Texas Hill Country

After yet another 2 inches of snow a few days ago, a sneak preview of spring was in order. We're in the Texas Hill Country, and this morning we hired a guide to go into the Halff Brothers Ranch in Bexar Co. The main thrust was to see a Rufous-capped Warbler that has been wintering there along the Frio River. Looks like the warbler has moved on, but we did get a few life odes. Coolest were several Pale-faced Clubskimmers (Brechmorhoga mendax) patrolling the river; a couple perched obligingly for us. A quite teneral Plains Clubtail (Gomphus externus) landed on our guide's shirt, and a Dusky Dancer (Argia translata) was posted over the moving water.

We got a couple of really nice new leps, out of the nearly 20 species we saw: Common Streaky-Skipper and Nysa Roadside-Skipper...check out our guide Martin Reid's photos of these species, taken at Halff Brothers Ranch. The owners of the ranch are looking to preserve the habitats (many of which are quite pristine) and get into ecotourism. Many kudos to them! It's a very cool place.