{"id":48975,"date":"2017-10-15T05:16:19","date_gmt":"2017-10-15T11:16:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=48975"},"modified":"2026-03-20T12:32:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T17:32:08","slug":"common-checkered-skipper-on-flowering-asters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/10\/15\/common-checkered-skipper-on-flowering-asters\/","title":{"rendered":"Common Checkered-Skipper On Flowering Asters"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CommonCommon Checkered-Skipper on aster – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I’m seeing far fewer butterflies than I was seeing just two weeks ago but the ones I am seeing now still delight me as they flutter around. Yesterday while hoping to photograph birds near home I spotted a small butterfly nectaring on some wild asters and attempted to photograph it, only one of the 20 or so images I took was sharp enough to present here on my blog and in my galleries because it kept fluttering its wings and there was wind blowing the asters around.<\/p>\n

This is a Common Checkered-Skipper<\/span><\/a> and can be found in most of the U.S., some southern parts of Canada and northern Mexico. I am not sure of the sex of the Common Checkered-Skipper or the species of aster it is nectaring on. Common Checkered-Skippers, also known as Common Checkered Skippers without the hyphen, are spread-winged skippers and are considered to be the most common skipper in North America.<\/p>\n

\"BloomingBlooming Asters in Salt Lake County – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1600, ISO 400, -1.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

There was another clump of asters near a section of the pond that was shadowed while the asters were lit up by the afternoon light and I knew that if I photographed the blooming asters that it would look like they had a black background. I quite like the drama the black background added to this frame. This may be a Western Mountain Aster (Symphyotrichum spathulatum<\/em>) but I am really unsure of that ID.<\/p>\n

Even though I didn’t take any bird images yesterday afternoon I came home with some wildflowers photos and a Common Checkered-Skipper which is still a thing with wings.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my flower, shrub and tree photos. Click here<\/a><\/span> to see my insect and spider galleries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a Common Checkered-Skipper and can be found in most of the U.S., some southern parts of Canada and northern Mexico. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":128496,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6170,709,26,5347],"tags":[6174,6175,970,6098,6041,6042,6173,6172,4620,6044,10698,5070,6176,8018],"class_list":["post-48975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-common-checkered-skippers","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","category-wildflowers","tag-aster","tag-asters","tag-autumn","tag-blooming","tag-butterflies","tag-butterfly","tag-common-checkered-skipper-2","tag-common-checkered-skipper","tag-fall","tag-nectaring","tag-park","tag-purple-wildflowers","tag-spread-winged-skippers","tag-urban"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/common-checkered-skipper-mia-mcpherson-6266.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-cJV","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":128507,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/05\/13\/common-checkered-skipper-butterfly-at-tishomingo-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":48975,"position":0},"title":"Common Checkered-Skipper Butterfly At Tishomingo NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm sharing this Common Checkered-Skipper butterfly photo I took two days ago at Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge. This was my last subject of the morning.","rel":"","context":"In "Common Checkered-Skippers"","block_context":{"text":"Common Checkered-Skippers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/common-checkered-skippers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Common Checkered-Skipper butterfly at Tishomingo NWR, Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/common-checkered-skipper-upright-prairie-coneflower-mia-mcpherson-9831.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/common-checkered-skipper-upright-prairie-coneflower-mia-mcpherson-9831.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/common-checkered-skipper-upright-prairie-coneflower-mia-mcpherson-9831.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/common-checkered-skipper-upright-prairie-coneflower-mia-mcpherson-9831.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":141156,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/03\/04\/checkered-white-butterfly-on-a-black-eyed-susan-in-oklahoma\/","url_meta":{"origin":48975,"position":1},"title":"Checkered White Butterfly On A Black-eyed Susan In Oklahoma","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"It isn\u2019t really spring yet, but I\u2019ve already seen a bee, flies, moths, and butterflies. They reminded me of this Checkered White butterfly I photographed last year.","rel":"","context":"In "Black-eyed Susans"","block_context":{"text":"Black-eyed Susans","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/trees-shrubs-and-flowers\/wildflowers\/black-eyed-susans\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Checkered White butterfly on a Black-eyed Susan, Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge, Johnston County, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/black-eyed-susan-checkered-white-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-3264.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/black-eyed-susan-checkered-white-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-3264.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Checkered White butterfly nectaring on a thistle, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/checkered-white-butterfly-male-thistles-mia-mcpherson-6767.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/checkered-white-butterfly-male-thistles-mia-mcpherson-6767.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/checkered-white-butterfly-male-thistles-mia-mcpherson-6767.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":128836,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/05\/21\/butterfly-photos-from-tishomingo-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":48975,"position":4},"title":"Butterfly Photos From Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 21, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning, I wanted to share a few more things with wings: a set of butterfly photos I took recently at Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In "Oklahoma"","block_context":{"text":"Oklahoma","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/oklahoma\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Orange Sulphur butterfly on a coneflower, Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/orange-sulphur-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-1537.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/orange-sulphur-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-1537.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/orange-sulphur-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-1537.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/orange-sulphur-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-1537.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":105859,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/09\/06\/some-recent-butterfly-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":48975,"position":5},"title":"Some Recent Butterfly Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 6, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I wanted to share a few of my recent butterfly images taken in the marsh at Bear River MBR and high up in the Wasatch Mountains.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Woodland Skipper butterfly resting on a leaf, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/woodland-skipper-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-1122.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/woodland-skipper-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-1122.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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