We haven't posted in a while, and that is because we left Leadville Fish Hatchery in mid-September and headed back to our "home base" in Medina, Texas. I needed to get some dental work underway, and we both needed to catch up on doctor, dentist, and eye exams before we head out again at the end of October.
We have had a chance to get out to the Hill Country State Natural area and a couple of the local nature centers. While the birds have been scarce the insects are more cooperative.
By far the most common butterflies in the area are American Snouts. They are flying by the hundreds of thousands, and getting hit by the thousands. The local car washes are doing a brisk business, as a 30 mile trip can net several hundred dead Snouts on your car!
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| American Snout |
More colorful are these two tiny butterflies from the area. Neither is any larger than a fingernail.
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| Ceraunus Blue |
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| Rounded Metalmark |
The Cibolo Nature Center has a small marsh with a boardwalk that turned out to be a pretty good spot for dragonflies. The most colorful was this Roseate Skimmer.
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| Roseate Skimmer |
Less colorful but more common were Common Whitetails.
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| Common Whitetail |
And back home on our deck, this Praying Mantis was prowling around looking for a meal.
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| Praying Mantis |
Hopefully we'll get some cold fronts and some birds shortly. But in the meantime we'll keep looking at what else is crawling about!
Mark
that roseate skimmer sure catches my eye! Never seen one... it's beautiful! Love your up close and personal photos of those butterflies. Lovely!
ReplyDeleteWhere are you going in October?
ReplyDeleteWe will be guiding bird walks at Goose Island State park in the Rockport/Fulton area in the months of November and December. Still here in Medina through most of October.
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