Every year in central Florida we have two flights of these large, beautifully marked Palamedes swallowtailed butterflies (Papilio palamedes). The first one is in the late spring and the second is in late summer. Right now we are in the midst of the first flight. Every year, I also chase these butterflies all over the place trying to get decent photos of them. They seem to spend a lot of time flying around, often in an unpredictable pattern, and very little time resting or feeding. I’ve been known to follow one for 10 to 15 minutes before it either lands or gets away from me. But last year I discovered a great place to photograph them. There is a mimosa tree just down the road from my house that produces the most brilliantly colored flowers every year, and the Palamedes swallowtails literally flock there. They love to feed on the flowers. We have a fair number of mimosa trees in this area, so I’ve always had plenty of choices for getting photos of the flowers. It wasn’t until last spring that I discovered that this particular tree is such a magnet for Palamedes butterflies. I’m not sure what makes this tree so special. It’s flowers do always seem to be somewhat brighter pink than many of the others and that might be part of it, but I suspect something about the location is involved with it as well. I’m not sure what that would be, but I am rather pleased to have discovered an easier way to photograph the Palamedes butterflies.