November 2018 Sightings

2 - 4 p.m. Weather: 76 degrees, sunny, very windy. Huge increase in Bordered Patch numbers. LCooper

62, sunny no wind

morning cold front passed so temperatures were in low 70’s with north wind and sunny

EPerry from 7:30 to 11 am. Cool start at 68 degrees but it warmed up quickly. Major nectar sources are Bidens alba, Horrible Thistle, and Pickerelweed.

62 degrees and overcast till noon, then sunny and 75 degrees. Huge numbers of butterflies. LCooper, MRickard.

Seven male and one female Chiricahua White observed. One worn male exhibited the “drunken” behavior suggested by Glassberg in Butterflies through Binoculars: The West. The rest seemed sober enough.

Sunny with calm winds.

Mourning Cloaks and California Tortoiseshells both later than I have previously seen them at Rancho San Antonio.

A beautiful beginning to the day quickly turned too windy with the approaching cold front. Major nectar sources are Summer Farewell, Florida Paintbrush (Carphephorus spp.), some Liatris, and Bidens alba. From 9a to 1:20p. EPerry & RWarner

45 degrees and sunny, nectaring on dandelions

Mostly Sunny and 72 degrees. Obs. made between 1:25 & 4:35

Cell phone Photo by Greg Reich

This is a combined list with brief visits to both locations for a total of 3 hours. Hermit Skippers were at both locations. 65-83 degrees, partly cloudy to sunny, strong south winds. LCooper

77 degrees; partly cloudy. Demonstration garden at Environmental Institute of Houston.

78 degrees; partly cloudy. Monarchs nectaring on the aster mixed in with the grass.

78 degrees; partly cloudy.

74 degrees; partly cloudly. Demonstration garden has a white mistflower/white shrubby boneset bush which had just started blooming. Four different species of butterflies were nectaring on it; spotted my first ever Viceroy!

A trailhead to Mary’s Creek. 73 degrees; partly cloudy.

It started out as one of the coolest mornings we have surveyed for butterflies, at 58 degrees! It never got warmer than the high 60’s but butterfly activity picked up around noon and went to about 4:30p. Major nectar sources were Climbing Aster, Pickerelweed, Carphephorus spp., Bidens mitis, and Lobelia glandulosa. EPerry & RWarner from 8:30a to 4:45p. A good time was had by both.

The monarch was a deformed cripple.

Partly Sunny & high temp of 87 degrees & windy. Obs. made from 10:55 till 5:30. Found at least a dozen Atala cats on Coontie at the visitor center.

This list covers the first day field trips for the Texas Butterfly Festival. Weather was 65-83 degrees with some rain near the coast to partly cloudy most of the day. Liris Skipper reported from Roma but no photo. 106 total species for all trips.

Partly to mostly cloudy, 57-63 degrees F., 11:45 to 2:00 pm. Very little nectar left, most was at Meldahl upstream from dam past gate. Combined list.

Mostly Sunny, 83-87 degrees. Obs. made from 9:50 till 5:30. Whirlabout was in the grasp of a spider.

Texas Butterfly Festival field trips to various valley locations. 71-93 degrees, mostly sunny all day. 101 species.

I found the park’s 2nd-ever Malachite at the Mulberry Trees Area, the same place where I discovered the first back on 8-19-2018. I was mostly birding and so I didn’t conduct a thorough inventory today.

Creek is dry now, only nectar plants are a few patches of aster and some weedy yellow star thistle. Only surprise of the day was an Echo Azure.

Noticed a couple of American Snouts fly past my 8th floor window at work and started counting for 15 minutes. Looks like they are migrating due south. Counted from 3:10-3:25, temp was 70.

Temps climbed into the upper 80’s with ample sun. Didn’t find the field of Pineland Purple & Liatris till late in the afternoon, but still saw one Palmetto Skipper here. The field of Saw Palmetto and purple flowers was breathtaking for this NJ native!

Partly Sunny 81-83 degrees from 9:15 till 12:30. Abundant Spanish Needles the main attraction here.

Final day of festival field trips. 79-93 degrees, sunny all day. 15 participants on this trip. Co-leaders LCooper, LGuerra, KWilson

90 degrees; partly cloudy. Demonstration garden at this location has a blooming white mistflower/white shrubby boneset bush that is bringing in the butterflies and bees to nectar. Beautiful sight to see along with wonderful fragrance.

90 degrees; partly cloudy. This location has a Community Gardens project.

