Marl Bed Flats, 8/14/2013

Northern Parula

I drove out to Marl Bed Flats this morning hoping to find shorebirds.  I found none--not even a Killdeer.  I did have a pretty good time though.  I saw a juvenile Purple Gallinule, Coopers Hawk and a Belted Kingfisher. There were also many of the normal blackbirds, grackles and wading birds.

Boat-tailed Grackle

Green Heron

More of these hibiscus-like flowers are blooming here, and they look to me to be Saltmarsh Mallow, though I wasn't in a salt marsh. I wish I'd brought my diffuser for this photo.

Saltmarsh Mallow?

Dragonflies where also there in abundance. I photographed a beautiful male Four-spotted Pennant.

Four-spotted Pennant

As I was leaving, I found a butterfly I've never seen before. That didn't surprise me, since I'm pretty much a novice at identifying insects. I took a few photos with my point and shoot camera and then searched my Audubon Butterfly Guide and could not find this butterfly. The best I could find was a Northern White-Skipper. The only problem is that they aren't supposed to be east of Colorado. But I have a butterfly-expert friend who solved the mystery for me; it's a Common Checkered-Skipper or White Checkered-Skipper.  According to my friend, they are inseparable in the field, but the White Checkered-Skipper is more common here.

Common Checkered-Skipper or White Checkered-Skipper

Common Checkered-Skipper or White Checkered-Skipper