Day of the Butterflies

I haven’t had a lot of time to get out and do photography, even on the weekends. But last week – in the midst of a hectic and super busy schedule on a short week – I found myself waiting for some creative to be able to create a user test. I had already been burning it at both ends for a week, plus was sick most of the weekend. I just needed to get out. So I did.

A quick run over to Valley Forge National Park – about 5 minutes away – gave me a little less than an hour to wander around a small part of the park to see what there was to see. I found a little woodland field, and it was filled to the brim with small birds and smaller butterflies. It wasn’t a long hike, like I said, but it was enough to get me moving and get some pretty nice shots with my new camera.

In case you’re curious, all three of these ‘butterflies’ are really skippers – a sort of half-butterfly, half-moth insect that generally are grouped with butterflies even though physiologically they exhibit many features which separate them from the larger butterfly order. The one to the left is a Tawny-edged Skipper, while the two below are a Least Skipper (left) and a skipper that I still haven’t been able to ID.