Identification Learning Curve

[Chris L]

I appreciate that there are many variables hidden within my question, but how long do you think it would take me to learn to identify my local butterfly species with relative ease - getting to grips with the gender differences (and recognising those that are day flying moths)?

To try and give some context to the learning curve I am about to embark upon, I:

• am a total beginner;

• intend to go out 3-4 times a week on average over the next 6 months;

• will have 2 transects;

• live in a rural area of South Derbyshire (bordering Leicestershire and Staffordshire);

• assume that as a maximum (and if I was very, very lucky) see circa 30 species in this area.

Is to be reasonably skilled at identification by September 2020 a reasonable expectation? I bet that you will tell me that it takes years and years of practice and experience !

[millerd]

Hi, Otep.

I'd say given a reasonable summer and the opportunity to go out as described you should be pretty adept by September. Take lots of photos and compare with images in a good photographic guide (and those on UKB of course, both on the forums and in the excellent reference sections). Anything that you have doubts about can be posted here and people will rush to help you out.

In fact there aren't too many areas of confusion with common UK species. Probably the hardest of these to distinguish are the Small and Essex Skippers, and all of us remain undecided about scores of sightings every year. You will frequently see references to "Smessex" Skippers as a result. Surprisingly tricky as well, without good photos, can be the three common species of white butterfly. Add to this the very similar female Orange Tip in springtime, and on a sunny late April day it can be a real struggle to accurately count species numbers for these. The other frequent confusion can be with the Brown Argus and the female Common Blue. After the winter break, we all have to get our eye in again and re-establish the ID skills of previous years, but it does come back, and you'll be surprised how quickly you pick it up from scratch too.

Some of the rarer species are a bit tricky too (Pearl- and Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary; Dark Green and High Brown Fritillary; Black and White-Letter Hairstreak), but bearing in mind where you'll be looking their geographical distribution would almost certainly resolve any doubts should you encounter one.

Dave

[Jack Harrison]

One of the first species you might see is Brimstone. The yellow male cannot be confused with any other species (except possibly late in the year, with the much rarer immigrant Clouded Yellow). However female Brimstone (less often seen as more intent on egg-laying) are almost white and can be confused in flight with Large (Cabbage) Whites. However, if you manage to see one settled, the pointed wing tips are diagnostic for Brimstone.

You are likely to see Commas and Peacocks almost anywhere but woodland edges are probably the best bet. You can take a Peacock for “a walk” along a path as it flies on ahead as you approach and then eventually doubles back behind and starts its patrol all over again. You might also see Small Tortoiseshells but they have become quite scarce in many areas of England – still abundant up here in Scotland. Another species you will soon encounter in sunny glades in woods or lanes is Speckled Wood.

Look them up. And of course the wonderful book by Peter Eeles (founder of uk butterflies) “Life Cycles of British and Irish Butterflies” is an essential. You won’t take it all in at your early stage, but you will keep going back to the book. I have been butterflying for 75+ years (yes!) and even so, I learnt a great deal from Peter’s book. It’s a book that will last you a lifetime.

Jack

[David M]

Most UK species are easy to identify, Otep. As Dave (millerd) says above, even those that are similar to other UK species can often be identified given the location where they were seen. For example, one can readily confuse Dark Green and High Brown Fritillaries, but if you happen to see a medium sized fritillary in Derbyshire, it won't be a High Brown as they are only found in SW England, round Morecambe Bay and at one site in south Wales.

Any you're unsure of just post on the Identification section of the forum and you should have an answer very quickly.

As for photographing them, don't underestimate the value of cool weather, cloud cover and early mornings, as all three of these tend to make butterflies more torpid and easier to approach. In many ways, the worst time to point your lens at these insects is on a hot, sunny day as they are at their most active in these conditions.

Counter-intuitive, I know, but usually effective.

[Jack Harrison]

David: In many ways, the worst time to point your lens at these insects is on a hot, sunny day as they are at their most active in these conditions.

Excellent advice. I’m sure when you find your first male Orange Tip (flying this year – I would guess – from early April), you will just want to photograph it. Unless you are a keep-fit freak, there is no point chasing it in bright sunshine. Track the butterfly (from a distance) and crucially, keep an eye on the sun and clouds. If the sun goes behind a small cloud, the Orange Tip will settle within some 30 seconds. Get near. Then watch the sky. When the sun comes out, the butterfly will open its wings and you will have perhaps 15 seconds before it’s on it way again.

Butterflying like that is enormously satisfying. Sadly – now aged 81 – such strenuous exercises don’t fit in with my arthritis.

