Skippers are a special type of butterfly. They are actually usually considered in their own special group--a "superfamily" called Hesperionoidea. Of the butterflies on my web site, most belong to the other superfamily, the Papilionoidea, or true butterflies.
Some experts say that skippers aren't butterflies at all, and should be considered a special type of moth. In my opinion all butterflies are moths anyway. That is to say ducks are to birds what butterflies are to moths. Anyway, I don't want to go into much detail on that argument right now.
Most skippers are relatively small and inconspicuous. Not the silverspotted skipper. It is fairly large, and you can't help but notice them when they are present.
This skipper is on one of my favorite flowers, rough blazing star. Rough blazing star is a very good butterfly flower.
One thing you might notice about this picture is that the butterfly seems to be upside down. It is in a typical nectaring pose for this butterfly. I watched one nectar on a tall thistle flower this summer. Most butterflies land on top of the flower and drink the nectar while standing on the flower. This silver spotted skipper landed on the side and underneath the flower, and used its long proboscis to drink nectar while hanging on to the side of the flower.