84-89 degrees; mostly cloudy. Thrilled to spot four Viceroy and a Dorantes Longtail Skipper!

82 degrees; overcast. HEB grocery store; lantana planted in the parking lot!

Partly cloudy to mostly sunny, low 60’s, breezy with gusts to 25 mph, 1:30 to 3:00 pm.

Sunny high 70’s to low 80’s Obs. made from 7:50 till 12:15 Only had enough time to explore the Sendler Education outpost area & Bio Lab Rd.

This list is combined species list and each photo is labeled with place seen. Weather: 82-92 degrees, mostly sunny. This is my list only. I did not see Red Rim, Polydamas, Giant White, Crimson Patch, Hermit Skipper reported today at these locations. LCooper

Mid afternoon in clouded conditions saw this fresh Red Admiral.

Sunny, light breeze, lower sixties along the Delaware Bay. Seeing Monarchs lazily flowing south along the coast plus one in Downtown Dover as well.

Most of the time was spent in the butterfly garden with a brief stop near the lake.

Weather: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., cloudy in a.m., sunny in p.m. 82-91 degrees - day before a big front is scheduled to arrive. LCooper, DBratlie, BCallahan, TGagnon, DHansen, DMarsh, BMarsh, SMoore, BVolkle, HSalvato, MSalvato, BYukich, KYukich, SAbbey, LValdes, and others.

Gulf Fritillaries continue to visit my yard. At least 11 were here today, some very worn, others fresh looking. The temperature last night went down to 30 F. It has been clear and dry for many days.

(15-132) Another great day at the park.

Not a great picture. It wasn’t being very cooperative, and there was a breeze.

Weather: 50-61 degrees, sunny, breezy. 11:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. Frost overnight after 4 days rain, cold, heavy winds. LCooper, many others.

Brief stop late in the day for White-angled Sulphur found by PKelly. LCooper and many others.

11 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Weather: 61-69 degrees, cloudy to sunny, light breeze. Light freeze overnight. LCooper, KMalone, BMarsh, DMarsh, MOrsie.

70’s. Partly cloudy. 11-11:45 AM.

10:45 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. Weather: 69-79 degrees, sunny, light breeze. LCooper, KMalone.

This was on the Friday butterfly walk led by Rick Snider. The most interesting butterfly seen by everyone was the Manuel’s Skipper. ID determined by a Mike Rickard photo from below.

11:45 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Weather: 73-78 degrees, mostly cloudy. Others saw Saltbush Sootywing but we did not walk far north. LCooper, KMalone.

We found 37 species in the afternoon. The Banded Patch was found by others. The most interesting observation was what appeared to be a Vicroy’s Ministreak.

We had our first snow just 4 days ago and 29 degree temps. Today was sunny and 67 degrees.

11:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. Weather: 83-88 degrees, breezy, partly cloudy. LCooper and others. This list covers species reported to me or seen by me. There is a Rekoa type hairstreak still awaiting official identification. Silver-Banded was at Retama Village wall

I was birding when I stumbled upon this Monarch in 50.9° temperature and sun only showing a bright spot in the sky @ 14:00. The Monarch just leisurely flew off over marsh towards coast of Delaware Bay.

11:00-12:50pm.

Hazy sun, 57°, slight breeze and one active White Sulphur here at 13:40

Attala hairstreak nectaring on joewood

1:30 - 3:30 p.m. Weather: total cloud cover after 2 days of rain following 3 days of cold. 68 degrees. Regular park butterfly walk. LCooper and many more.

11:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Weather: clouds burned off in late morning for full sun. First sunny day since Nov 16. 63-78 degrees. LCooper and others.

10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Weather: 73-84 degrees, partly cloudy. LCooper, JKelly, PKelly, JHengeveld, SHengeveld, BMarsh, DMarsh, BNall, SMoore, BVolkle, BWebber, BYukich, KYukich.

Photo of Guava Skipper by Dorothy. 35 species. Partly sunny.

Bright sun, cool with slight breeze

Bright sun, cool with slight breeze

(17-172) Mostly cloudy. No Monarchs, Long-tailed Skippers or Ocola’s present.

There were more than just 2 blues but couldn’t identify all between Cassius and Ceraunus while moving.
Same with Long-tailed Skippers. Only positively IDed on Long-tailed Skippers but others present may be some Dorantes but again they were always on the move.

With Jan Dauphin

We saw 34 species. There were many individuals! The Salvatos pointed out the Orange-barred Sulphur and Olive-clouded Skipper. Lots of fun!