Jack

[Chris L]

Thank you ever so much for taking the time to write with your reassurance about identification and also some more tips on photography.

Assuming that the weather is perfect for butterflies, if you were to specify a two hour window, what would you recommend as the best time of the day to venture out? Or does it vary by month and butterfly species?

[David M]

If you simply want to see them, Otep, then 11am - 1pm is probably best.

If you wish to photograph them, then get up early and catch them before they're supercharged.

Some species have specific preferences, for example, Brimstones and Brown Hairstreaks generally disappear after 2.30pm, Purple Emperors and Purple Hairstreaks are quite happy flying in the early evening, and Wall Browns and Marbled Whites are notoriously early risers.

For the time being, just immerse yourself and your own natural observations will guide you. That's all part of the fun.

[Padfield]

Here's my ha'porth:

Inevitably, when you start, you'll ask questions like, 'what is it?' and 'how can I get close enough for a good photo without it flying away?' This is fun, the learning curve is steep and you'll have a great time.

But to my mind, the much more interesting questions are, 'what is it doing?' and 'why?' To answer these, you don't pursue but sit back and observe (preferably with a flask of real ale, if you are of an age). Chased butterflies are often little more than missed photo opportunities. Watched butterflies are lessons in living. Learn to see when a female is ready to lay, and then watch her painstakingly work over an area, hunting out exactly the right place to deposit her precious load, even though she will never see her offspring. It is a labour of altruistic love, undertaken with infinite devotion. Watch how males of different species defend territories in different ways. This spring, for instance, you will see commas sparring for sunspots that they will hold, if they can, for as long as it takes to impress a female. You will see orange tips roding round and round the same loops, stopping on the same flower heads as they do it. Watch different wooing techniques - which vary from sophisticated courtly dances, through dive-bombing instant chat-up lines to what can only be described as rape (some male blues go for it while the female is still drying her wings before her first flight).

Back to photography: for about thirty years, I've had a strict rule. I always stop pursuing a butterfly if I put it up three times. If it flies - because of me - three times, I let it go and just watch it get on with its life. All my photographs are taken on that principle, except in a very few cases of rare and/or difficult butterflies where a good picture is necessary for the record and I haven't got a net for photograph and release (in Switzerland, nets are sometimes necessary and less invasive than chasing).

And finally - you did ask for advice - I've seen people trample and kneel on and lie down on vegetation and flowers just to get that perfect photograph. Ideally, in my view, there should be no evidence you were even there. I know some people think I'm too much of a purist on this, but aiming high is always good, even if the ideal is impossible in practice.

That's enough (solicited) advice!

Guy

[Chris L]

Thank you once again for taking the time to provide me with your written advice and guidance.

Ultimately I do think that knowing next to nothing is actually part of the excitement for me. I have a lot to learn but that learning will be extremely enjoyable. I embraced this hobby in mid-August of 2019 (or rather it embraced me by stealth) and so I have just experienced my first long winter wishing that spring would hurry up and arrive. Every day and every month will be a revelation hereafter as I step in to my first butterfly season.

Examining my 2019 records I only saw 9 different species. The fact that I have so many species that I have never even (knowingly) seen just adds to the excitement.

I obviously took this hobby under my wing (no pun intended) during happier times. Little did I know that in 2020 I would be unable to pursue a cluster of my other hobbies for the foreseeable through Covid-19.

[David M]

...Ultimately I do think that knowing next to nothing is actually part of the excitement for me.

I agree. We were all complete beginners once.

It's a bit like learning a language; you start off slowly, build and consolidate with exposure.

One of the greatest benefits of butterflying though, is the opportunity to visit those wild places where they live. Many are in beautiful habitats, and generally off the beaten track too so you're unlikely to see much footfall.

It's like being given a £5k voucher to shop at Harrods before the store officially opens!

[Chris L]

Looking at a lot of Commas close up today I noticed that some were smaller than others and some were light in colour and some dark. I have just been looking online thinking that the colour or the size would be a straightforward way of distinguishing genders. Not so it seems. It all seems a bit perplexing. I think I will park this bit of learning for today.

[Sij]

Looking at a lot of Commas close up today I noticed that some were smaller than others and some were light in colour and some dark. I have just been looking online thinking that the colour or the size would be a straightforward way of distinguishing genders. Not so it seems. It all seems a bit perplexing. I think I will park this bit of learning for today.

It all just takes time. But if you read enough and look at enough images you'll be doing great in no time.