It's about 8 years since I have seen one Dave so I was really quite excited. It was pristine too
Thank you Mike - I think you could be right. The last one I saw was found not by myself but by Colin Baker I believe - he was one of the nicest of folk and a real gentleman.
Cheers Goldie - just goes to show, you never know what might turn up!
I hope both you and Dave got some good shots Buggy. I shall look forward to seeing them idc. I have been told that these butterflies can be difficult to photograph as they heat up quite quickly due to the colouring and retreat to the shade/bushes. That was certainly the case here as I couldn't get anywhere near and had about 3 seconds at most for each shot. From memory it was a similar scenario last time one was seen at this location with many photographers waiting many hours for a brief appearance of the butterfly.
Let me tell you exactly how it was Jack as you are quite right, there was a definite blue/purple sheen and it even circled round me in the manner of a PE. In fact that's exactly what I thought it was initially and my heart started to pound (don't think I'm really cut out for this as I get excited too easily
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
). I soon realised it was too small for a PE and the next ridiculous thought which came to mind was Purple Hairstreak (because of the colour you understand). I quickly dismissed that again on size and eventually realised exactly what it was. I had the pleasure of it's company only for about 10 minutes as it was getting late in the day. I tried again early this morning but no sign of it - or any PE's! Oh, and by the way, my set up is exactly the same as Neil's and many others on this site.