Butterfly Watching

Butterfly watching is a relaxing, healthy and inexpensive hobby. Suitable for all the family, it is relatively easy to get started as you only need to look into your own back garden to see specific varieties and visiting the local park will also give you a good view of a variety of butterflies common to your area. Once a butterfly has been seen resting, it will often remain undisturbed if approached quietly and carefully and will continue to feed on nectar from the flower.

Butterflies have a long, coiled proboscis which they thrust into the nectar; this can make wonderful photos and just be immensely satisfying to see. Butterflies are truly fascinating and beautiful to watch and it can be rewarding to be able to tick varieties from your list after you have seen them.

Obtaining a good field guide is imperative as this will help you to be able to determine the best places to try to find individual species of butterfly. It will also tell you the plants that they feed on and show clear and succinct pictures from caterpillar through to adult.

With the vast variety of butterfly species the world over, this is a hobby which can continue to grow and grow. There are many good websites, books and clubs dedicated to this hobby and there is no need to go rushing off to exotic locations for the chance of seeing beautiful species when there are many which will be native to your area.

Joining a local club can be a real asset as there will be many knowledgeable people attending and possibly the opportunity to join field trips, not only does this help to increase your own knowledge of butterflies and their habitats, but gives a great opportunity to find other like-minded individuals and it can become a great social event.

It is worth realising that this hobby can become quite addictive, as you begin to learn more about specific butterflies, you will begin to realise just how much there is to know. Identification focuses on wing patterns and of course colours. The average life span of an adult butterfly is often only about two weeks although there are some species which can live for about eleven months.

As a hobby, butterfly watching can be a knowledgeable and fun hobby, but even more importantly, it can help open up the wonders of nature and the importance of conservation to the young and old alike.