Cripes, just logged in for the first time in a couple of days to find UKButterflies at war with itself!!!!
Today I visited a lovely disused quarry and succeeded in taking some pretty fair (by my standards...) pics of a Dingy Skipper and a handful of Wood Whites. Several times I found myself thinking about this very thread. I'm always careful to check for thistles, brambles, roses etc before crouching/squatting/laying down for a shot anyway. Today I also concentrated on trying not to kneel on anything that looked like a nectar source, Wild Strawberry or BFT. And I tried to lift my feet high through the grasses or keep to bare areas rather than blunder willy-nilly through the habitat. I'm not yet at the fully-fledged ninja stage, but I managed to cause less habitat disturbance than would a herd of stampeding rhino's.
On a purely personal note, I enjoy sneaking up to (for example) butterflies and going in for a decent pic. I used to carry pooter, beating tray, sweep net, hand lens, umpteen pots and jars, a killing jar, ID guides, binoculars, telescope and tripod... nowadays it's just binoculars, a hand lens, ID guides and a camera. And practice makes perfect. I'm definitely getting better images now than this time last year.
So I'm happy to continue with the photography side of my
interest in butterflies, and I'm also happy to try and minimise the trampling of foodplants/larva/resting adult insects. Same as I try not to disturb nesting birds, always put logs/stones back as I found them if looking underneath them and never ever drop litter. Other individuals may or may not agree with this. I speak only for myself,
a keen amateur naturalist.
Hope everybody's still talking to each other tomorrow!
Gibster.