The weather can make or break a site visit, it's a shame that it was the wrong way round for you yesterday 
It went against us in my next post and it's a pain when you're travelling a reasonable distance 
Green Down 6th June
After keeping an eye on the weather forecast we decided to visit Somerset today, with the forecast for cloud with sunny spells and a high of sixteen degrees; just perfect for open wing shots of Large Blue Butterflies. What a load of rubbish that turned out to be as our day was spent in full sunshine with a high of 21 degrees and not a cloud in the sky above Green Down! Having not visited this site before we travelled with high hopes. Arriving at 2pm we parked in the lane under the Down and headed up the footpath and onto the site. We saw no butterflies of any species as we walked along the horse gallop which cuts through the middle of the Down. I took a look along the lower part but saw nothing flying and it looked a little overgrown, so we headed onto the upper part which looked more 'grazed'. As soon as we stepped onto the Down proper, a Large Blue flew across right in front of us putting up a second one, they both kept flying until we could no longer see them. We slowly walked along the narrow path in the direction they had gone and within ten yards had seen several more (or the same two), but they just stayed airborne as it was steaming hot on the sheltered south facing Down. We prayed for a bit of cloud cover but it didn't happen and that was the pattern for the whole afternoon. Shots were hard won and there wasn't really an occasion when we saw a LB with it's wings anywhere near fully open (apart from by fluke).
- Large Blue - Green Down 6.6.24.
- Large Blue - Green Down 6.6.24.
- Large Blue - Green Down 6.6.24.
- Large Blue - Green Down 6.6.24.
- Large Blue female - Green Down 6.6.24.
A flukey shot of a squabble, ok it's open wing but by fluke..
- Large Blues - Green Down 6.6.24.
a Grizzled Skipper, the only one seen but at least it's wings were open..
- Grizzled Skipper - Green Down 6.6.24.
a couple of shots of the Down..
- Green Down 6.6.24.
- Green Down 6.6.24.
and a final couple of Large Blues..
- Large Blue - Green Down 6.6.24.
- Large Blue - Green Down 6.6.24.
- Large Blue - Green Down 6.6.24.
We saw approx. fifteen Large Blues during our visit, a couple were quite worn so some had been out for a while. In spite of the warm conditions it was an enjoyable visit to a new site for us and what a stunning site it is too.
- Green Down 6.6.24.
and finally an open wing shot from France last summer..
- Large Blue - Brenne France 27.6.23.
I always reckon that the under wing shots are much more interesting than the open ones anyway 
