Actually, I have a silver-spotted skipper. For the uninitiated, skippers are part of Order Lepidoptera, better known as Moths and Butterflies. Skippers tend to be out and active during the day; they have clubbed and sometimes pointily-curved antennae, as in the critter above. In that way, they resemble what we think of as a butterfly typically. They are also chubby and often small (though this is one of the larger skippers you will find around Massachusetts); the size and shape lend them more in the moth direction. But these aren’t very scientific distinctions, per se.

I caught this one a on bog-trekked, mosquito-ridden, then mercifully forest-opening-into-the-blinding-sunlight-of-the-entrance-gate-of-Wells-State-Park-(in-Sturbridge, Massachusetts) day. The silver-spotted skippers and as well as some fritillaries, smaller skippers and a couple hummingbird clearwings were all over a tall-standing patch of flowers alongside the road. In one sense that made ideal subjects, as they were preoccupied with feeding. The challenge was to fire shots before they moved just a bit (and just out of focus) to the next sip. Pretty happy with the focus here, but the sun was indeed bright and silver-spot as well as the petals of the flower has blown-out highlights. It’s okay though, I needed one more of these “highlights” shot to close the week. I didn’t have time to mess around with fixing them, but maybe I’ll revisit it later.

Shot with a reversed 35-70mm f/3.3 Nikon lens. Small crop.

I hope everyone has a great weekend, preferably the one you are looking for (though I will take any kind of great weekend. :) )