Butterfly Hunting

After reading about Matt and Rebecca’s productive butterfly hunt on Matt’s Blog and with the winds not due to kick in until noon, I headed out to Hondo Canyon yesterday to look for some butterflies.  Incredibly, I only saw a grand total of 3 the whole day (and pretty quiet birdwise as well)….one itty bitty one and a small white one, both too flighty to get a picture of, and one I think is a Field Crescent.

Field Crescent

(The only good news from today’s butterfly hunt, by the way, was with my new Field Guide I was able to figure out  a couple of the pictures on my website from last year labeled ‘Butterfly’ were actually Painted Lady and Acmon Blue.)  Maybe it was too early in the morning or too cold or too breezy, but that was it even after checking out several other places that seemed like pretty good habitat, including Ojito de San Antonio, Cienega Canyon, and finally, downtown at the Botanic Garden and Tingley Ponds.  Did get a nice picture of a penstemon in bloom while I was in Hondo Canyon, though.

Penstemon

Departing a little from my ‘natural moments’ theme, the Botanic Garden has a dazzling display of poppies, peonies, and iris going on at the moment, and yesterday was also an orchid show.

Iris

The iris were present in a variety of colors and were even better in close-up.  I may need to go back if the wind ever stops and maybe even bring along a tripod.

Iris Close-up

No butterflies at Tingley Ponds, either, but dragonflies and damselflies are starting to appear.  This one is a Blue-fronted Dancer.

Blue-fronted Dancer

With my fancy new macro lens, enough light, and patience of the members of Odonata, I was able to get pretty close to these guys for pictures, including this Variegated Meadowhawk.

Variegated Meadowhawk

Beware, butterflies!  I’m coming back and next time you’d better show yourselves!

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