BAA #4 - Alpine, TX

[Mark Walker]

Saturday, May 8

The mountains of west Texas are truly an unexpected pleasure.  I chose to
drive to Alpine on highway 118, a scenic route through Fort Davis and some
very spectacular countryside.  I reached the highway by 9:00 a.m., and
enjoyed the first 20 miles in complete solitude.  I began seeing butterflies
almost immediately, mostly Pontia protodice and Colias eurytheme (flying
everywhere).  On the highway north of the observatory, I enjoyed much
wildlife - including havilina, coyote, deer, quail, and roadrunner, just to
name a few.  Other butterflies along this stretch of highway included:
Colias cesonia (Southern Dogface), Eurema nicippe (Sleepy Orange), and
Hemiargus isola (Reakirt's Blue).

The weather was quite hot (pushing 90 degrees F), and once in Alpine, TX, I
found a suitable railroad track clearing to explore.  By noon, the
butterflies were quite active.  Every now and then, you get to experience
such a quantity of butterflies that it becomes overwhelming.  You can't keep
up with the info.  It makes your head spin (literally).  By 3:00 p.m., I
called it a day, rather prematurely.  While heading east on highway 90, I
was amazed to watch butterflies continue to fly across the highway well into
the evening.  Awesome.

Here is an incomplete list:

Pontia protodice (Checkered White)
Colias cesonia (Southern Dogface)
Battus philenor (Pipevine Swallowtail)
Papilio troilus (Spicebush Swallowtail)
Nathalis iole (Dainty Sulpher)
Eurema nicippe (Sleepy Orange)
Brephidium exile (Western Pygmy Blue)
Leptotes marina (Marine Blue)
Hemiargus isola (Reakirt's Blue)
Plebejus acmon (Acmon Blue)
Agraulis vanillae (Gulf Fritillary)
Euptoieta claudia (Variegated Fritillary)
Phyciodes vesta (Vesta Crescentspot)
Phyciodes pictus (Painted Crescentspot)
Vanessa virginiensis (American Lady)
Vanessa anabella (West Coast Lady)
Vanessa atalanta (Red Admiral)
Junonia nigrosuffusa (Dark Peacock)
Thorybes sp? (unidentified Cloudywing)
Erynnis sp? (unidentified Duskywing)
Pyrgus scriptura (Small Checkered Skipper)
Pyrgus communis (Common Checkered Skipper)
Pholisora cattulus (Common Sootywing)