European Skipper....

....and a bunch of unidentified little bugs on a plant. (I never even noticed all those little bugs until I looked at this on the computer; I won't say I'm unobservant--I'll just say I was highly focused on the skipper! Ha!)
 I took lots of pictures while I wandered around up on the bluffs, and was really surprised by the lack of bees--I only saw one the entire time I was there! Lots of dragon flies, but almost impossible to find them when they settle, as the area is all natural growth & is way above hip height! The milkweed is blooming profusely & is beautiful, as well as the lavender colored wild bee balm. I was torn between this picture of the skipper and the picture of the two  "Red milkweed Beetles" on a milkweed plant, so I put the beetles in the extras. I had to look them up, as their red and black coloring is really striking but I had never seen these before. It says they feed on milkweed & store cardiac glycosides from the plant in their systems to make them distasteful to predators, just as the monarch butterflies do. :))