skippers

For months I have seen so many swallowtail butterflies in my yard- around the echinacea patch and especially visiting the tithonias. Also a few monarchs, some painted ladies, buckeyes and once a red-spotted butterfly. But on the day I went out with the camera, all I found was skippers. There's always lots of skippers. So I have photos of skippers. And this closeup caught something else- the tiny red mites which plague my plants. Urgh.

They are very quick and flutter up instantly if startled, so it was tricky-

but I did get a few nice closeups

this one in a patch of sun-

I think it's kind of cool how when the skippers rest on a leaf, sometimes from above the wing parts are at different angles- horizontal and vertical. It makes me think of a folded paper airplane for some reason.

If it weren't for the terrible red background of the neighbor's fence, this would be my favorite picture of the bunch