Streaky

I was enthralled with Common Streaky Skipper the first time I saw it; a tiny, dark blur that finally landed... If rainbows were sepia, this insect would fit the bill. If fireworks were subtle shades of nuanced earthy browns, well, I think you get the idea. I REALLY like Common Streaky Skippers. This one is from early July, just west of Alpine. Mmmm, shoddy phone pics....

Pipevine at Post Park

Post Road and Post Park were quite birdy (hat-tip to Bill Sain for another excellent adventure), but the highlight was simply being outside on a fantastic day. Admittedly, I did sigh that there were no leps around and a Queen, Pipevine Swallowtail, and a mystery skipper decided to cooperate. Not that any of them are earth shattering, but it seems to have been a quiet spring for butterflies, perhaps due to lack of moisture.

Pipevine Swallowtail, Battus philenor. Post Park, Marathon/Brewster Co, TX. 27 May 2014.

Bird list for Post Road here and bird list for Post Park here.

Barfly, a weekend update

Saturday night at the Famous Burro: one of the owners, Scott, brought out a very fresh Mourning Cloak that had been in the building for two days. It loitered for about an hour and then reluctantly stepped over to the [Mexican Olive?] tree when prompted. 

Of course, the following day, a text came that it - or another Mourning Cloak - was back inside! Photos by Tiffany Harelik. 

Not two hours earlier, instead of the wildlife being brought to me, I was out grabbing it. This Mourning Dove was picked up at the ponds, unable to escape. Wings, feet, and tail were fine. Eyes bright. Flappy but not going very far... turns out crop was ruptured and there may have been keel damage - it was pretty far from the power line and any barbed wire, but it wasn't far enough from he power line to definitively rule out the possibility of strike. Rehabber updates will be posted as available. (Photo by Steve Collins)

I won't spoil the news, but The Colima Death Experiment may have done an excellent job with their Brewster County Big Day as part of the Great Texas Birding Classic! Mad props to Cameron Carver, Steve Collins, Ryan Shaw and Ross Rickett!

Cameron, Steve, Ryan, and Ross, two hours before Saturday's madness officially began.

Posting from a small gadget - hope the format isn't too messed up!

Edit: Check out The Painted Bunny for Big Day details!

http://paintedbunny.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-colima-death-experiment-big-day.html

Small Checkered Skipper

...and we thought spring was going to wait until March or April... guess we need to bust out the black lights because things really ARE moving! Apologies for the incredibly low photo quality here; this was a VERY fresh Small Checkered Skipper (Pyrgus scriptura) taken at the ponds SW of Marathon yesterday (16 Feb 2014), digital zoom makes it look oddly, unfortunately blocky.

Small Checkered Skipper (Pyrgus scriptura), 16 February 2014, Brewster Co, TX

I recall Small Checkered Skippers being much smaller than this individual seemed (more like Western Pygmy Blues than Common/White Checkered Skippers), and later in the morning we did see a Common/White Checkered Skipper at Post Park - and it really did seem about the same size. Confusing, especially since many early flying leps are smaller than their later-season counterparts.

That said, Post Park and the water crossings on Post Road were FILLED with Mourning Cloaks. Wonderful early fliers, and able to stay aloft in the breeze. Post Road also had a gaggle of pronghorn antelope; they have been absent for some time.

Texas Powdered Skipper

Finally a sign of spring that is not a Sleepy Orange, Reakirt's Blue, or Checkered White! Or 80+ degree temps... but we'll take what we can get! Even if the pics are shoddy...

Texas Powdered Skipper (Systasea pulverulenta) 10 February, 2014, Marathon, TX.

Not a bad yard bug for Dos Baños, either! 

Click here to see the BAMONA page on Texas Powdered Skippers.

(Blog post failed to post on scheduled day, so post date may be out of order!)

Chinati Checkerspot

28 October 2013
Marathon, Brewster Co.

Chinati Checkerspot (Chlosyne theona chinatiensis)

OR

Chinati Checkerspot (Chlosyne chinatiensis)

Once considered its own separate species, C. chinatiensis, it is now considered by many, but not all, a subspecies of Theona Checkerspot C. theona.  Thus the subspecies name of Chlosyne theona chinatiensis.

See any difference from below?

