18th Annual Santa Ana NWR/Weslaco 2007 Butterfly Count
| Go to Santa Ana NWR 2006 Count | NABA/Bentsen 2006 Count | NABA/Bentsen 2007 Count |
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The Santa Ana NWR-Weslaco NABA annual count was done on July 15, 2007. Temperature 76-99 degrees. Wind 15-20 miles SE. 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.. Light rain and mostly cloudy in morning. Mostly sunny in afternoon.Field Notes:: Extraordinarily wet summer. Vegetation lush and green in all parts of the Lower Rio Grande Valley. . Hundreds of Giant Swallowtails on the wing. Blooming eupatorium azureum (unusual for this time of year) and Limoncillo at Santa Ana NWR main headquarters garden.. Gardens at old manager’s residence and cemetery rich with native blooms such as heart leafed hibiscus and blooming Anacua trees. Crimson Patches were the main attraction and abundant at Frontera Audubon.. Weslaco area also enjoying much green vegetation from recent heavy rains. Met city planner, Irene Zsedlmayer, and her daughter at the Weslaco Duranta hedge and she invited us to her fabulous home garden where we picked up the usually common, but strangely elusive Gray Hairstreak and Cloudless Sulphur. Ideal conditions deveolping in the Lower Rio Grande Valley for an extraordinary 2007 Butterfly Fall/Winter season. Make your plans now to attend the Texas Butterfly Festival in Mission, Texas on October 18-21, 2007. Visited Santa Ana NWR, Estero Llano Grande Birding Center, Frontera Audubon, Weslaco Duranta Hedge, Zsedlmayer home garden. Participants: Gil Quintanilla (coordinator) , Jan & Dave Dauphin, Jim Booker, John Yochum, Javier de Leon, Crystal Salinas, William T. Pendleton, Taffy Hedridge, Cynthia Traylor |
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