My photo tank is getting low, so send me your good wildlife photos, please. Posting will probably be light today as I’m crazy busy getting ready to go to India. A week from today, jet-lagged, I’ll be on the train from Delhi to Chandigarh to begin the first leg of the Jerry Coyne All-India Tour.
Today’s photos come from reader Karen Bartelt, who continues her photoodyssey in Texas with some photos of birds and butterflies (see part I here). Her notes are indented.
South Texas, Part IIWe visited the Laguna Ascosta National Wildlife Reserve and some other areas in the Harlingen-Brownsville area. More first-time birds and butterflies.Plain chachalaca (Ortalis vetula); near Los Fresnos TX:
Soldier (Danaus eresimus); Laguna Atascosa NWR:
Gulf fritillary (Agraulis vanillae); Laguna Atascosa NWR:
Buff-bellied hummingbird (Amazilia yucatanensis); Hugh Ramsey Park in Harlingen TX:
Band-celled sister (Adelpha fessonia); Resaca de la Palma State Park near Brownsville TX:
Malachite (Siproeta stelenes); Frontera Audubon Center, Weslaco TX:
18 Comments
Wow. Simply gorgeous. I’m off to read about the Plain Chachalaca now. Totally new for me. Thank you.
Wow, those are amazing. I would be completely thrilled to see even half of those species of Leps in the wild.
Nice photos! A policy of providing some sort of sense of scale with photos would be helpful.
Oooh, I’m going to the Harlingen area of Texas for New Year. After looking at these, I’m looking forward to it even more.
It’s really a neat place. If you like butterflies, be sure to visit the National Butterfly Center in Mission.
“Chachalaca” — what a great word. I’m going to steal it, corrupt its taxonomic designation, and incorporate it into my vocabulary as an exclamation signifying “way cool,” “dope”.
There are other kinds of chachalacas in Central and South America. A few years ago, one of our guides (in Costa Rica, I think), said that this can be used to refer to someone who is kind of a chatterbox, as in “My mother-in-law is a real chachalaca.”
That could be a huge insult to the mother-in-law. I listened to audio of the bird. I’m sort of glad they don’t live here and make that racket. But I’d love to hear it live one time in person.
I listened to some audios of their calls, and must say that I agree with you — I wouldn’t want to hear that racket more than once or twice unless I was a chachalaca myself.
Here’s what they sound like! (I think “Screaming Chacalacas” is a a great name for a band!”)
That’s one hell of an alarm clock. The noise could even lead to their extinction by humans. I only heard an individual. It’s worse in a flock.
Where can we send in wildlife photos?
Google the name and unversity of the proprietor, and his university email address will come up. Use that one.
Thanks 🙂
The malachite butterfly is beautiful. The Frontera Audubon Center in Weslaco where it was photographed may be threatened by Trump’s Wall.
The malachite butterfly is pretty.
I love the hummingbird too, and I was surprised to find out that preying mantises eat them.
ehopps, it should be praying*
and that should be whoops*