Hi Whitefeather,
Sharing some of my butt stalking approachl
1. Basically there are two categories of butterflies , the sun loving and the shade loving . So it depends what you are stalking choose the environ accordingly.
2. Know the hostplants and food plants of the butterfly you are stalking . Do abit of research on what plant they lay their eggs on( hostplant) and what types of flower they feed on (food plant) and concentrate your stalking on location where such plants are abundant , that will save you kilometers of footwork . The common flowering plants most butterflies feed on are Ixora, Lantana, coat button , snakeweeds, Mile-a-minute vine and many others . For individual host and food plant perhaps you can refer to the checklist at
ButterflyCircle.
3. The best time to hunt for most butterflies is around 10am-12pm and 2-4 pm, too early they have not warm-up enough and activities are mimimum, mid day is too hot for the butt shooter, too late they are oredi preparing to settle down under some leaves for the hours of darkness.
4 Scout around their hostplant and food plant, use your peripheral vison to detect their movement , once you detected movement switch over to tunnel vision mode to achieve a lockon, this is especially so for the smaller butterflies.
5. All butterflies, for that matter insect as well, have their individual safety distance , a radius at which, when there is abrupt movement or an intruder infringe/enter into, they will take flight .
6. When it settled down , do not be in a hurry to rush in for the shoot, as it will still be at very high alert state from being startled by your present, Wait perhaps 10 -20 secs, let them settled down and get used to your present before you move in.
7. Select the angle you want to shoot the butterfly from a distance , with camera at chest level Approach the butt in a straight line slowly , and avoid any unneccessary sideway movement that will alarm the butterfly. Using this apporach I have fairly high rate of success in shooting even normally skittish butterflies.
A good stalking place for beginners will be the Alexandra Hospital Butterfly Trail where 92 species have been recorded so far , there will be at least 4-5 species of butterfly present at anytime during daylight hours.
Hope the above help me to see your butterfly photos soon !
:cheers:
