Yes, I remember you used to live in Calgary, Goldie. I can't remember if you photographed any butterflies while you were there ...
I had a little free time this afternoon so dropped down to a lower, but still local, site, where I hoped to see short-tailed blues. In particular, I wanted to look at the orange lunules, after Chris's pictures showing such reduced orange in the spring brood. I have had my eyes open up here in the mountains over the last few days but none have flown.
It is still early, but a single male short-tailed blue was working its way round and round the meadow, sometimes stopping long enough for shots:
He is very fresh - perhaps the first on the wing. The dent in the trailing edge of the forewing made it easy to confirm that every one I saw was the same individual, going round and round.
Undersides were harder to get because he was low in vegetation and mostly unwilling to close his wings. But I got one or two opportunities at least to record the extent of orange:
Here is a closer detail from that first shot:
Just like Chris's butterflies - hardly any orange.
So it seems there is a very big difference between the broods.
This is a summer brood male from the same site:
Guy