Sierra Vista, AZ ~ Brown Canyon Ranch ~ Butterflies

American Lady Butterfly

Common Buckeye Butterfly

Desert Checkered Skipper

Gray Hairstreak

Gulf Fritillary Butterfly

Sleepy Yellow Butterfly

Orange Skipperling

Orange Skipperling

Golden-headed Scallopwing

Golden-headed Scallopwing

Several species puddling

Ruskin, FL ~ Cockroach Bay Aquatic Preserve

This was another spot we birded at back in 2013.  today we arrived early and were able to climb the hill looking down over the water areas.  Not the largest amount of birds but still nice.  We were happy to see the Cattle Egrets catching and eating the dragonflies along with an American Kestrel doing the same thing.  For me there were some new butterflies which was exciting ~ A Giant Swallowtail did a fly-by and a mangrove Skipper posed happily on some Lantana.

Mangrove Skipper

Mangrove Skipper

Gulf Fritillary

Cattle Egret with bug

American Kestrel

Merritt Island NWR, FL

Salt Marsh Skipper (Life Butterfly)

We found some butterflies on a patch of Lantana while driving across the island to the causeway in Titusville. Two of the skippers were life butterflies for me.

Southern Broken Dash Skipper ( Life Butterfly)

Long-tailed Skipper

Great Southern White Butterfly

Gulf Fritillary Butterfly

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Viera Wetlands Park & Click Ponds, Viera, FL

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks ~ Viera Wetlands

Another highly recommended birding site is the Viera Wetlands so it was our first stop today. It is water treatment plant and it allows birders to ride, bike or walk along the berms looking at all of the species of birds that call it home.  We had heard that it was a great site to see Least Bitterns which would be a life bird for both of us.  It was great even in the off season so I can imagine how wonderful it must be in winter and spring.  We were excited to see 2 Least Bittern at Viera Wetlands and then another one at the Click Ponds.  Seeing the ducks up on the dead palms was cool especially when a second duck came out of the top. There were lots of butterflies over at the Click Ponds in addition to the birds.

Cattle Egret ~ Viera Wetlands

Least Bittern ~ Viera Wetlands

Queen Butterfly

Gulf Fritillary Butterfly

CA ~ San Diego Botanical Gardens

The start of today's adventure was at the San Diego Botanical Gardens.  We saw a number of butterflies, the majority of which were seen in the children's garden.  The children's garden was really fun and was very busy with families visiting.  One of the cooler factors was very creative metal sculptures scattered throughout the garden.

Gulf Fritillary

Skipper

Cloudless Sulphur