Finding a Rare Butterfly

Last week I spent some time in Central New Mexico to enjoy being in the mountains where it is appreciably cooler than in Central Texas in August. We were visiting longtime friends who had recently had a nightmare experience of having a wildfire come within 400 feet of their barn. They were saved destruction by a fleet of aircraft dropping fire retardant chemicals between the fire and their buildings as recorded in this photo. The roof of their home can be seen in the bottom right of the photo. These photos are too often seen on television news programs, but are not expected to occur in your backyard.

My friend, Bill Simms, and I visited a nearby U.S. Forest Service fire tower in the Manzano Mountains where we had a bird's eye view of the most recent fire destruction as well as another fire several years ago. The view from the top brought back memories of my youthful days when I spent three summers fighting forest fires in Northern Idaho, Montana and Washington. Seeing a forest fire up close and personal is an unforgettable and  scary experience.

On the way down from the fire tower I was looking for birds and butterflies to photograph and found a mud puddle in the gravel road where a number of butterflies were getting a drink. My practice is to take photos of the various species and sort out their identity later at my computer. This is a great way to learn how to identify the various species without having to chase them for a close look at their features. The downside of this technique is that if you happen to find a rare butterfly there is no chance to get better looks at your new discovery. Among the seven species of butterflies  puddling was a rare one that is only found along a narrow range in the mountains of  New Mexico and southern Colorado. It is the Mexican Sootywing, a close relative of the Common Sootywing which occurs over much of the continental United States.

I did recognize that one small black butterfly seemed different than other butterflies I had seen or photographed. The butterfly was less than an inch wide with many small white spots on the topside of the fore wing. No bells went off in my head to pay closer attention to this butterfly. Fortunately, my photos were in focus and I could study the insect on my computer screen.

Looking in my Brock and Kaufman field guide, I saw that there were only two possible species, Common and Mexican sootywings. The text pointed out that the two species were almost identical except that the Mexican Sootywing had a bluish sheen and dark veins in the underside of the back wing. My problem was that the photograph was mostly of the top side of the fore wing. I had an idea to photoshop the photo by lightning up the photo to see if the dark veins might show up on the underside of the back wing. The dark veins were confirmed,  so it was the Mexican Sootywing.

The location of the photo was within the narrow north-south range for the Mexican Sootywing, which also helped confirm its possible identity. I sent the photo a friend in San Antonio, who is an expert lepidopterist, for his thoughts and he said it was the Mexican Sootywing. It was not  new record for the county, but that was not as important as finding, identifying and photographing a new butterfly.

I can not take much credit for finding this butterfly except for being in the right place at the right time. But, putting yourself in the right place allows for serendipity to come in play. It was a memorable experience.

Old Tunnel State Park

If you are looking for a quiet place to go birding during the hot summer months in the Texas Hill Country, I would suggest that you consider spending a early morning walking the nature trail at the Old Tunnel State Park. Known for its being the summer home for a couple million Mexican Free-tailed Bats, the state park is located only ten miles southeast of Fredericksburg on the Old San Antonio Road. The park also has interesting birds, butterflies and dragonflies to observe as you walk the moderately difficult hiking trail. The trail is less than a mile in length, but features of couple of short fairly steep climbs for hikers.

Jane Crone and I visited the Park this past Sunday. We were met by a Canyon Wren on the viewing stand bleachers; a great first bird of the day. On the way down to the benches located just above the tunnel entrance, we saw several adult birds feeding young - Bewick's Wren, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Northern Cardinal and Eastern Phoebe. A couple species of vireo and an empid flycatcher were also present. It was about 8:15AM  when we took our seats on the benches, and were immediately treated to a small "fall-out" of bats returning to the tunnel which lasted for almost 30 minutes.The bats were literally falling out of the sky like rocks - just brown blurs. Neither of us had seen the bats return to the tunnel, so it was a special treat.

While on the benches we had another special treat - Jane spotted a female Black-capped Vireo in the brush just below us. These vireos are not on the park bird list, so we can report a new bird for the park. We also saw a female Indigo Bunting feeding two youngsters and a couple of juvenile Summer Tanagers. From the bridge over the flowing stream we could see thousands of bats roiling inside the tunnel - not sure what was happening with the bats - feeding youngsters?.

The only other notable birds were a couple of Black and White Warblers doing their 'limb-walking" routine searching for prey hiding in the tree bark. Two notable butterflies were seen in the creek bottom - Red-spotted Purple and Common Mestra. Attaching a photo of a Red-spotted Purple for your enjoyment - a beautiful uncommon butterfly.

Most people think of emerging bats at dusk to be the reason to visit the state park, but a daytime visit can also be rewarding. Hope you will consider a visit to the Old Tunnel.

                                                                 Black-capped Vireo

Red-spotted Purple

 

You might be inspired by nature music!

 

Enchanted Rock State Natural Area and the Friends of Enchanted Rock present Eco-Musicology and The Rock at the park this Thursday, July 28th, at 7:30 PM.  The performance will be given by Baylor University Masters in Music graduate Anne-Marie Houy and will feature music inspired by the natural world, including bird calls, played on a flute.  Anne-Marie’s interactive performance will include an emphasis on listening to the sounds of nature. The performance is offered at no charge (standard park admission fees apply) and will be held at the base of the Enchanted Rock, just down the steps from the Trail Head Pavilion.  Anne-Marie is a Fredericksburg native and daughter of Kim and Dennis Houy.  Bring a folding chair.  More information is available on the park’s website.

