I decided whether to go west or east on I-10 when I got to the entrance
ramp. Two hours driving west to Vernon Parish was not real appealing, but I
wanted to give the Dove Field Rec Area another visit before the verbena
played out. It turned out to be a good choice. Even better when I got home
and realized a strange skipper I left as unknown in the field looks like a
Dusky Roadside-skipper. A new one I have been hoping for.
Craig Marks' hunch that there could be Meske's Skippers in the Vernon
District of Kisatchie proved right as well. I got to the stretch of road
that has been planted with verbena and got one within 15 minutes. I found a
second one about 200 feet away with different underwing marks. I was not
even thinking of Little Metalmarks when one landed in front of me. A quick
photo and it was gone. The Southern Cloudywings were in fine form. Their
markings and edges were really sharp and bright.
As noted earlier in the week, the big 2 acre patch of verbena has been
plowed under and planted with grass for game birds. That would have been
fun to walk through. List below and a few photos:
Dove Field Rec Area, Kisatchie Nat Forest
June 14, 2015, Vernon Parish
Silver-spotted Skipper - 6
Am Lady - 2
E Tailed Blue - 1
Swarthy Skipper - 9
Southern Brokendash - 17
Southern Cloudywing - 16
Pipevine ST - 6
Palamedes ST - 1
Zebra ST - 1
Spicebush ST - 8
Dainty Sulphur - 5
Fiery Skipper - 3
Horace's DW - 6
Meske's Skipper - 2
Clouded Skipper - 2
Carolina Satyr - 3
Gray HS - 3
Little Metalmark - 1
Dusky Roadside-skipper - 1
Dave Patton
Lafayette
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