Chinati Checkerspot (C. theona chinatiensis)

VS

Theona Checkerspot (C. theona), Big Bend National Park, 2012

For this type comparison, it is unfortunate that today's Chinati Checkerspot was a well-worn adult.  The individual Theona Checkerspot photographed back in 2012 is a fresh adult.

Now, same individuals from above:

Chinati Checkerspot (C. theona chinatiensis)

Theona Checkerspot (C. theona)

Chinati Checkerspot was a new species...uh, subspecies for our backyard. Its larvae like to feed on Leucophyllum.  We call that, generally, Cenizo out here.

We have actually had decent rainfall this calender year and it has been a great year for checkerspots and crescents.

And for this late-October afternoon, this worn Chinati Checkerspot was still hanging on...

Latest Publicly Released Statement on Polygonia haroldi Discovery

(This reply from Rich is in reference to a question about lack of publicity over the discovery of Polygonia haroldi in the Davis Mts, as seen in our earlier post.)

11:05PM  29 June 2013
via the TX-Butterfly list-serv:

Actually, I think there has been a fair bit of comment on it, just not on this listserv.  There are just so many forums to post stuff to nowadays.  I think the initial post, which was to get confirmation on the ID, was on a NABA forum.  Anyway, because the Spotless Comma was found on private land, the observers have been inclined towards vagueness about the locality of the sighting.  I can be a bit more specific.  Despite what the AP Press reported (they did a story of several rare Davis Mountains critter sightings and mistakenly stated that the comma was at Davis Mountains State Park), the comma was actually found in the high country (near 8000') on The Nature Conservancy's Davis Mountains Preserve.  Apparently, the sighting did generate a fair bit of interest, but we (TNC) don't really have a good handle on that interest as most of the queries were directed at Dr. Hoyt, the researcher from the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute who actually found the comma and initially posted about it.  So, I am not sure how much interest there was/is in chasing the comma, possibly collecting it, or whatever.  Anyway, the comma or I should say commas, have now been seen for about a month now.  We have actually confirmed multiple individuals and a courtship flight has been observed.  Their host plant (Ribes) is available in the mountains.  According to "A Swift Guide Butterflies of Mexico and Central America", Polygonia haroldii is a bug of pine-oak forest and, until now, it was known to range as far north as the Sierra del Carmen just south of Big Bend.  This sort of begs several questions - are these just vagrants, recent colonists, an overlooked/undiscovered until now member of the local butterfly fauna? The site where the commas are being seen is not totally inaccessible (though not necessarily easily accessible), but it is also in an area with sensitive habitat and several rare plants and we do have some concern about potential impacts to that habitat and those plants.

Rich


Richard Kostecke, Ph.D.
The Nature Conservancy
318 Congress Ave., Austin, Texas 78701
Email: rkost73@yahoo.com or rkostecke@tnc.org

Exciting Discoveries Return to the Davis Mountains.

Photo © Mark Lockwood

Long-eared Owl (Asio otus)

As one of the enigmatic species of North America, one does not always go out to see a Long-eared Owl (LEOW).
The LEOW finds you.  It is up to the bird.

Recently, in the Davis Mountains (no more specific than that for a few valid reasons), TWO nests belonging to LEOW were discovered.  Two nests and nestlings.  Quite the discovery!
Have LEOW had prior, even annual, nesting in these mountains, only revealed post-fires?

It would seem the last nesting record of this species in Texas was in 1996 from Amarillo.

Excellence number two:

                                                           Photo © Cathryn Hoyt                                                                  

Spotless Comma/Anglewing (Polygonia haroldii)

This individual was recently discovered in the Davis Mountains by Dr. Cathy Hoyt.
This is THE FIRST U.S. RECORD for this species.

Is this butterfly a lone ranger, perhaps blown to this location by south winds?
Is there actually an isolated population of the species, uncovered only now post-fires?

Amazing, intriguing, stuff.
Greatness.

Flame-colored Tanager via Colima Death March

 A bit of background: 6 May, Flame-colored Tanager was reported near the junction of Boot and Juniper trails by Mark Flippo, retired BBNP staff who continues to remain designated Trail Ninja. It has been seen/sort-of-seen almost daily since then. Our first attempt was on 28 May. It's funny, claiming the Colima Death March (traditionally a combination of Pinnacles or Laguna Meadows trails to Colima Trail... and back) in the name of a non-Colima. While we did trot past ~5 singing Colima Warblers on our way up Pinnacles (the steeper and more grueling, but shorter of the approaches), our goal was the same as it was last time... Flame-colored Tanager. "Heard-only" is a heck of a foot note for such a gorgeous bird, but that's what it was. So we had to give it another try. In late June. Because we are masochists and that's what our schedule allowed.

