Disappointing park visit

For some reason I get to thinking all the action is happening in the park (BBNP), then when I get there I'm disappointed. I should have given it a better effort as long as I was there, but so packed with people that all I could think of was getting away. Since the majority of the people are in vehicles on the roads and not tramping around I should just ignore them. I spent all of 30 minutes looking for the Groove-billed Ani that's been reported there before I decided mid-morning wasn't a good time to look for it and gave up that chase. It wouldn't have been a lifer. I just didn't have a photo of one.

So I headed for Boquillas Canyon to look for that scrub-hairstreak (see previous post). I found lots of their host plant, Texas False Agave (Hechtia texansis), but it was all half-dead looking and not any butterflies of any kind around. Here are a couple of the better looking specimens I saw today. (It's a bromeliad of the pineapple family.) Probably need to go back in a few weeks, or after summer rains.

On the drive back from Boquillas I stopped along the highway to photograph bluebonnets with the Chisos Mountains in the background. Required practically lying on the ground, but when did that ever stop me?

While I was thus engaged I actually saw a butterfly. It became the only butterfly that I photographed while in the park, Theona Checkerspot. Just had my scenery camera on me and rather than go back to my vehicle for the Canon, I just fired with the Lumix. Turned out good enough.

Driving back into the family land I saw my sisters along the road looking at flowers. Here's another one that's new to us. First one of the phlox family even. Thinking it's Gilia incisa or G. stewartii. Still working on it.

Finally back at the oasis, I saw this Fatal Metalmark just minding its own business when along came a  Vesta Crescent and harassed it from flower to flower. I took lots of pictures of the action, but these two will suffice. Most of them were blurry from all the movement.