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Sleepy orange or Eurema nicippe
Upperside of wings orange in both sexes; orange-yellow form rare. Forewing with small black cell spot. Male with sharply defined black borders on outer and costal margins; female borders not so well-defined. In winter form, underside of hindwing is brick red, brown, or tan; in summer form it is orange-yellow. I read that the name possibly comes from the fact they have a small black spot on the upper that looks sort of like a closed eye. Since one rarely sees the upper wings for more than a milli-second on a living member of the species I'm not sure this was the best identifying feature. But, I was not in charge of naming things so it is what it is.
Pretty flash of yellow on a warm fall day. We still had mealy sage and blue sage (both salvia) blooming to attract them.
Montell, Uvalde County, Texas during November 2020
My aunt's garden attracted lots of butterflies and on one spectacular day in October 2020, I had the pleasure of just sitting and photographing as many as possible. Her garden consisted of lots of zinnias with a spattering of lantana, sage, lavender and rosemary.
Montell, Uvalde County, Texas
A wildflower found blooming in April near the Nueces River in Montell, Uvalde County, Texas. Nice plants to attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.
One of the birds I saw while in Cozumel, Mexico during April 2023. This one is called a banaquit. It's a member of the tanager family. Reportedly they like to use those sharp beaks to snip into the base of a flower to get nectar. This one posed on a nice thorny branch.
Not sure about the species of this dragonfly. Perhaps a black setwing. But it posed so nicely with that spring fed pool of lovely water in the background. Taken in Montell, Uvalde County, Texas.
The green jays have been much more willing to come into my yard and pose for photos while browsing the variety of goodies in the bird feeders. I have found they love peanuts, peanut butter and grape jelly. It's amazing to me that such a brightly colored bird can blend in to the surrounding foliage so well. The subtle variations in green shades, along with yellow match leaves, while the blue and blue markings on the head seem to help hide against sky and shadows.
Montell, Uvalde County, Texas in April 2020
For some reason, the sulphur butterflies seem to perch only with the wings closed up. It makes trying to get a shot of the beautiful upper wing patterns nearly impossible. I have resorted to trying to catch them in flight. Almost got one of this pair in flight for one shot. Orange sulphurs that seem to be in a courting ritual. In Montell, Uvalde County, Texas during April 2019.
Ils sont de retour avec l'automne, encore timides et discrets.
They are back with the fall, still shy and discreet.
N'avale pas une barbotte qui veut...
Ce Cormoran s'est "battu" avec sa proie une bonne quinzaine de minutes avant de l'avoir enfin neutralisé pour l'avaler sans danger.
Both brown anoles and green anoles reside in my yard. I can't say that they coexist because the brown ones only started showing up a few years ago, while the green ones have lived in the area as long as I can remember. The brown ones in my yard have become more numerous and the green have been reduced to a very small area among the greenery of some tropical shrubs. Here I have several different brown anoles and one green anole. Green anoles can change color ranging from pale green to dark brown, almost black. They have pale cream colored bellies and mostly solid color (unpatterend) upper and longer snouts than the brown anole. Brown anoles can change color to blend, except only with the range of brown shades. Portland, Texas October 2017
This little female hummingbird (I think she is a black-chinned) was very busy collecting fluff from the dandelions in my yard. One of the reasons I love to leave a few of these plants in my yard, despite their unpopular status as noxious weeds.
Montell, Uvalde County, Texas in April 2021
The northern cardinal juveniles in my yard were going through some interesting plumage transitions. Also, the youngest of this species have a dark bill compared to the bright orange of an adult bird. This male is a bit older than the other ones pictured, but still not a mature bird. Serious molting in progress as he grows in his red feathers. Montell, Uvalde County, Texas in August 2021
This little Lincoln's sparrow, a migratory species that winters in our area, seemed to like the buffet enough to stay longer than the rest of his kind. Usually they seem to move on to nesting grounds by the beginning of May each spring.
Montell, Uvalde County, Texas mid-May 2022
Pine siskins are winter visitors in Montell, Uvalde County, Texas. They tend to flock with the migratory American goldfinches and resident lesser goldfinches.
More shots of this beautiful little bird that graced my yard with his presence for a few days in April 2022. The metallic orange plumage is spectacular with splashes of white and black. His gorget (throat patch) looks black or maroon or glowing-orange depending on how his feathers are flexed and how the light hits them. He picked a favorite feeder in the yard and guarded it ferociously from any other hummingbirds who thought to make use of it.