Colima Warbler before sun reached our slope.

Note:
Boot Canyon itself is listed as 'strenuous' but fails to mention 'grueling' in the description! Our traditional approach ends up being something like 11-12 miles round trip. Boot Canyon, as a trail, is not bad at all. But you have to GET to it first! Darn the Pinnacles...

Flame-colored Tanager, 21 June 2013

This time we were able to make it out of Marathon before 5 am and hit the trail just before 6:30 am. We scooted past Hutton's Vireo (food carrying), singing and snacking Colima Warblers, Canyon Wrens falling/chasing each other down a cliff face, and begging/parent-chasing White-throated Swifts. Nearing the end of the trek, we were graced by the presence of the Ghost of Christmas Bird Counts Past: Ron Weeks. Also, the Ghost of Gulf Coast Birding Past: Brad Lirette. Having not seen either of them in roughly 10 years, it was a very hasty but pleasant reunion (and introduction to Matt) as they graciously backtracked up the trail to show us the spot where we'd waited for hours last time: instead of sticking to the ridge line, however, the female Western Tanager and male Flame-colored Tanagers were staying mid-canopy along the trail!

Golden Banded-Skipper (Autochton cellus)

Butterflies were definitely out as well: Arizona Sister, Two-tailed Swallowtail, Lyside Sulphur, American Snout, Varigated Fritillary, Gulf Fritillary, Golden-banded Skipper, Juniper Hairstreak, etc.

Painted Redstart adult, preening.

In addition to the flame-colored proverbial icing on the cake, we shared the morning with a cluster of Painted Redstarts, Black-crested Titmice feeding young, singing Colima Warblers, singing Black-headed Grosbeaks, singing Hepatic Tanagers, fly-by Summer Tanagers, one Band-tailed Pigeon, groups of Mexican Jays, a pair of Dusky-capped Flycatchers, a Cordilleran Flycatcher, some Hutton's Vireos, a female Lucifer Hummingbird, and a smattering of other high-elevation goodies.
As we were leaving the park, we stopped at Panther Junction on social rounds and were given directions to a hybrid agave/lechuguilla... but that may be a plant for another post!





Click here for the eBird list from Boot Canyon, and here for the eBird list from Pinnacles Trail.

Here's another pile of Flame-colored goodness, all heavily cropped:

Flame-colored Tanager, 21 June 2013

Flame-colored Tanager, 21 June 2013

Flame-colored Tanager, 21 June 2013

Flame-colored Tanager, 21 June 2013

neighborly beasts

It would seem that we've moved from the windscorpion side of town to the windscorpion and scorpion and spider and roach side of town. Mark recapture studies of HUGE wolf spiders in the bathroom gave way to smush and wait a few days until there's another and smush and repeat and WHERE ARE THEY COMING FROM?!? studies. Only one baby windscorpion in the house so far, along with a Bordered Patch; more on that shortly. The house has external features such as exceptionally HUGE wolf spiders, scorpions under rocks, roaches in abundance, a pair of Texas Horned Lizards to keep the red ants in check, and now a Smith's/Southwestern Blackhead Snake, hopefully to snack additional insects. It was found in a neighbor's greenhouse, initially identified as a drowned, bloated earthworm... as that identification was incorrect, as was the second attempt, it came home in a coffee can for further ID and to be released in friendly territory. At last check, it was burrowing nicely under a potted plant at the site of release.

Smith's, or Southwestern Blachead Snake, Tantilla hobartsmithi

As for the Bordered Patch (Chlosyne lacinia), I suspect that it hatched in our bathroom. Not sure how/why else a very fresh adult Bordered Patch would be found standing on the bathroom floor. A few items from our old porch at the Double Bacon are in that bathroom, and that porch was certainly full of Bordered Patch cocoons...

Bordered Patch (Chlosyne lacinia)

And a horribly blurry parting shot - just for the warm, buffy, rusty orange color that contrasts so elegantly with the white spots and black border...

