The Flickr Epargyreusclarus Image Generatr

My very first real skipper by Lydia Fravel

The Silver-spotted Skipper was the first species that I ever saw thru binoculars. I was awed by the beauty of this large skipper and I still remember that very first moment.

When I became interested in butterflies, I did not know anything about them other than they are supposed to be large and beautiful. I had no idea there are butterflies as small as a dime and that they are not always colorful. And, of course, I did not know that I needed binoculars to see them. On my first butterfly trip I saw nothing because I did not have binoculars. When the group admired a small hairstreak perched in a tree I could not see it.

Since that day things have changed quite a lot and I always carry a good set of binoculars in addition to my camera. All my shots are of wild and free-flying butterflies.

Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus)Anne Arundel County, Maryland

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Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus) Anne Arundel County, Maryland by Lydia Fravel

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Silver-spotted Skipper -First of Year- (Epargyreous clarus) Worcester County, Maryland by Lydia Fravel

This robust skipper was having a great time eagerly sipping nectar from the blooms of Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellatus), a deciduous shrub native to Asia introduced into the U.S. as an ornamental plant in 1830.

Regrettably, Autumn Olive is highly adaptable and resilient spreading uncontrollably in the warming climate of the Mid-Atlantic states where entire alleys of this large shrub can be found along forest edges, in sunny clearings and meadows and along fence rows and roadsides. With enticingly fragrant flowers, Autumn Olive attracts pollinators in early spring and later in the fall it attracts birds that help to disperse its abundant fruit.

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