It’s been harder to take nature walks this past year because of, uh, covid, but when I can recently I’ve been walking the local dirt trail bicycle path looking for butterflies in Mississauga. Someone asked why I like butterfly hunting and I’ve been trying to figure it out. One part, I’ve decided, is that it is like playing a challenging game of hide and seek.
There’s a Monarch in this photo.
This is a closer look at it.
Butterflies Bounce In and Out of Sight
One of the challenges of photographing butterflies is their tendency to fly suddenly and, just as unexpectedly, perch. In a tick-infested, poison ivy- and thistle- overgrown area, I stay on the trail. That makes it a visual challenge to notice where the butterfly was last seen in flight and to try to figure out where it landed.
Once I’ve detected it, I then have to try to find a camera angle through the tangle of plants which are often waving merrily in the breeze.
This photo has an Azure peeking at me.
Here’s a closer look at that Azure once it moved down onto some Black Medick.
Spot the Azure Species
If you’d like to play along, I’ve posted a few photos with a butterfly in them, followed by a closer look at the butterfly while it was still in the general area.
I usually only notice butterflies on the path when they take off in front of me.
Here’s the Crescent a bit closer up.
Whether it’s “normal” or not, I enjoy this game of hide and seek and find it very calming. I don’t always win, of course. And I’m sure the ones that I lost track of were probably very rare ones, not just common everyday butterflies!
There is a Duskywing flying in this photo.
When it landed, I could see it was another Wild Indigo Duskywing. Their caterpillars feed on Crown Vetch so they are very common butterflies in Mississauga.
Join In
Do you like butterfly watching? Do you prefer to keep an eye on some local garden hotspot or trying to see what is alongside a neighbourhood trail? Please share your views with a comment.