Top Photo: Common checkered-skipper ready to spread it wings.

Although this small butterfly, the common checkered-skipper, is flying from March to November somewhere in North Carolina, they’re most often seen here at the museum in September and October.

They’re swift flyers. Seconds after perching they tend to open their wings to reveal the checkered pattern for which they’re named.

If you see one silvery checkerspot (below), you may see another since they tend to be somewhat colonial. I look for them anytime I’m near water and crownbeard.

And finally, ruby-throated hummingbirds like the immature male pictured below will be heading south very soon. If the bird in the photo survives the journey to Central America this fall, and the return trip next spring, it will have lost the white tips on the tail and gain a full red iridescent throat.

Good luck hummingbird.