Montell, Uvalde County, Texas
From October 2019 , these came through during fall migration. Somehow missed them when editing others from that month. This is the female. My backyard in Montell, Uvalde County, Texas.
Both brown anoles and green anoles reside in my yard. I can't say that they coexist because the brown ones only started showing up a few years ago, while the green ones have lived in the area as long as I can remember. The brown ones in my yard have become more numerous and the green have been reduced to a very small area among the greenery of some tropical shrubs. Here I have several different brown anoles and one green anole. Green anoles can change color ranging from pale green to dark brown, almost black. They have pale cream colored bellies and mostly solid color (unpatterend) upper and longer snouts than the brown anole. Brown anoles can change color to blend, except only with the range of brown shades. Portland, Texas October 2017
This is a tiny species with a loud cheerful sounding song. Frequently, I hear them singing long before I can spot one. They flit around in the foliage searching for insects and spiders to feed on. This one took a second to perch on an open tree trunk so I could get a shot.
Montell, Uvalde County, Texas during April 2021
A rather unimaginative name but at least fully descriptive. This one is a female, arrived in the spring to spend some her her summer months with us. There was also a male who did not cooperate for a photo at the time. She managed to pose on some of my favorite backyard perches.
Montell, Uvalde County, Texas in April 2022
Ratibida columnifera, aka Mexican hat or sombrero flower locally. A type of wild coneflower, I think. Anyway they seem to range in color from all yellow petals to a dark reddish-brown, many are two-toned.
These were growing out the side of a steep embankment giving me the chance to photograph from below with the sky in the background.
Montell, Uvalde County, Texas during May 2020
An American rubyspot and a blue-ringed dancer perched on a river rock.
Montell, Uvalde County, Texas in September 2021
Eastern bluebirds live around me but are not particularly bold about showing themselves to me. This male was on a mission to visit the birdbath and spent a bit of time while I watched. Luckily, I had the camera on hand. The bluebird of happiness, indeed.
Montell, Uvalde County, Texas
Rare snow in our area of Texas (first time since December 2004) and some of the critters were not sure what to make of it. I'm not a fan of cold wet weather (one of the reasons I love living in South Texas is that we don't have much of it) but had to take the opportunity to experiment photographing this unusual weather.
The house sparrows posed nicely for some photos.
Portland, Texas.
Smaller than American goldfinches but just as colorful, if not more so, these tiny birds flock to my yard for seeds. They are especially fond of sunflower seeds and thistle seeds.
Montell, Uvalde County, Texas in August 2021
Texas state bird and a favorite of mine. This one comes up to my yard frequently to see if I have water. She (at least I think it's a she) also likes suet and meal worms if I put them in the feeders.
Montell, Uvalde County, Texas (but could be just about anywhere)
A rather unimaginative name but at least fully descriptive. This one is a female, arrived in the spring to spend some her her summer months with us. There was also a male who did not cooperate for a photo at the time. She managed to pose on some of my favorite backyard perches.
Montell, Uvalde County, Texas in April 2022
The Long-billed Thrasher looks a lot like the Brown Thrasher of the eastern U.S. but lives in the dry, brushy landscapes of southeast Texas and northeastern Mexico. It's a rich brown bird with heavy black streaking on white underparts, a grayish face, and an orange eye. Like other thrashers, it lives in dense brush and spends much of its time scratching or tossing leaves aside to catch insects on the ground. In spring, males sometimes perch in the open and sing a jumbled song with many repeated phrases. This particular one was in the shadows on one of the fig trees in my yard. Those orange eyes are really striking.
Montell, Uvalde County, Texas in June 2021
There were several of these fluttering around on this shrub that I believe is called coastal indigo. The tiny blooms are a coral color. The butterflies only show blue when the wings are spread, and it was difficult to get a shot of that but I finally managed one.
Montell, Uvalde County, Texas in June 2022
I'm not sure what species of bird this was. By the time I got the image off my camera, I had forgotten details. I suspect it is an eastern phoebe. Regardless, I really liked the shot with the wings in motion as the bird is either coming in for a landing or taking flight from the perch.
Montell, Uvalde County, Texas