More About Butterflies

There are a lot of butterflies around here as well and I have not seen many birds lately, but I did manage to find year bird #252, a White-winged Dove in Hutch. We have a large Privet bush in our yard that has produced some interesting butterflies of late.  It is nice that it is so close, so I can check it often.  The nice thing about butterflies is that for the most part, they will let you get close enough to actually photograph them.  Birds, on the other hand, require much more patience to actually get a good picture.  Here are some of my pictures.

This Coral Hairstreak was feeding on the flowering Privet bush in our yard.  It was a lifer!

Even though these are supposed to be rare, Joseph and I have seen close to ten Gray Coppers
this year.

This is only the second Funereal Duskywing that I have seen.

I saw this Variegated Fritillary in our neighbors alfalfa field.

This Arogos Skipper was my 71st life butterfly in Kansas.

One neat thing about butterflies is that since I don't know very much about them and haven't been watching them for very long, there are lots of new things to learn about them!

Andrew

Leps of Late

With migration over, we birders are now allowed to pay attention to other things besides birds, in our case, butterflies. There is quite a good selection here in Kansas, with day lists often topping 20-30 species (and even 40, if you're really lucky) in late summer. The best one-day total I've tallied this year is only 26 species, but I've also managed to find a few lifers, bringing my Kansas life list up to an even 70 species.

I found this Little Wood Satyr (a lifer) near our farm a few days ago. This had been somewhat of a nemesis butterfly for me, so I was glad to finally catch up with one.

American Snouts, with their unique labial palps (think nose), are around again.

 Summer Azures are back, fluttering around the Rough-leaved Dogwood clumps.

Checkered Whites are one of the most common butterflies around right now. Its caterpillars (along with those of the Cabbage Whites) are the ones that destroy your cabbage and broccoli plants.

A Clouded Sulphur nectaring on a thistle.

This Hackberry Emperor was feeding on rotting cherries a few mornings ago.

I found this Funereal Duskywing (a lifer) as well as the Gray Copper below while swathing hay earlier this week.

And finally, a Delaware Skipper, one of our most common skippers.

If you are interested in getting into butterflies a good guide to start with is Butterflies of Oklahoma, Kansas, and North Texas. Although it only has 100 of the most common species in the covered area, it covers pretty much everything you'll be able to identify.

Joseph

Cheyenne Bottoms and Quivira on June 1

Last weekend, our uncle Bill from North Carolina stopped by our area to visit family.  Bill is rarely in this area without making a run to Quivira sometime during his stay, and he's usually obliging enough to take his eager nephews along.  At about 5:45 Monday morning, we (Bill, Andrew, Joseph, and I) piled into Bill's minivan and headed to Quivira and nearby Cheyenne Bottoms for a morning of birding.

We headed straight through the Big Salt Marsh to the rail fields at the north-west end of the refuge.  We hopped out of the car to listen and before long, a Black Rail began calling not far away.  With that year bird acquired for Joseph and Bill, we headed back around the Wildlife Drive.  We were surprised to flush a flock of eight Black-crowned Night-herons from among the cattails, but that was the most unusual sighting.

Things began to pick up some when we revisited the road (NE 170th St.) we had passed over quickly on our way to the rail field.  A variety of shorebirds, forced onto the road because of the high water, gave us great looks.  The highlights were eight Sanderling, three of which were in alternate plumage, and a Ruddy Turnstone.

Alternate plumage Sanderling: photo by Andrew

Ruddy Turnstone: photo by Bryant

Having scanned the Big Salt Marsh at Quivira, it was time to head to Cheyenne Bottoms.  We stopped briefly at the Visitor's Center and then headed out into the marsh.  The east side produced very little, and it was only when we got around to the west side that the birds started being more cooperative.  We were driving along scanning the marsh, when Andrew yelled, "Neotropic Cormorant."  As soon as the van stopped, we all piled out and took a look.  Sure enough, a small cormorant with a long tail was flying away.  Some of us even saw the white line on the edge of the gular patch; certainly a Neotropic.  They nested there last year and appear to be staying the summer this year as well.  Lifer for Bill and a year bird for Andrew and me!

Neotropic Cormorant: photo by Bryant

This Forster's Tern came waltzing by, giving us good picture opportunities: photo by Andrew

A short while later, a small heron-like bird perched on the cattails caught our attention.  The Least Bittern stayed put long enough for us to get pictures.  Another year bird for Andrew, Bill, and me!

Least Bittern: photo by Andrew

Strength in numbers!  Three pairs of Canada Geese and their goslings joined forces.  I'm not quite sure why, but they probably had a reason: photo by Bryant

A closeup of some of the geese: photo by Bryant

We finished our run of the marsh and were on our way out, when Andrew stopped us.  He thought he had a Western Grebe.  As it turned out, it was not just one Western Grebe, but nine!  This was a lifer for Bill and a year bird for Andrew and me.  One pair even treated us to their unique mating dance, in which they run on top of the water with their necks arched!  What a fascinating sight, and also a very unusual one for Kansas.

A pair of Western Grebes: photo by Bryant

What a great day of birding with Uncle Bill!

Bryant