Butterflies are picking up!

During the last week or two the butterfly diversity in the Rio Grande Valley is definitely on the upswing. This brilliant Ruddy Daggerwing has been present at Frontera Audubon thicket for the past couple of days.



There were a couple of cute Red-bordered Pixies at Anzalduas this morning.



Here's a Gulf Fritilary from Frontera.



And a Variegated Fritilary.



And a buhzillion Queens continue at Frontera.



When I moved to the Valley a little over fifteen years ago I bought a little Kapok tree. It lived in a pot for half of that time and eventually got put in the ground when I moved to Weslaco. This scawny little tree finally put out a couple of flowers. Prettiest Kapok flowers I've ever seen.