![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
It was a very unusual female SSB, David - I only wish she had opened up a little more to show the full extent of the blue markings.
On Sunday 10th June, I dropped by Box Hill, but there was really nothing out of the ordinary and I took no photos of any note.
However, Monday 11th June was a different story. There was some cloud about first thing, and I hoped some might be a feature at my destination today, which was Collard Hill in Somerset. In fact, the further west I went the more the cloud disappeared, so I arrived to wall-to-wall blue skies. It was very warm and quite breezy too. Large Blues were flying, and I soon encountered the first egg-laying females in the steep terraced section (known as the quarry). Around half a dozen were patiently patrolling along here, dipping down to lay on the tiny thyme flowers and then quickly moving on. On the main slopes, further females were to be found doing likewise, but here too were the males. These were zooming up and down the hillside, pausing occasionally to nectar or to sit perched on something with wings tightly shut. Many perches were prickly in nature, including gorse and some very spiky thistles: this is something I've noticed before, and could well be an effective defence against predators as a dragonfly or even a bird would risk damaging theirselves on the sharp projections. I saw only one butterfly open up in all the time I was there, and I think this only happened because it was knocked off balance on its rather precarious perch by a sharp gust of wind. A warm bright cloudy day is the optimum for seeing this species - the weather was far too good today, but the views were stunning. Dave