Yesterday morning I found an interesting skipper in the lavender plants by our front porch. When I saw it I immediately knew that it wasn't anything I had ever seen before. The first thing that came to mind was Ocola Skipper, but I wasn't sure. I took a bunch of pictures and then went inside to check it out. Turns out, it was indeed an Ocola! This is the first Kansas record and also the first record from the genus
Panoquina! Joseph came over after school and managed to see it, but unfortunately it was gone when Bryant and I got home a little later.
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| Ocola Skipper |
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| Ocola Skipper |
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| Ocola Skipper |
While Bryant and I were trying to refind it, we did found this Skipperling. It appears to just be a Orange Skipperling, but the upperwings look similar to a Southern Skipperling, which would be another first state record!
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| Skipperling sp. |
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| Skipperling sp. |
The strong south winds around here for the last couple of days probably brought many stray butterflies up here. Joseph also had a Texan Crescent and a Bordered Patch at his place this evening, both southern butterflies. Hopefully all the southern stuff hangs around for several days.
I also had two Common Redpolls in the yard about two weeks ago. They were lifers, but unfortunately I didn't get any good pictures. They were also the earliest seen in Kansas by a week! All in all, it has been a good fall!
Andrew
