There are a group of skipper butterflies that one writer refers to as "LBJ skippers". No, that term has nothing to do with the 36th President of the United States. It stands for "Little Brown Jobs". And it is a reference to the fact that a lot of skippers fall into a group that are pretty similar in color, size, and form and are therefore hard to identify readily.
Actually, part of the problem might be the traditional method of displaying butterflies. Traditionally they are killed and displayed on a pin with their wings spread in a specific method--the wings are at the side with the forewings toward the head and the hind wings toward the abdomen of the butterfly. Most butterflies do not normally rest in that position, and skippers especially do not.
The older butterfly books typically show only dead pinned butterflies, and often they do not show the bottom surfaces of the wings. Usually they don't show other details, either--hairs on the body or details of the eye.
If you look at this picture, you see that you get a good view of the eye and the underside of the abdomen. You get a glimpse only of the top surface of the hind wing, and a good look only at the bottom surface of the front wing. No wonder they are hard to identify in the field.
Newer field guides show live butterflies. Some of the characteristics of the living butterflies are shown much better this way.
After pouring over pictures in several guide books, I came to the conclusion that this is a fiery skipper.
I see a lot of small skippers of several species in the field and I haven't learned to identify them all yet.