Hmmm...those little skippers can be tricky, but I'm going to guess a Mulberry Wing or Yellowpatch--someone may know exactly which one. The spots can vary and be different depending on sex.

# 2 and 4 is the Silver-spotted Skipper (the other day one chased a hummingbird off).

#3 is the American Lady

Have fun IDing--it's addictive!

#3 is interesting. I vote for American Lady Vanessa virginiensis also, but one of the most common diagnostics above, a white dot in the submargin forewing, is missing. Everything else fits though, especially the large eyespots on the hindwing below. You will probably see some Painted Ladies Vanessa cardui in your garden as well, so compare these two:

Reference pics of the Ladies, about halfway down the page.

For an amusing example of how these two can be confused, take a look at the comments that accompany this picture on BugGuide (yes, the ID is correct):

http://bugguide.net/node/view/2613

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Your skipper #4 is challenging. Often the underside is needed for a good ID. Here would be my candidates based on your location and what we can see of the topside:

Peck's Skipper Polites peckius male
Fiery Skipper Hylephila phyleus female
maybe a Sachem Atalopedes campestris male.
unlikely to be a Long Dash Polites mystic male.

Check out the links to see whether anything matches what you have seen of the underside.

Also, how would you describe your habitat? Wooded or field, wetland or dry?

Jeff

All of my skipper comments refer to picture #1, not #4. Sorry!

Jeff, I had no idea that there were such similarities between butterflies. If it ever warms up here again (it's pouring, once again) and the poor, beleaguered butterflies come back, I'll be sure to direct my official photographer (the husband, lol) to take shots of the underside also.

Also, how would you describe your habitat? Wooded or field, wetland or dry?

Ah, suburbia?

More seriously, I'm in NW New Jersey and as you may know, we've been experiencing one of the wettest, coolest summers on record. It's a wonder all my plants haven't drowned. I and one other person are the only people who seriously garden around here. Even if other people do have some plantings, they aren't butterfly attractants normally, since butterflies mean bees and people tend to be terrified of them.

However, five blocks away from me is the county park which is a huge wooded area, although it also contains some open fields. My town is still classified as 50% rural, there are working farms in the further reaches.

If it tells you anything, there is lots of wildlife here including deer, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, field mice, groundhogs, raccoons, skunks, foxes, black bear (there was one a block away from me last year) and too many species of birds to mention.

Thanks for all your help. I love to garden and I enjoy doing my part for the bees and butterflies. I'm in the initial stages of adding in a 35 foot long garden and as usual, plenty of nectar plants will be a part of the equation.

Sure. My first love is butterflies, so I'm glad our interests converge here.

The "woods and fields" helps to narrow the range a bit -- we won't have to seriously consider boggy skippers like the Black Dash.

Jeff