I’ve seen so many butterflies at Fletcher Creek Ecological Preserve this June that I had to split up the photos into two articles. First I showed off some of the lovely larger butterflies that posed for my camera. Now I’m going to share some of the smaller butterflies and Skippers that I encountered on my mid- to late-June rambles.
These Crescents (probably Northern) are unusually sharing the same bunch of Dogbane flowers.
What Orange and Black Calico Butterflies Keep Bombing Around Startling All the Other Insects Into Flight?
Both my local types of Crescent butterflies seem to thrive on flying. They seldom stop flapping their wings, even when they are perched or resting on the ground. And when in the air, they like to zip around the vegetation scaring up any other Crescents they can find. They don’t show mercy to other types of butterflies either, chasing them up and into the air when they were previously perched minding their own business on flowers or goldenrod leaves.
I’m a Crescent, probably a Northern.
This tendency to send all the butterflies in the area up into flight is very handy for a photographer. I would often overlook basking and nectaring butterflies if the Crescents hadn’t flushed them for me!
What Are Some of These Small Orange Butterflies in June at Fletcher Creek?
There are quite a few “orange” Skipper butterflies. To identify them, you really need to get a detailed look, preferably at both the tops of the wings and the under sides. Here are just a few kinds of orange Skippers that I was lucky enough to see at Fletcher Creek, often with the help of an aggressive Crescent butterfly.
I’m a Peck’s Skipper!
At the Riverwood Conservancy, there are two very common kinds of orange Skippers that have a yellow pattern on an orange background on the undersides of their wings. One has a large yellow patch with little intrusions of brown from the top and bottom near the middle. It reminds me vaguely of a capital letter H with the brown dividing up the yellow H shape. Now this H theory of mine would be very useful if it applied to the Hobomok, or H, skipper. It doesn’t! The one with the H is the Peck’s Skipper. Go figure.
I’m a Hobomok Skipper!
This one with a plain yellow band across the underside of the hindwing is a Hobomok. No letter H. Rats.
You can see a pattern here if you’re looking at the flowers: purple Vetch blossoms are very attractive to Skippers.
On a later June visit, I also saw one of the Skippers that has a LOT of orange.
I’m a European Skipper!
Fittingly, this “alien” European Skipper which was introduced to North America is perched on a Red Clover which is also an “alien” which was also introduced to North America–maybe it makes it feel more like it’s “back home !”
I’m a Least Skipper–but I’m not Last!
Near one of the swamps, in mid-June, I saw a very tiny skipper flying and landing. As I suspected from its size, it was a Least Skipper. They can be very uninterested in posing for photos like this one was.
I’m an Indian Skipper!
I spent ages trying to figure out this other orange Skipper that I saw on June10. There were at least 5 of them when I visited. The really black line on the wing nearish the body is a stigma. Then there is another black line. So I experimented with the idea this was a Long Dash Skipper or a Black Dash Skipper. But neither of them has that little yellow “notch” in the dark brown wing border. To me, it looks almost like someone pulled a bit of the brown out of the border up towards the stigma leaving an orange notch.
Fortunately, the folks at eButterfly told me that this is an Indian Skipper. Sure enough, when I look for photos of them I see they all have that little orange notch in the wing border. Mystery solved!
I also saw one, and only one, of these Skippers near the end of June.
I’m a Long Dash Skipper!
I believe it is a real Long Dash Skipper. I wish I had a photo of the upper side of the wings, though, so I could be sure.
I’m a Tawny-edged Skipper!
Like the larger Crescents, these small mostly dark Skippers are quite aggressive and seem to chase every other butterfly they can find. They are Tawny-edged Skippers. (Or at least I hope they were: there are some other Skippers that look a bit like them.)
What Plainer, Brown Skippers Did I See on the Vetch at Fletcher Creek?
Some people think that the colourful flying insects are butterflies and the dull ones are moths. While that can be true, there are quite a few dull butterflies too. They definitely are much easier to id with a clear photo or binoculars as they lack unusual colours easily seen from a distance.
I’m a Northern Cloudywing!
The Northern Cloudywing was actually reasonably easy to id: those clear white marks on the upper wing are unusual. The only similar marks are on the Southern Cloudywing. I’m fairly confident this is a Northern, though. (I always wonder when I put up notes like this if someone is about to send me scathing comments explaining why I’m wrong about everything.)
I’m a Dreamy Duskywing!
I chased Duskywings around on three trips. Once, and only once, did one deign to pose for me. I really appreciated it!
I’m a Mystery!
There are always some that I see for about 1 second before something sends them into flight. I will likely never be sure exactly what they were. That’s ok, too. I still admire them; they still find partners and food. I like to know their names but it doesn’t actually change them or their behaviour.
What Is This Small Brown Skipper Trying to do On the Beach?
I’m a Northern Broken Dash skipper….or am I?
There were three of these skippers and they alternated basking on the rocks and sipping minerals from the beach around the most north-eastern of the ponds at Fletcher Creek. If you look closely, they weren’t picking a random spot on the beach to drink, however. They are taking advantage of a splash of bird dropping! It must have some chemical that they need or that appeals to them.
I had quite a bit of trouble identifying these skippers. At first, I thought they might be Dun skippers. But apparently they don’t usually fly in this area in June. And they don’t have these little white spots or windows in their wings. And this one had quite a bit of orange to its wings but not all of them did.
My best guess so far is that these are Northern Broken-Dash Skippers. But I’m far from sure and you’re welcome to correct me! The lead “contenders” are Dun, Northern Broken-Dash and Little Glasswing. So far people have suggested each to me. I may even have seen one of each kind, I suppose, although that’s a bit unlikely. It was great to take a half hour watching them zip around, interacting and pausing to re-fuel. Since I never touched them or flushed them, they didn’t suffer from my presence and I greatly enjoyed theirs.
Silvery Blues and Hairstreaks Too
I’m a Silvery Blue!
In mid-June, there were lots of Silvery Blues bombing around. By the end of June I saw only one blue butterfly which may have been a Silvery but could also have been an Azure. None of them wanted to pose, though, so I’ll include a photo from elsewhere to prove they are actually blue on top:
I’m actually from Riverwood not Fletcher Creek, but I’m also a Silvery Blue!
I’m a Striped Hairstreak!
At the end of June, I also met my first Hairstreak for the year. This new Striped Hairstreak was out sunning on a grapevine leaf in the late afternoon. They are quite small butterflies and you have to get a good look to see the interesting spots on the back bottom edge of the wings. I most commonly see Banded Hairstreaks, so this one was a pleasant bonus.
I hope to see some more interesting butterflies over the summer–and I may just visit Fletcher Creek again!
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