Impossible for me to choose between my two favourite Adonis photos this year, so I'm going to justify posting both as my favourite male and favourite female!
First, the male. Tuesday morning (Aug 14th), and my partner and I were travelling back north from Devon where the day before I'd given a eulogy at the funeral of my dearly beloved Grandad. It had been such an emotional weekend and I was totally drained. The weather when we left Devon was grey and gloomy - a bit of a pathetic fallacy for our mood. But just as we neared the M5 exit for Stroud, the clouds parted... I suggested a detour, L agreed to it, and we parked up on the edge of Minchinhampton Common, at Pinfarthings Banks. Walked 10 m from the car and into a literal cloud of Adonis Blues dancing around above the short grass. After a difficult few days it put a smile back on my face. I took plenty of pictures, including a notable sequence of a male wing-rolling whilst in cop, but my favourite was this...
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And the female. Not such a dramatic story, but perhaps a better photo! I found her on Denbies Hillside on the morning of Weds 22nd, minutes after recording my first Chalkhill Blue of the year (and thereby reaching 50 species in a calendar year for the first time). I love how the browns of the underside and the browns of the dry grass complement each other.