![\"Photo](\"http:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/MonarchRiverwoodonNaturalCrooksDotCom.jpg\")
<\/a>\nThis one was easy to identify–it’s been great to see so many Monarchs in 2017!<\/em><\/p>\n
So What Exactly Are These Small Skipper-sized Tan Brown and Bronze Butterflies with a few Faint White or Cream Marks and Dashes?<\/h2>\n
Luckily, southern Ontario doesn’t have too many plainly coloured Skippers. Even so, I had trouble sorting out the ones I was seeing in the flower gardens at Riverwood in mid-July. Eventually, with the help of some better butterfly watchers, I found out I was seeing two different types.<\/p>\n
The first Skippers I saw were mostly perching on leaves until they saw another butterfly then launching into the air to inspect it. If the other butterfly was a different type, like a Red Admiral, they would quickly settle down to wait again. If it was another Skipper, they would zoom up in a tight spiral presumably trying to intimidate rivals or find a partner.<\/p>\n Every so often, they would also re-fuel from the dwarf domesticated Bee Balm flowers.Although there were several flowers blooming in the gardens, these Northern Broken-dash Skippers didn’t seem interested in anything but the Bee Balm.<\/p>\n Another type of brown Skipper was also checking out the garden for friends and foes. Several Dun Skippers were also perching and patrolling.<\/p>\n After I got home, I looked up these Skippers in the ROM Field Guide.<\/p>\n Northern Broken-dash skipper caterpillars feed on grasses, including “Hairy Crabgrass” and “Panicgrasses.” So I don’t think the gardeners at Riverwood will be too dismayed.<\/p>\n Dun Skippers caterpillars eat Sedges. Given the close proximity of a marsh and a woodlot to the gardens at Riverwood, I’m sure these butterflies can find several types of sedges for their caterpillars to munch on. Again, the gardeners can admire them without concern.<\/p>\n I was really pleased to see so many butterflies so easily at Riverwood. The gardens are accessible to wheelchairs and walkers with limited mobility with wide gravelled paths and some benches. Some parts can also be seen from cement paved paths. It would be a good place to visit for anyone interested in flowers and butterflies.<\/p>\n Related Reading<\/strong><\/p>\n Join In<\/strong> I thought little brown sparrows were difficult to identify: then I met faded, torn, tiny brown butterflies with a few random cream dashes on their wings. Now the sparrows seem almost simple in comparison (although I still can’t id them either!) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,4,11],"tags":[285,5,491,674,22,84,85,425,665],"class_list":["post-6294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-focus","category-insects","category-rambles","tag-bergamot","tag-butterflies","tag-cabbage-white","tag-echinacea","tag-insects-2","tag-monarch","tag-red-admiral","tag-skippers","tag-wild-indigo-duskywing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6294"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6369,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6294\/revisions\/6369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>
\nColourful Skippers like this Delaware can be easier to id.<\/em><\/p>\nNorthern Broken Dash Skippers Live in Southern Ontario<\/h2>\n
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\nThe funny looking black mark on the right side wing is the “broken dash”\u00a0 on this male Skipper. The female does not have this divided stigma.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nA couple of Skippers can look a bit like this from this side, so it’s worth trying to get another view of the top sides of the wings to help id them. This one is a Northern Broken-dash.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nNext year, I’ll be expecting to see Northern Broken-dash skippers in this area at this time, which will make it easier and faster to identify them.<\/em><\/p>\nDun Skippers Are Pretty Plain Brown Butterflies<\/h2>\n
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\nEven I can identify really dark brown skippers with dots like these fairly easy as female Dun Skippers.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nIt was the ones like this which I wasn’t sure were Duns. More experienced butterfly watchers tell me they are.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nWill These Skippers Be Damaging the Garden Flowers?<\/h2>\n
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\nThe gardeners might be less impressed with this Cabbage White butterfly–especially if its offspring are on the ornamental Kale.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nThis Orange Sulphur is only a threat to the local Clovers, not a worry for the garden volunteers.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nThe gardeners might actually cheer on the Red Admiral caterpillars–they eat Nettles!<\/p>\n\n
\nHave you ever had to sort out some plain brown butterflies? Does a garden near you host a variety of colourful visitors? Please share your experiences with a comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"