Dainty Sulphur

Here, finally, is a Dainty Sulphur, and I'm quite excited to finally be posting this! You see, this particular species flies rather erratically. Not only that, but it is quite skittish as well, and tends to take off at the slightest movement. Not having a "nice" camera with a macro lens, all I can do is hope to get close enough to the "prey" to use the extreme close-up of my camera - which I actually accomplished this morning about 8:00, close to the Public Affairs Office at work. I have been trying to photograph this particular species for about 6 weeks, to no avail. So ... finally ... I present to you, the Dainty Sulphur!

(I know, I'm such a Geek!!!!)

Made My Day

Dylan was sitting on the couch with his sisters, snacking on some dry cereal. He was hungry but not toooo hungry. Bedtime is approaching and the kids are winding down. I went into the kitchen and brought them all sippy cups of milk. As I went back into the kitchen, I heard a very loud "DAD!" from Dylan.

Me, from the kitchen, "Hmmm?"

"Dad, you're the best daddy in the world!"

"Thanks, buddy!"

Well. That just made my day, and ends it perfectly.

Even MORE Butterflies!

I know, maybe I should have called this blog Butterflies, Bugs, and Stuff! But, really, I just have not had the time to write more on the "other" stuff. Besides, it's summer and I don't feel like staying inside!

Again, I was out at the blockhouse, with the boss this time, to take a few photos. Here is one of the Blockhouse and the Gantry Crane that I took:


Of course, there were also a lot of things fluttering around. In addition to the two below, I saw Variegated Fritillaries and a Funereal Duskywing, but they were too quick to photograph. Also while we were out, we saw a Barn Owl, four Great Horned Owls, and a pair of Burrowing Owls - not bad for a morning! Anyway, these were at the Blockhouse, a Black Swallowtail:


And a Common Checkered Skipper:
About 100 yards north of the museum is an arroyo that is fast becoming one of my favorite places to visit. Queens, like these below, are very common:

There was also one of these, a (I think!) Northern cloudywing:
This is a new one for me, a Leda Ministreak:
Of course, Gray Hairstreaks are beginning to show up again:
Here are yet some more Palmer's Metalmarks:
And the ubiquitous Checkered White:
And, finally, the world's smallest butterfly, a Western Pygmy Blue, photographed while lying on my side in the dirt waiting for this little (about the size of a fingernail) guy to land!

Yep, More Butterflies!!!

Another brood of Gray Hairstreaks led to this little guy showing up in the garden recently. And at work, I found another area where, today, I found Palmer's Metalmarks, Queens, and, quite surprisingly, about half a dozen Variegated Fritillaries, in addition to all of the Checkered Whites and various Sulphurs and Oranges that are so common here. It seems like another brood of Sleepy Oranges has hatched out, judging by the number of them at the museum.




Oh yeah! Had to go out to the Army Blockhouse today, way out in the desert at Launch Complex 33, and found about half a dozen Western Pygmy Blues - the smallest butterfly in the United States - hope to have photos soon!

More Butterflies, Other Bugs

Today was a very hot day, with the temperature in the low 90's. I did not have a lot of time, nor the inclination to be in the heat, so at lunch I took a walk to an arroyo about 50 yards from the museum. Here is what I saw:

A Sleepy Orange on a Thistle:

A Checkered White on an Aster:

And this, my first Metalmark - Palmer's Metalmark:

This rather odd relative of the Black Widow was seen today:

A neat Tarantula Hawk, these were, literally, covering the climbing milkweed:

A rather odd, fingernail-sized bug, on milkweed:

And here is Climbing Milkweed, host of Queens and nectaring source of many:

A purple Tansy Aster, another nectaring source:

Indian Blanket, yet more nectar!

In addition to these, I saw the ubiquitous skippers, a few Queens, some Clouded and Dainty Oranges, and even a Red Admiral. Quite a good day!

Butterflies

If you have been reading Melissa's blog for any length of time, you are probably aware of the fact that we have become, well, rather butterfly obsessed! I never paid them much attention - okay, that's not really true - I was aware of them, but never gave them the attention I gave other things like minerals, flowering plants, birds, or even other insects. Well, Melissa's butterfly photographs have changed all of that!

I am lucky to work in an area where I can, truly, be "in the wilderness," out in the desert after a five minute drive from my comfy seat in my air-conditioned office. In addition, the museum has a nature trail which, though it needs some work, offers many opportunities for butterfly watching and photography.

After finally getting some nice shots, I wanted to share some of the butterfly photographs I have taken over the last few weeks. Though not quite as good as Melissa's, I do have the advantage of being able to go out into the desert on my lunch breaks and shoot what I want.

Another quick note. I found a puddling site on Friday. A puddling site is a location with damp soil where various species of butterflies "hang out" and dip their probosces ... proboscises ... well, their tongues, into the soil to draw moisture and salts. I was, quite literally, surrounded by blues, skippers, and the occasional fritillary as I sat on a rock and took photos. It was amazing.

Anyway, here are some of my recent photographs.

Tiny Checkerspot, these are everywhere in the mesquite-acacia scrub

behind the golf course.

Queen, very common in scrub

Gray Hairstreak

Lupine Blues, common at the puddling site at

the base of Texas Canyon

Marine Blue, Lupine Blue, and Reakirt's Blue at

the puddling site

Hackberry Emperors, they like to

perch upside down!

My favorite photo - a Reakirts Blue

Don't remember what this is, just a very odd beetle!

And of course, when you are out in the desert, watch out for these,

a 4 foot Western Diamondback Rattlesnake!

Other butterflies identified, but not photographed, at White Sands Missile Range include Black Swallowtail, Two-Tailed Swallowtail, Variegated Fritillary, Checkered White, Sleepy Orange, Clouded Sulphur, Cloudless Sulphur, Dainty Sulphur, Elada Checkerspot, Golden-Headed Scallopwing, Mournful Duskywing, Funereal Duskywing, Common Checkered Skipper, and Common Streaky Skipper. Oh yeah, and golden and fiery skippers, and too many other grass skippers to list now (besides, haven't got them identified yet!) As more are identified, I'll post them here.

Pace University

So now there is a young man being charged with hate crimes for doing something, well, rather untoward, on a Koran at Pace University in New York. Charge him with vandalism, if you want, but certainly not a hate crime. Any law that makes a crime more of a crime because it is "hate" is an insult to the Constitution of the United States - you have the right to hate whoever or whatever you want, and can express that hate, so long as you do not physically endanger the life of another human being.

The charge of hate crime should be dropped.

By the way, have you ever read the Koran, ever looked at the Suras????

How can someone be charged with hate crimes by desecrating a book that is, itself, hate speech?

I don't know either.