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Silver-studded Blue - Favourite Photo of 2018

Week 15

With five weeks still to go now is the time to start thinking about choosing your overall favourite! As for this week – it feels like we’re going back in time and just starting winter!

Please could I ask that everyone waits until a topic has been opened by me for a particular species before posting photos as then it will be easier to keep track of things? Of course our overseas members are very welcome to fill in the obvious gaps relating to rare UK migrants. As in previous years details of locations, dates, times and circumstances would be welcome as would any accompanying stories and anecdotes or other observations of behaviour and interesting other points.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

There's only one place to see this species in south Wales; a narrow strip of coastline at Castlemartin in Pembrokeshire. I visited on a glorious day on 23rd June and was rewarded with three dozen or so:

I got my SSB fix last year at Faimile Common. As I noted two years previously, this population seems to be rather well endowed in the stud department, particularly the females Also of not this year was a significant number of females showing prominant splashes of blue on the uppers I also rather like this make perched amongst the thorns of the Gorze and finally I managed to add the SSB to my in cop collection

I was in Cornwall early in the flight season and plenty of Silver-studded Blues were perched on the marram grass and privet bushes. I came across this freshly emerged female on 1 June prior to her first flight.

Interesting to note the accompanying ant, Wolfson.

This one is from the south of France on the 3rd of June - the best moment of the season. Chris

Silver-studded Blue

I toyed with the idea of my ‘out of place’ Silver-stud shot for my fave of 2018but when I sat down and looked back through all of my files I veered away from this and straight back to a set of shots from Slop Bog. You see this was a ‘middle trip’. It fell in the middle of a trio of trips which produced 6 firsts for the year, it also produced the middle of a trio of new ’in cop’ shots and on the day my favourite shot were selected from a little area where three couples were enjoying a bit more than a cuddle and these two were the second of the three discovered. I chose this shot in particular because they positioned themselves in a great position and I was able to get down and square on. Happy days!
Have a goodun

Wurzel

Having grown up in Cambs with little awareness of much other than birds, and spent most of my adult life in the North, this has the distinction of being the first SSB I ever laid eyes on! On East Budleigh Common near Exeter, on the morning of the 24th June - I don't know the status of this colony but it didn't seem large and the site appeared quite scrubbed-up.