Bordered Patch (Chlosyne lacinia)

Marathon 'patch' news

Starting with a butterfly update from the south side of town...
1 Common Streaky-skipper (Celotes nessus)

Monarchs are still trickling through in single digits along with Checkered Whites; there's so much birding to be done that the butterflies have mostly been incidental!

This week's birding along Post Road and at Post Park (* denotes new arrivals):

Scaled Quail (Callipepla squamata)
Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)*
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)
American Coot (Fulica americana)
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)
Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)
White-winged Dove (Zenaida asiatica)
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)
Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri)
Golden-fronted Woodpecker (Melanerpes aurifrons)
Ladder-backed Woodpecker (Picoides scalaris)
Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus)
Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens)
Western Kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis)
Bell's Vireo (Vireo bellii)
Cassin's Vireo (Vireo cassinii)*
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis)*
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
Cave Swallow (Petrochelidon fulva)
Verdin (Auriparus flaviceps)
Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris)
Cactus Wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus)
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)
American Pipit (Anthus rubescens)
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)
Wilson's Warbler (Cardellina pusilla)
Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens)*
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus)
Canyon Towhee (Melozone fusca)
Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii)
Brewer's Sparrow (Spizella breweri)
Lark Sparrow (Chondestes grammacus)
Black-throated Sparrow (Amphispiza bilineata)
Lark Bunting (Calamospiza melanocorys)
Lincoln's Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii)
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)
Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra)
Pyrrhuloxia (Cardinalis sinuatus)
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus)
Hooded Oriole (Icterus cucullatus)*
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)
Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus)



Rusty Blackbird, Post Road 19 April, 2013



Rusty Blackbird, Post Road 19 April, 2013

Marathon "patch" outside of Post:

Gadwall (Anas strepera)
American Wigeon (Anas americana)
Mexican Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata)
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca)
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)
Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)
Eared Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis)
Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)*
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)
Wilson's Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor)*
Inca Dove (Columbina inca)
Say's Phoebe (Sayornis saya)
Cassin's Kingbird (Tyrannus vociferans)
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Tyrannus forficatus)*
Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota)
Curve-billed Thrasher (Toxostoma curvirostre)
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater)

"Patch" highlights from the previous week:

Franklin's Gull (Leucophaeus pipixcan)
Plumbeous Vireo (Vireo plumbeous)*

Looking back on 2012

2012 in review... something of a daunting task, but we generally do a semi-annual update and the timing is about right for one. Let the festival of links begin!

Changes and challenges:

In somewhat exciting news, we've decided to branch out a bit - we've always done informal guiding, but now we've actually listed regional guiding here on the blog. Regardless of skill level, we're more than happy to introduce folks to the birds (and butterflies) or general nature of the region; Marathon is our home turf, but as long as our schedules work out, we're quite happy to help out with Balmorhea, the Davis Mountains and whatever else suits you. Year listers, county listers, target birding or simply soaking up the region - we'd be happy to help. 

It was also in 2012 that eBird reviewing for Reeves and Pecos Counties fell into play: Pecos hasn't even been touched yet, but the learning curve has gone from vertical to... still pretty steep. It's all in the name of progress, right? Speaking of progress, there's another Sul Ross State University grad in the family! After 9 years, 7 moves, 3 schools and 2 states, Heidi finished ~160 hours of a B.A.

This was also the first year that both of us were recruited to co-lead trips for the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival. For 2011 we were tied up with a booth, so 2012 was a bit more freeing, even if that free time was used to track down speaker/sponsor/leader people for the summer festival!

Last year saw 131 blog posts here, peaking in July with 20 posts. Can't imagine why... we only assembled the finest crew of Texas birders with Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman in attendance!

From left to right: Cameron Carver, Kelly Bryan, Matthew York, Heidi Trudell, Kimberly Kaufman, Kenn Kaufman, and Steve Gross. Mark Flippo disappeared in the photo; ninjas do not show up in photographs. Photo by Patty Pasztor.

Blog factoids and people aside, it was quite a year for birds in our region (roughly Brewster, Jeff Davis and Reeves Counties), including but not limited to:
January - Nutting's Flycatcher, a life bird for both of us!)
April - Swainson's and Hermit Wablers
August - Black-billed Cuckoo, Black-throated Green Warbler
October - Sabine's Gull - another double life bird, Varied Thrush, Surf Scoter and Red Phalarope
November - Williamson's Sapsucker* (usually in Jeff Davis Co, not Marathon!)
December - Red Crossbill - it most certainly has been Winter of the Crossbills, and not just for our region. They've been reported all over the southern states and throughout much of Texas. In December we also snuck off to Lubbock to see a double-life Northern Shrike!

