Thanks Pauline, yes I've now seen those on the species page and it's quite similar.
It's pure luck, Trevor, as always, they were fighting again shortly after.
Thanks Goldie
Thanks Wurzel, if only I could have got a better shot but it flew off into the distance, never to be seen again
Final part of our Isle of Wight trip.
We saw our first Large Skipper of the year at Compton Bay and then several more at other locations.
Dingy skippers appeared to be in good numbers in the usual sites along the south coast of the island.
Grizzled Skippers were less common than Dingys but those we saw were in fine condition. Quite a bit of variation in both species.
There were not as many Green Hairstreaks as in 2015 and they were showing various states of wear.
During a visit to Brading Down we saw quite a few first brood Holly Blues, three Red Admirals and a single Wall Brown. The Down appeared to have become a bit overgrown since last year, particuarly at the bottom of the Down, where we saw most butterflies in 2015.
![P1230166.JPGResize.JPG (762.3 KiB) Viewed 800 times Holly Blue ovipositing on Dogwood](./files/thumb_11970_4da99feb40e2f7c52c1dde374a310713)
- Holly Blue ovipositing on Dogwood
![P1220746.JPGResize.JPG (1.32 MiB) Viewed 800 times The best and only shot we could get of this Wall](./files/thumb_11970_e7facdded112348757d8dc2156c80f98)
- The best and only shot we could get of this Wall
At one point, while we were watching dogfights between the Small Blues, Common Blues and Brown Argus, a small dark butterfly parted from the melee and landed on an Alkonet plant at my feet. Taking a closer look I saw it was a Small Copper, only it looked a little different from the norm. Looking at the couple of shots I got of it on my camera's LCD screen confirmed that it was an ab!
![P1230231.JPGResize.JPG (1.11 MiB) Viewed 800 times ab. radiata?](./files/thumb_11970_ce56bf4e3c6c05e8dd8ef36b640a482c)
- ab. radiata?
Having only seen three Small Coppers in total during our visit what were the chances of one of those being an ab?