Your interest in butterflies

[Eyre]

When did your interest in butterflies begin? What inspired you to learn more, to take photos and to start identifying them? How long did it take for you to become skilled at id? I am pretty new to it all

[bigdave60dog]

Cant remember not being interested in butterflies as well as everything else wild.
Mother blamed the School but they tried to discourage me as well.
I have never been satisfied with just identifying anything. I am never happy until I discover "what it does for a living " and how it fits in with the "web of life"
Everything else just springs from that.
I hope that I never become am "expert". It implies that I know enough to stop enquiring. I get books and read them whilst watching TV, sitting down, travelling etc. I don`t knowingly take in information but some sticks so that when I see something I recognise it an know a bit about it. If I don`t I make sure that I find out. That is how we all build up our knowledge bank.

[Susie]

I've had a general interest in natural history for a few years but only really got into butterflies in 2007 when a butterfly turned up in my garden and I thought, blimey, that's a funny looking meadow brown ... it turned out to be a brown hairstreak. My interest has spiralled into a bit of a passion. I reckon know a little bit by now and have been known to take the odd photograph or two.

What started your interest, Eyre?

[Geoff F]

I suppose when they are flitting around you there is always a desire to say 'What species is that, and is it the same as the one I saw yesterday'.

Butterflies are certainly a typical element in the traditional English Summer; and easier to photograph than some of those tiny fast moving flies.

And although a few are tricky to exactly identify it should be relatively easy to get the family correct even if there are still a couple of variations. Certainly easier than most of the moths.

Also, there are quite a few reasonably priced books and leaflets to help. Getting identification literature on some insects becomes expensive; and often you still need an actual specimen to follow complicated keys.

Eventually, after taking early retirement, I have managed some better photographic equipment.

I suppose it has taken me a couple of years and a lot of photos to get to a stage where I can approximately identify most local species on sight. But I would probably struggle in a different location.

Now it is a case of getting some decent photos of all my local butterflies. Eventually, this year, I managed a couple of reasonable shots of an Orange Tip, after 3 years of suffering them 'playing games with me'.

Orange Tip photos Orange Tip Butterfly - After 3 years of trying!

[glsammy]

The one thing that got me interested was WAB. Before WAB my knowledge of wildlife in general was dire.
I remember the very first visit I made to a Nature reserve, Whisby nature park.
Within seconds I'd seen a Wall Brown and since then I've not seen another one!
After that I was hooked. So began the expensive but enjoyable search for anything that moved!

[galanthophile]

This question was asked by The National Trust and my response got an airing in the latest copy of their magazine! I had forgotten all about it. I basically said that as a child I used to see hundreds of amazing caterpillars and butterflies/moths in a nearby lane that had hedgerows and fields. It was a miracle to me that the caterpillars could turn into something so completely different. I still love to see them and try to take photos but they are so elusive - part of the attraction I suppose. Long may they continue to intrigue us all.