Butterfly viewing joins RGV Birding Festival tradition
“Green-backed ruby-eye! Oh, that’s a good one!” exclaimed Derek Muschalek as he ran towards a row of low-lying bushes at Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park near Mission on a cool and grey Saturday afternoon.
Muschalek, a naturalist who has served as a birding guide for 13 years, explained how important such a sighting was. “In the fall, to find Mexicans (butterflies) like this, it’s one of the things we hope to see,” he said.
The 1-inch long insect with mottled brown wings and large ruddy red eyes is only spotted about three times a year in the United States, and then only in the Rio Grande Valley. It’s this chance to see rare species that brings the guide to the Valley from Yorktown, Texas, during the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival every year.
The guided tour began earlier in the afternoon at the North American Butterfly Association’s International Butterfly Park, which lies about a mile away from Bentsen. The NABA park is laid out like a relaxing garden, filled with paths that wind around native plants and “host” plants specifically placed to attract different types of butterflies.
With the arrival of a mild cold front through the area, butterflies were scarce at first. Those sighted were sluggish and in a state of torpor hidden in bushes and trees. While the lack of fluttering wings and golden sunshine made for a less spectacular scene through the air, the cool temperatures had the benefit of keeping the butterflies still while avid fans crowded around for a peek and a picture.
About 20 people wandered slowly through the garden, binoculars at the ready, scanning for flecks of color among the green, and calling out excitedly whenever a new specimen was found. Shouts of “white peacock!” and “tawny emperor!” brought the group together again and again. Those who began as bird watchers were quickly developing a new passion for butterflies during the RGV Birding Festival’s first ever guided butterfly tour.
For Bob Metzler of Longview, who has traveled from Alaska to Arizona in search of birds, the RGV Birding Festival is something special because of its unparalleled access to so many experts. It’s a “good group, it has good leaders. Every trip has three to four good leaders,” he said.
Saturday’s trip was led by birders and naturalists with equal expertise in the insect world. San Benito resident Terry Fuller was one of those identifying creatures for the group, and explaining subtle differences between similar species, like how one type of butterfly has sporadic white spots while another has white spots that occur in pairs.
“This garden is a good area,” he said. “There’s new species coming out of this garden every year.”