Most cooperative non-passerine of the year goes to a pair of Zone-tailed Hawks that cooperated for the festival, tending to their large nestling (still in nest) in front of a group of ~15 or so folks!

Zone-tailed Hawk (Buteo albonotatus), photo by Matt York.

...but let's not forget the butterflies that made this year amazing:
Palmer's Metalmark stole the show for the entire summer and well into fall. Common Mestras made an exceptional appearance nearly daily in our yard - not that they ever landed - and made a surge throughout the state. And Big Bend? Diversity was fantastic, and we only made it down there a few times! The festival list was also quite impressive.

Arizona Sister (Adelpha eulalia), photo by Matt York.

Moths took on a whole new meaning to us in 2012, with regular sessions: Summer was great for blacklighting big moths and medium moths and little moths, but the fall threw amazing diversity at us. Biggest miss of the year: Mexican Agapema. We must have slept through it. But, really, the mothy highlight of the year: Plagiomimicus olvello, our beloved Planet Arium Moth.

Planet Arium Moth (Plagiomimicus olvello), photo by Matt York.

It will be interesting to see what 2013 brings; we're already off to a good start with more Red Crossbills and a Rough-legged Hawk! Rumor has it that August 8-11 will be the next birding festival out here, but details are still in the works.

Happy New Year and happy trails,
-Heidi & Matt

Palmer's Metalmark, still flying.

Apodemia palmeri, Palmer's Metalmark

Marathon
Brewster County

Poospective

Have you ever approached a cluster of poo-nectaring butterflies and they all scat-turd when you got too close? /punny

Here are a few more shots from 30 July 2010 - Dotted Roadside-Skipper and Common Buckeye - this leaves ample room for for poop jokes, but we'll try to keep a straight face over here and let you make your own. Heck, you can even leave them in the comments, but we can't promise not to censor them if they're entirely inappropriate. 

Dotted Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes eos)

Somewhere in here the obligatory "ah, smell the fresh country air!" fits in. At least you've been spared belly-crawling through a minefield of horse apples to get these shots. I certainly appreciated the views regardless!

Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia)

And from 31 July, same poop, different day - there's a party going on under there!

These images are from July of 2010 - this post may be duplicated, backdated or otherwise modified to mesh with the archives better. But for now it's being posted 6 September 2012.

butterfly bait

In assembling the posts from the summer of 2010, there was a pretty big void where there should have been photos. Lovely, lovely photos. Yes, that's how we'll describe them.

Not every butterfly 'nectars' on flowers... these butterflies are enjoying a horse's contribution to the nutrient cycle. Matter is neither created nor destroyed.

Sleepy Oranges (Abaeis nicippe)

Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) with Sleepy Oranges

Queen (Danaus gilippus) with Sleepy Oranges

You may notice a trend here...

Sleepy Oranges LOVE their nutrient slurry to be pre-digested. They like mud puddles, too, but who can resist a fresh cluster of pure joy? Not Common Buckeyes.

Common Buckeyes (Junonia coenia) with Sleepy Oranges

Common Buckeye with Dotted Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes eos)

Common Buckeyes with Sleepy Oranges

Common Buckeye with Sleepy Oranges

These photos were taken on 30 July 2010, posted on Big Bend Nature.com on 4 September 2012; they'll be backdated or double posted or linked as appropriate.

Desert Checkered-Skipper

Pyrgus philetas(L.) and Reakirt's Blue Echinargus isola(R.)



Post Park, south of Marathon, Brewster County.

Palmer's Metalmark

Apodemia palmeri on Phyla incisa or Sawtooth Frogfruit

A fairly sought after butterfly, including by Texans, the Palmer's Metalmark continues to have a strong showing this year.  At least it has in Brewster County.


This species is truly a trans-Pecos butterfly when reviewing its range within the state.  It also occurs in parts of New Mexico and portions of Arizona.

This particular individual was photographed on the road to Post Park, a few miles south of Marathon in Brewster County.  The patches of frogfruit alongside this road, generally in the culverts, can be quite productive for butterflies.




Click for previous posts regarding this species.

Here's to a great Fall..