Bathing Birds

Bill,

I have birdbath in my yard (shown in the attached photograph) and enjoy watching not only migrants but most of the local resident birds visit it from time to time.

All take a drink, including turkeys and the neighborhood roadrunner, and most try to get cool or bathe by splashing water upon themselves.

That includes the hummingbirds that either land or while hovering bush their breasts against the running water as it comes off the rocks.  Most birds then fly to a nearby limb, ruffle their feathers and with their head and beak spread and shake the water from their feathers.  Most also go back for a second visit.

There is one bird that is so different that I watch it to make sure that it is consistent every time it comes.  Every time the white-eyed vireo flies down from a limb and, without stopping, appears to put its feet and breast into the small pool (at the right in the photograph) and, as though pushing off from touching the bottom, immediately flies back to the perch.

I have never seen it land and splash in the water like the other birds, although it does fluff its feathers when it goes back to its perch.  It also goes back at least one or more additional times.

I may have seen something similar in an eastern phoebe, swallow or purple martin, but never in one of the woodland type birds.

I can’t imagine that this is the behavior of an individual white-eyed vireo, but I guess that is a possibility.  I suppose this behavior also could be dependent on the design of this birdbath or its location. 

My question is have you ever seen this kind of behavior in a white-eyed vireo or in any of the vireo species or other woodland type species?

Can you think of any reason why the white-eyed vireo bathing behavior would be different?

Delmar Cain

Hi Delmar,

Thanks for comments on observing birds taking baths. I was not able to download your photograph becaues it was zipped. It is safe to say that all birds that take water baths do not follow any specific set of rules. You described the most common way which is to sit or stand in very shallow water flutter their wings and tails to distribute water over their feathers. Their actions may allow complete submergence of their bodies. The bathing purpose is not to "wash" their feathers, but to wet them. With the wet feathers they are able do their preening chores such as removing old oil deposits and make it easier to spread the new oil. I get the impression that the birds also like to take baths to cool off on very hot days.

Your observation of the White-eyed Vireo hitting the water quickly and going to a nearby limb to do his preening chores recalled a vague past memory.  This spring while visiting the Agarita bird blind in South Llano River State Park near Junction, I noticed some of the birds hitting the water rather than landing. I was interested in this action because I  had never seen this before. I do not recall the species, but my recollection is that it was likely a Bell's Vireo, may have been a Black-capped Vireo. The action was repeated enough to get my attention, but I did not dwell on it because I was looking to get a great photo. Your comments set off my recalling this bathing method. I will be more observnt the next time I see bird bathing activities.

I have a favorite memory a few years ago of a hummingbird flying though my spraying water while watering my garden.The hummer made repeated passes through the spray and then would perch on my high fence. After a while, I got the message that he wanted me to spray him while he was perched on the fence.When I hit him with the spray, he wiggled and fluttered his wings enjoying every minute of it.I think I made his day!

Thanks for sharing your observations and reminding me to be more observant of the actions of our birds. We likely miss a lot of interesting actions because we are focused on other issues, like identification or photography.

Bill

Young Turkeys Visit my Back Yard

One of my more enjoyable winter birding moments is when a  large flock of more than 40 Wild Turkeys visit my back yard feeding area. These turkeys allow me to throw hen scratch out, sometimes pelting them with the scratch less than ten feet in front of me. This afternoon as I went our to retrieve an empty hummingbird feeder, when I noticed an assortment of turkey hens and poults hanging out under the trees. It was clear to me that these moms remembered my feeding them many times and were bringing the kids for a snack of hen scratch.

After delivering the scratch to the feeding spot, I noticed one of the hens cautiously approached the area and began to feed on my offering. A few minutes the other hens saw the first hen eating and soon joined her. The poults hung back because they did not know what was happening, or what the routine was, but eventually three of them figured it out and joined in the feeding. The rest of the poults soon joined the flock.

It was interesting to see that there were six adult hens and fourteen poults. Looking at the size variation in the poults, I could see three different sizes of youngsters. Three were almost the size of the hens indicating they were among the first to hatch out in the spring. The other eleven poults were split into roughly two sizes, half grown and maybe a quarter the size of the adults. What is going on in this flock?

Hens with just a few poults often join together to raise the kids. I think the flock had three hens with different sized poults and three hens likely had failed nests who joined the flock as either guards or sentinels. A couple of the hens held back with the kids until it was clear that all was okay in their world. Two hens seemed to act as sentinels while the poults were feeding. I also noticed one hen chasing off the eager poults when they encroached in her spot, signaling to me that none of these poults were her offspring. I doubt that a hen with with poults would chase the kids away.

It was a nice surprise to see the turkey hens with youngsters. I suspect they will be returning soon for a meal of hen scratch. It is a little more expensive feeding 40 turkeys than forty goldfinches, but the turkeys are much more fun to watch. I would have liked to get a photo today, but I knew it would not work to go outside for a photo opt. I am pleased to know that my winter guests have bolstered their numbers and I can expect to see them often this winter.

How to send a photo to this blogspot.

Hi,

If you have a question to ask me with a photo, please send me an email with your comments and question and attach the photo to the email (address: billin2@beecreek.net). I will have to transfer the email to my blogsite as a new post and add my reply. Please see the new post from my friend Delmar Cain to see how your question and photo will look on the blogsite. If you do not have a photo, just send a comment and I will post it and reply. If you would prefer to keep your question private, I will reply by email to you and not publish it. Remember, I am the only one able  to post items to the blogspot.

On the right side of the home page you will find the archives section. I will archive posts after a period of two weeks to keep the site up to date.

Thanks for your patience and look forward to hearing from you.
Bill