Got down to the oasis this afternoon, after 3 days of banding, to find it swarming with mosquitoes. I know why it happened. When I was here Tuesday I ran out of gasoline for the pump so didn't get all the water out of a dirt tank that didn't have gambusias in it. I hate to put them in if I'm just going to pump out the water because the gambusias will die then. I don't know how long I'll have to suffer with the mosquitoes, but I determinedly watered the trees all afternoon and did my best to enjoy the place. I'm pumping the rest of the water out of the tank with a small electric pump during the night. It still had about a foot of water in it. I brought plenty of gas with me this time. I try not to bring too much because if I don't use it, it gets stale and messes up the pumps.
While I was watering I took a few photos, but basically I couldn't hold still long enough to photograph, and butterflies don't hold still at all either. Here's a
Varied Bunting that, in my opinion, was acting strange. It was like it was gasping for air for quite a while. Sometimes birds pant when it's really hot, but it wasn't that hot today. Under 90° at the hottest. When I got closer, it flew off. Kind of reminded me of how a dying bird that's been snake-bit gasps. Weird!
This ratty looking butterfly was a new one to me. It's been identified by expert Brian Banker as a White-patched Skipper.
2 comments:
Maybe your Varied Bunting has been stung by an insect or spider.
That's a thought that hadn't occurred to me. Maybe a scorpion or praying mantis or something. Lots of possibilities. It'll probably survive or it would already have succumbed.
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