a Cracker with my name on it out here somewhere!" Also said, "I'm going to be mad if while I'm at work I visit the Texas list server website and read that the butterflies I'd been waiting for showed up!"

Well, wouldn't you know it...later that afternoon I read where the Patch and a Guatemalan Cracker showed up...and a very cooperative Malachite too. GRRRRR!!!

So, I head off to the park again this morning hoping I'll get a chance to see those elusive butterflies. As soon as I get there John and Gloria Tveten wave me over and tell me to look at the Guatemalan Cracker on my tangerines!!! (They came down to the valley for a few days of butterflying)

The critter was a bit skittish so I didn't get any close up photos...but hey, we all saw it!!! We all walk around a bit more and I stop to photograph a very cooperative Malachite at the hanging basket of tangerines. John says it reminds him of a stained glass...I quickly come back with, "Nope, the colors reminds me of chocolate and key lime pie!!!" Everyone gets a good laugh because John's thinking of the beautiful stained glass windows of a church and I'm thinking gastronomic delights!!!

Gloria sees the Red-Spotted Patch on some eupatorium right after that. What a find!!! It was very cooperative too. Got two lifers today!!!

~ Cat

Here's the Red-Spotted Patch...a bit worn and washed out by the bright sunlight.

Cat - Looks like your LUCKY day! What a wonderful find. Can you post the Malachite, too?

Here's the Malachite...yep, chocolate and key lime!!! YUMMY!!!

yeah...I still say chocolate and key lime Malachite :o)

...with maybe a little whipped cream to boot!!!

Cat - Now that is GORGEOUS!!!! WOW! Thanks for posting that photo of the Malachite! LOL about your Key Lime Pie description! (Stop it .... you are making me hungry!!!!)

Here's the Guatemalan Cracker...it's hard to photograph a gray butterfly sitting on a gray log with the sunlight dappling through the trees and standing about twelve feet away! Oh well, at least I can say I saw it!!!

Oh, I love the Malachites!! I've been watching this thread and trying to refrain from being jealous but I can't stand it any more! ;) I just keep reminding myself that it's actually cooler where I live. (so I won't move to your area) Keep them coming!

What a cool sight Cat!! You really snagged some great shots!

Wowie! Zowie!

Wow, I think I would have had to call into work and tell them I was feeling sick!! Wonderful opportunity you had and great photos, thanks for sharing!
Are those behind the Malachite, inside the basket, White Peacocks?
Also, what is the NABA park?

This message was edited Nov 15, 2006 6:30 AM

Might be the crackers, (underside wing), strong resemblance to WPeacock I think.

Oh, that Malachite is gorgeous!

Cat, tell us more about this NABA park. Is this just a regular park with tons of plants for them? Elaborate please! Are these enclosed??

Cat,

Your photos are outstanding! What a pleasure to view each one. I love those Malachites. The colors are so vivid in them all. I wish there were such a place close by to go exploring. Although, if there were, I'd never get anything done around here!

Thank you so much for sharing your adventure with us. We are living vicariously through you.

Janet

Janet! Did you know that Moody Gardens in Galveston has a butterfly garden ? I've been there but it was years ago when the kids were little.

Those are Tawny Emperors in the fruit basket....we get them by the thousands :o)

The NABA Park is the North American Butterfly Association butterfly park. http://www.naba.org/nababp/Index.html

I don't remember how many acres it is...but we are one of Jeff Glassberg's dream :o) He comes down here a few times a year. Since this tri-county area called the Lower Rio Grande Valley has about 300 species of butterflies the park was built close to the Rio Grande River...which is sort of a gate way for butterflies coming from Mexico. We get rare strays and sometimes new US records as the butterflies follow the river north. Our park has lots of native plants and trees as well as native nectar and larval hosts we planted in abundance to attract mass quantities of butterflies as well as lure in strays.

This area hosts a Butterfly Festival around the third week of October each year. But will say if anyone comes to visit the butterflying is better in November and early December because the weather tends to get cooler in Mexico and the butterflies sort of come down from the mountains there to seek warmer temperatures here.

~ Cat

Thanks for all the info Cat!!
Sounds like a great roadtrip for us! I marked the site.. We'll let ya know if we come. Till then we will br vicarious, like Janet said, lol. You really do a great service by sharing these with us! We appreciate it very much!

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