Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus)

Two butterflies, the Common Buckeye and the Fiery Skipper, are the most common butterflies on the butterfly bush at the moment. A number of other butterflies visit the bush alone, rarely accompanied by fellows of their species. One of these is the Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus).

Its wings are usually folded. In some lights, the gold and silver patches on the wings are dull. In the right light these patches are brilliant metallic gold and silver.

It is unusual to see this butterfly with wings unfolded. Yesterday, this butterfly settled on a blackberry leaf and displayed its open wings for enough time for me to capture this image.

Identification resources:
- West Central Georgia Butterflies by Michael Beohm: Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus)
- BugGuide: Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus)
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Zen: Sunrise

On the way to the lake this morning ...

Moth: Stone-winged Owlet (Chytolita petrealis)

Another common springtime woodland moth.

Identification resources:
- Bug Guide: Stone-winged Owlet (Chytolita petrealis)
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Dragonfly: Common Whitetail (Plathemis lydia)

The Common Whitetail is one of the more frequent and numerous dragonflies around the house and the field at the moment.

Common Whitetail (Plathemis lydia) [male]

Common Whitetail (Plathemis lydia) [male]

Common Whitetail (Plathemis lydia) [female]

They have several favorite spots to congregate. One area by the greenhouse is covered with dark synthetic ‘cloth’ used to prevent overgrowth by weeds. The second spot they particularly like is on the gravel drive halfway from the house to the road. In the late afternoon they often congregate at the edge of the woods on a fallen pine tree whose trunk and needles have absorbed heat during the day.

Identification resources:
- Dragonflies of Georgia: Common Whitetail (Plathemis lydia)
- Bug Guide: Common Whitetail (Plathemis lydia) [Female]
- Bug Guide: Common Whitetail (Plathemis lydia) [Male]
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Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta)

I first saw this butterfly with its wings folded, I thought it was a Spring Azure.

Later, when I saw the pattern on its open wings, I realized it was a Summer Azure. It’s rare to see one of these butterflies settle with open wings; this butterfly sat for some time like this.

Identification resources:
- West Central Georgia Butterflies by Michael Beohm: Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta)
- BugGuide: Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta)
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Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus)

Apart from the Buckeyes, Fiery Skippers are the most numerous butterflies on the butterfly bush at the moment. At least a dozen are on the bush at any one time. They’re the first to arrive in the morning – before it has really warmed up – and the last to leave in the evening, long after the sun has sunk behind the woods across the road.
Occasionally one will pose with its wings open, but not very often.

This is it’s usual pose, wings folded. They do have the prettiest eyes.

Identification resources:
- West Central Georgia Butterflies by Michael Beohm: Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus)
- BugGuide: Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus)
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Chicks: Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)

OK... What does this look like?

A mail box (in the middle) and a couple of paper boxes (left hand side, county paper; right hand side, city paper). Right?

Wrong. Well, it’s true that the middle box IS a mail box - a functional mail box. But we don’t get the county paper anymore because it really doesn’t have any news of interest. And the folks who deliver the city paper have long since forgotten that the city paper is supposed be put in the city paper box. We grumble about the fact that the folks who deliver the city paper seem to have forgotten that there is a paper box when they throw our paper in the general direction of the drive. Perhaps, at the moment, that’s a blessing. At the moment, it has a much more noble purpose. It is serving as a nest box for a Carolina Wren. W and J have seen the wren bomb out of the box when disturbed. We don’t know how many eggs she laid but there are three chicks.

Alive and well and…

with great gaping maws when anything that might deliver a meal approaches.

Additional resource: Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)
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