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ALLAN BOVEE - PHOTOGRAPHY ADVENTURES IN NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY MARCH 2007
The mourning cloak is named for its rich,
velvety look that is supposed to look like a formal funeral shawl of old. It is
a large butterfly with a deep brownish-purple color on top and a bright yellow
border on the edge. Iridescent blue spots are near the border of the wings. The
underside lacks color with its grayish-black pattern mimicking the bark of tree
trunks which helps it hide from enemies.
Unlike other butterflies that overwinter as an egg or caterpillar, the mourning cloak spends the winter as an adult butterfly hiding in tree crevices or log piles. Then, when the first warm day above about 60 degrees occurs the butterflies are out looking for food. This can happen anytime in winter, even in January long before Spring. There are no flowers out to nectar on and so instead they search (and smell) for food such as maple sugar sap where winter storms have broken branches of the trees allowing the sap to ooze out. They may also feed on dead or decaying animal or vegetable matter. When the weather turns cold they seek out the hiding spots to wait for warm weather again.
One early Spring it was getting late in the day and I was chasing a mourning cloak when it landed on the trunk of a tree that had fallen over many years ago. As I was trying to photograph it the butterfly kept walking toward the ground on the tree and I found I had to lay down to get the right angle. Soon the mourning cloak crawled right out of sight on the ground. I pressed my face to the side of the tree and could see a cavity between the tree and the ground where the butterfly had crawled. I had found its secret hiding place and this butterfly was going to sleep for the night. I let it go and returned home proud I had solved a mystery in the woods. I have also found another trick and that is to make my own butterfly food. I boil molasses, beer, and rum to make a concoction I paint (using a paint brush) at different stumps and tree trunks in the woods behind my house. Then, if there is any possibility of mourning cloaks out and about, they are almost always at my bait spots. Photography is easier here and if you can do good resolution work, you can capture their long tongues at work lapping up the sweet stuff.
One summer, I found a large group of mourning cloak caterpillars feeding on a willow. They seem to feed communally and if you find one you will find a hundred. I brought a bunch of them home to raise until each formed a chrysalis and turned into adults. I photographed the whole sequence and was happy to release them in my back yard to go live in the woods. Then every Spring when I sight one I wonder if it is a relative of one of the ones I released. The top photo is of a mourning cloak I was able to sneak up on as it sunned itself on the forest floor. The second is of two mourning cloaks feeding at one of my bait piles. The third photo shows the color of the comma butterfly while the fourth photo shows it with wings folded showing its "comma" punctuation mark on the wing. It is feeding on my bait pile and you can see its tongue working. The fifth photo is of one of my captured mourning cloak caterpillars and the sixth photo is the butterfly emerging from the chrysalis and about to fly away. Chasing mourning cloaks has been quite a sport for me for years but I think I have gotten some good photographs for my effort. Watch for them this Spring. Return to PHOTOGRAPHY JOURNAL main page. Date this page was edited: March 19, 2007.
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On
those first warm days of the year, a lot of people like to go for walks in the
woods looking for signs of Spring. Our spirits are lifted and it seems that more
people are out at that time then at any other time of the year. My favorite sign
is the first sighting of a mourning cloak butterfly. 
I
have spent a lot of time chasing after mourning cloaks trying to photograph
them. I have built a lens and flash bracket that allows me to take a sharp photo
from about three feet away. But trying to get to within three feet is sometimes
difficult. If the day is real warm the butterflies are very energized and I
can't get near them. But, if the day is just warm enough in the afternoon, the
butterflies activity is slow but sure. They will fly about with many quick wing
flaps and then a glide and you must keep them in sight until they land. They
will always land in a sunny spot usually on the ground in the leaf litter and
immediately spread their wings to soak up the heat. Then you can slowly approach
them, camera ready, to attempt a photograph. You must not cast a shadow across
them or they will quickly take flight. I try to imitate a tree swaying slightly
in the breeze as I approach. I don't focus the lens but have it set for
the size I want them to be in the image. Then swaying, I slowly approach them
and watch in the viewfinder as the image comes to focus. With a slight tilt of
my body to correct so that I am perfectly parallel to them (or one wing will be
out of focus), I slowly squeeze the shutter. Many times you can get several
frames before the butterfly takes off, other times you can't get near one. Just
take your time and have patience.
Mourning
cloaks are in the anglewing butterfly group and that includes many other species
that are also out and about in the early Spring. Mourning cloaks are the most
common, but I also find two others: commas, butterflies with small silver
crescent marks on the underside of the wings and question marks, butterflies
with a small silver dot under the crescent mark. These guys are really fast and
wary, and I have never been able to sneak up to them without spooking them into
flight. But they rarely land with their wings open like the mourning cloak so
the photos aren't as good. The best technique for these species is to just wait
at the bait pile and when one shows up have the camera ready and keep swaying
slowly as you approach. They are out early as the mourning cloaks and if I see
them in the woods now without camera gear, I use my binoculars to try and
identify them. Unless they are sunning, these butterflies quickly close
their wings and seem to disappear instantly blending into the vegetation
perfectly.