Question Mark Butterfly

This picture was taken at the NABA Butterfly Park in Mission Texas on 17th December, 2006. Apparently it was named "Question Mark" because there is a small white question mark on the underside of it's wings.

Cassius Blue Butterfly

This picture was taken at the NABA Butterfly Park in Mission Texas on 16th December, 2006.

Oak Hairstreak Butterfly

This picture was taken at the NABA Butterfly Park in Mission Texas on 16 December, 2006.

White Checkered Skipper Butterfly

This picture was taken at the NABA Butterfly Park in Mission Texas on 16th December, 2006.

Malachite Butterfly

This picture was taken at the NABA Butterfly Park in Mission, Texas on 15th December, 2006. This butterfly is quite rare and I was informed that only about one visitor of the park in fifty are lucky enough to see this guy.

Mexican Blue Wing Butterfly

This picture was taken at the NABA Butterfly Park in Mission Texas on 15th December, 2006.

White Peacock Butterfly

This picture was taken at the NABA Butterfly Park in Mission Texas on 15th December, 2006.

Sickle-winged Skipper Butterfly

This picture was taken at the NABA Butterfly Park in Mission Texas on 15th December, 2006.

Texas Crescent Butterfly

These pictures were taken at the NABA Butterfly Park in Mission Texas on 15th December, 2006.

Queen Butterfly

This picture was taken at the NABA Butterfly Park in Mission Texas on 15th December, 2006.

Common Mestra Butterfly

This picture was taken at the NABA butterfly park in Mission Texas on 15th December 2006.

Gulf Fritillary Butterfly

These pictures were taken at the Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort in Mission Texas on 14th December 2006.

Gauva Skipper Butterfly

These pictures were taken on 26th November at the Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort, Mission, Texas. This butterfly is known mainly in South America but does come as far north as the Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas. Although the bottom picture shows him to be a metalic blue because of the way the light was shining on his wings, he normally appears almost black with a hint of metallic blue as shown in the upper picture.

Giant Wheel Bug

This picture was taken at Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort on 29th November, 2006. This bug can be a gardeners best friend. They eat other bugs by spearing them and then sucking out their juices. The never seem to attack bugs that are beneficial to the garden, only harmful bugs. They are particularly fond of Potato Beatles.

Praying Mantis

This picture was taken on 29th November, 2006 at the Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort. The ocurr in either gray, brown or green and can change colours to suit their environment. Males are smaller than females and when mating, the male approaches from behind and must be very careful as if the female gets a chance, it will bite the males head off. If it were me, I think I would become celebit!!!

Ghost Crab

This picture was taken on 8th November 2006 at Mexico Beach in the Florida Panhandle. The Ghost Crab lives in burrows on the sand during the day and hunts for food at night. He enters the water mainly to wash his food. Adults actually travel a fair distance from the ocean; I'm not sure how far but I saw one about 200 yards from shore. He is very similar to the color of the sand and this coupled with foraging at night led to his name of the "Ghost Crabe". He is also very wary of enemies and his eyes can "periscope" , raising above his body giving him 360 degree vision. He is also very fast on land and can run up to speeds of 10 mph.

Tarantula

This picture was taken on 24th November 2006 at Bentsen Palm Village RV Park. They are poisonous and they do bite, but they aren't harmfull to humans. Their bodies will measure up to about 2" across and their legs about 5". It takes several years for them to reach sexual maturity. When the male does go looking for a mate, sometimes he will be eaten by the female before he can mate. Even if he is successful in mating, he will then die within a few months. After mating, the female will lay 500 to 1,000 eggs which will hatch in about two weeks. The female doesn't feed the offspring. They're on their own. The female can live from 25 to 40 years. I guess it's better to be a female Tarantula than a male.

Great Egret

This photo was taken at the Rockport Marina on 22 November 2006. This guy is quite tame and his name is Billie. He was named after a fellow named Billie who used to work at the marina and one of his jobs was to catch fish bait and he always gave this Egret some of the bait. Billie died recently of a heart attack and the Marina people thought it fitting to call this Great Egret Billie.

Purple Finch

This picture was taken in our back yard on 20 April 2006. Purple Finches have declined in numbers when the non-native House Finch was introduced in 1940. The House Finches original territory was Southwestern United States and Mexico, but was introduced to Long Island in 1940 and quickly spread throughout the east. Fights between Purple and House Finches almost always end up with the House Finch being the victor.

American Goldfinch (male & female)

This picture was taken on 14 May 2006 in our back back yard. They are an extremely beautiful bird and their favourite food is thistle or Niger seed. They also eat seeds from last years weeds. They don't nest in the spring like most birds but instead nest in July or August and usually only have one clutch but will occassionally have a second.