Butterfly Watching...Pick the Right Habitat for the Season

Bass Creek National Recreation Area (mature Ponderosa Pine habitat) is a premier butterfly watching late winter, spring and summer. Not so much late summer, early fall. Found only four species (9-15-14) of seven butterflies. Why? It might be lack of flowers (nectar) and moist soil (for uptake of minerals).

The grassland/Ponderosa Pine habitat immediate to my yard doesn't look like much. But embedded in the brown cured grasses is rabbitbrush (expanded blog treatment - http://goo.gl/IZVhxu), a nectar "well" for many butterfly species. Yesterday (9-14-14), under similar weather conditions as today, found seven species of butterfly comprising 25+ individuals. The photographic opportunity was...excellent (see below).

William Leach (2013) published Butterfly People An American Encounter with the Beauty of the World and summarized the butterfly naturalists of the 1800's: "...began their careers in this way, awash in the heat and smells of the meadows and forest, sensitive to something worth losing oneself in, worth knowing, worth a lifetime of vocational loyalty and reflection." That's how I feel, for sure not with their accomplishments though :-)

Try this activity... you will find it overlaps the many themes of history, culture, biology, ecology, research, exercise, critical thinking and learning to name a few.

Purplish Copper

Hoary Comma

Milbert's Tortoiseshell

Orange Sulphur

Painted Lady

Full Life...

Contained in a feed from Brain Pickings is a quote from Anais Nin (1946):

Technology associated with this blog posting may be superficial as Nin describes, but it a great medium to broadcast her message. Similarly, Fast Company has a Kaihan Krippendorff web posting about finding your work purpose/passion. So a simple message to you: "Get in the moment, find your purpose/passion, go for it, be the best you inc...create a full life" 

Here is a photo link of some butterflies doing just that:

Butterfly-'Coppers' subfamily Lycaeninae

Photographic Miscues of Copper Butterflies

It is a great feeling to go wildlife watching, find the species you are looking for, and then capture a superb photo documenting your sighting experience. After investing in two Canon 'L' lenses of late, 100 mm macro and the 70-300 mm, the results of most of my photographic efforts are pretty great (my take)...it's all in the equipment :-) Recently while butterfly watching at Skalkaho Pass (elevation ~7200 feet east of Hamilton, MT), was so intent on photographing a Fritillary (to id, really good photos are necessary), missed getting on quickly one of the most beautiful and distinct lepids that landed just beyond the fritillary...Lustrous Copper (Lycaena cupreus). Here's what I would up with the camera:

Lustrous Copper

The butterfly flew after a brief period; I looked for quite a while never relocating it. A second great  Copper miscue at a different location, I locate a Bronze Copper (Lycaena hyllus) nectaring, which they don't do regularly. I'm clicking away point blank with my Canon T1i; later discover that I had neglected to insert the SD card...NO photos were captured! Being prepared and camera ready is part of success; that serendipity thing plays important role in wildlife watching. Walking the Peterson Lake Trail (Bitterroot National Forest near Florence, MT) came upon several small meadows immediate the trail; several wildflower species were still in bloom among them Sulfur Buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum). 'Euphilotes' Blue butterflies usually key in on this species as a larval foodplant. Yep, no Square spotted Blue butterflies using the buckwheat, just many other Blue butterfly species along with one Blue Copper (Lycaena heteronea)...a lifer! Ready with the camera this time, got many good photos of this particular Copper:

Blue Copper

Much success in finding and photographing something great.