skippers galore

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Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus)

Skippers are small, quick butterflies. And when it comes to skippers—Great Caesar's Ghost—there are a lot of them, more than 3500 recognized species worldwide, divided into five subfamilies. And because they are smallish and quick, they skip through our lives and you would hardly notice. So go take the time to notice.


I think this one is a silver-spotted skipper, one of the most robust and widespread–they are found throughout the U.S. and into Canada and Mexico. But it's not that important that you remember its official name, it's better to simply appreciate that they exist. They are not as glamorous as the swallowtails and fritillaries, but they are rather remarkable in their vitality. Here and there. Here and there, skipping about. Fast paced pollinators. What a life.


In the Tennessee Valley, silver-spotted skippers produce three broods a year. Since this is July, I suspect that this one is a second generation skipper but it didn't hang around long enough for me to ask. In fact, if I had paused one second, I wouldn't have gotten this photo.




- Photo taken at Ijams Nature Center.


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who cooks for you?

It was late in the day as I walked one of the trails at the Ijams’ Homesite. A slow moving slough of the Tennessee River was all that separated me from long and narrow Dickinson Island, named after the family of Miss Emily herself, the famed poet, the Belle of Amherst. The west end of the island is developed, the home to Island Home Airport, a small landing strip for Cessna Skyhawks and Beechcraft Bonanzas. The east end is wooded and as I soon discovered, the home to another winged-wonder--a barred owl. As the sun was setting in the west and darkness engulfed the oaks and hickories around me, the owl began to call. I repeated the familiar mnemonic in my head, “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you alllllllll?” Similar to a red-shouldered hawk, a barred owl’s preferred habitat is woods near water and in the Tennessee Valley, there’s plenty of that. Courtship for these nocturnal hunters begins at this time of the year. The one I heard was seeking a mate. And if he succeeds, and as we all know, “Hope springs eternal,” egg-laying occurs in early March.

Photo by my dear friend, the late and great Jim Logan. We still miss you buddy!

Swallows return

One of the first signs of spring is the return of tree swallows to the Tennessee Valley. My friend Ted Bays loves watching their aerobatics. It’s lively. He and his wife Geniece have over 30 bluebird boxes in the fields around their home on the French Board River. Tree swallows are called such because they nest in hollow trees but they will readily use these boxes instead, in fact, Ted gets more nesting swallows than bluebirds. Historically, they didn’t nest in East Tennessee and have only been doing so since the late 1960s. There’s an ebb and flowing to nature and these metallic blue swallows are expanding their range, flowing into our valley. Their population here has been growing ever since. Ted reports that he saw three or four swallows flying around yesterday, February 8. This is their earliest return since he started keeping track of their comings and goings. Can spring be far behind?