Archive for Rio Grande Valley Wildlife
Oct
07
Birders Have Gone Buggy at the RGVBF
Posted by: | CommentsI’ve been writing an article for BirdWatcher’s Digest on the new ways birders are using their binoculars–watching butterflies, dragonflies, and their little cousins, damselflies. Happily, this ties in well with the trip line-up at the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival this year. Two trips dedicated to bugs (and critters beyond birds) have been added.
The Valley is one of the best places for leps and odes, with new species for the US listings added each year. And November–Fest time–coincides with the fall mistflower bloom, and the corresponding butterfly boom. The bugs during this time of year just can’t be ignored.
If you’re still dubious, check out this video. In 2007, Terry Fuller (rarity finder extraodinaire!) found and Jeffrey Gordon (our new ABA prez!) filmed this first US record splashy beauty here in the NABA garden:
What’s the NABA garden? The North American Butterfly Association’s big parcel of land, planted exclusively for leps. The Association is based in New Jersey, but Texas is the site of their International Garden, the only one of its kind.
And yes, the RGVBF trip called Birders Gone Buggy will go there. Come with us!
Oct
26
BIRDS…BUTTERFLIES…and YES! ODONATES—RULE the RGV
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The butterflies are busting out down here in The Valley, and the Mission Butterfly Festival is going on. It’s hard to turn attention from those lovely flutterbies, but I promised an ode post.
Odes…odonates…dragonflies and damselflies. They’re sort of the frontier among nature IDers – whether hobbyist or scientist. And like our birds and butterflies, The Valley boasts many unique species. In fact, new U.S. records are ticked off often.
Raise your binos, and really LOOK at one of these critters. Pretty eye-popping:
When you’re at the RGVBF, there’s always something winged to look at.
There’s still some good airfares. Both Southwest and Continental fly into Harlingen, via Houston. If you’re coming from MN/WI area, Sun Country starts their charter service Nov 1 – always a good non-stop choice out of Minneapolis.
