Miscellaneous Butterflies and Bugs!

 Down at Ft. Fisher, I saw this grasshopper standing quietly in the sand and took a few pictures.  I am used to green grasshoppers so had no idea what this was.  I believe it is called a Mischievous Bird Grasshopper but could find no reason why!  I think it is depositing eggs here in the sand.  Its face seems also to be covered in bits of sand.

Another view of the grasshopper.

 Before we headed on our boat tour, I spotted bunches of Skippers on the bright  yellow flowers in front of the USS North Carolina from which our tour departed.  These are two pictures of this small butterfly in the Skipper Family.  It is either a European Skipper or a Fiery Skipper -- not sure on this one despite the decent pictures.

These two pictures are of another Skipper -- the Long Tailed Skipper as you can see from the above pictures.  I think I misidentified a butterfly the other day and it was one of these.  I was fascinated by the tail and the greenish color of the body.

There were lots of these butterflies on the flowers and I was pleased with the pictures despite their tendency to flit a great deal!!