Hi,
Sorry if my phrasing was confusing - I read and replied to your post in under 60 secs, even copying and pasting Pete's IDs (before emending them!!
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
).
For the blue, what I meant was that by Alpine criteria this is undoubtedly idas blue. HOWEVER, both silver-studded and idas have many subspecies and varieties and the criteria I have established out here may not apply universally. Thus, I was implying some doubt. Nevertheless, I do think this is idas blue and think you can safely put this in your records!
For the fritillary, the underside is not a good guide in general (unless it is seen very well), though this underside immediately made me think of pearl-bordered and not small pearl-bordered. The upperside is a far better bet - in this case as showing through the underside!! It is manifestly pearl-bordered - macular, with triangles rather than crescents and with the pd spots aligned as for pearl-bordered, not small. Violet frit (sorry -
Weaver's) flies at least up to 1500m (it is the commonest spring fritillary in my garden, at 1280m) but this is not one!!
The weather stood between me and brown hairstreak today but I did get grayling (
semele), another of my target species. And the sun briefly shone at one of my blues sites, where I was able to photograph short-tailed, Provençal short-tailed, baton, damon, common, Adonis and Chapman's. Plenty of time for brown hairstreaks!!
Guy