You just don’t see many skippers in the HolyLand. Coming from the United States, I think 10 times since 2008, my personal conclusion is that skipper butterflies are not found in great numbers in Israel. Why that may be so, I do not know.

Thinking that Israel’s intense summer heat deters skippers, does not work for me. I have visited the mountains west of Phoenix, Arizona several times, and I’ve seen skippers active in arroyos, when the morning temperatures flirted with 100F temperatures.

This little beaut was seen in the Crocodile River Nature Reserve, near the Mediterranean coast. We met on a trail in the Reserve, and I worked hard, trying to score a good image. This one does not resemble any of the North American skippers that I know. My Israeli field guides are not of much help.

As happens here, this one shall go unnamed, not ID’d.

Jeff