Despite mostly cloudy skies and occasional drizzle, I found both Small and Essex Skippers flying on my local patch today (as well as quite a few other species). I stopped to take a few shots here and there to try and ID some of them, and focused in on a male Small Skipper.
What I didn't notice immediately was that in the background there was also a mating pair.
When I finally spotted them, I assumed that as the other male was taking an interest, they were Small Skippers as well. However, looking at the images of the pairing at leisure, the butterfly on the left (which I assume is the male) seems to have the dark-underside antennae tips of an Essex Skipper, whereas the female butterfly on the right seems to have the orange-underside tips of a Small Skipper.
I appreciate that the lowish light levels don't make for crystal-clear photos, and as I didn't twig the difference at the time I didn't get any definitive shots (which annoyingly would have been easy as the pair weren't going anywhere in a hurry!).
The small area where this all took place has a mix of both species, which doesn't help. The question remains - are these Small, are they Essex, or is this an example of interspecific mating? Are there any other details discernable from these photos that would confirm the ID one way or another?
Any suggestions welcome...
Dave