Steven E. F. Brown

Tiny insects — mostly skippers and honeybees — are busy along the shore of Lake Merritt this afternoon. Skippers, small butterflies in the 3,500-species family Hesperiidae, are particularly abundant in the East Bay this time of year. Mostly I saw Fiery Skippers (Hylephila phyleus) today — two males chased each other like Top Gun pilots, then rested on the same leaf. The sedulous honeybees are out all year round.