Silver and gold

There were two species of butterfly that I saw at the oasis, but was unable to photograph. Now, I'm down to one, the Silver-spotted Skipper. The other day when Brian was gone, I photographed what I thought was a Golden-headed Scallopwing, only to be informed by Brian when he got back from his road trip that it was a Saltbush Sootywing. (see post June 23) So today, at the saltbush where I had photographed the sootywing, I thought I was photographing the sootywing again. I almost didn't even bother. I already have a lot of photos of that sootywing. Was I surprised when I downloaded the photos to discover it was a Golden-headed Scallopwing! Seeing the gold head, there was no need to even confirm the ID with Brian. It would be easier to identify if all Golden-headed Scallopwings had a gold head, but they don't. Mostly, just the males do.

Next on my list is the Silver-spotted Skipper. And of course there are species that Brian documented here that I've yet to see, or photograph. Butterfly numbers are increasing here, so I'm optimistic that it'll be a fun summer.

Observed a female Black-chinned Hummingbird at the Standing Cypress. Seeing that never gets old. (Apparently, neither does photographing it.)

Here's a Black Setwing. It looks more blue to me on this photo, but at a distance they look black.