www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Hello all!

Long time Lep fan, first time poster here. I just wanted to say how wonderful it is to see so many beautiful photos being taken.

I would like to contribute in my own small way by sharing some of mine, starting with these Large Blue photos I took of them from courtship to just about to mate to mating.

Hope you all enjoy x

Welcome to UKB Solomon! I look forward to see many more of your images!

Cheers,

- Pete

Thank you very much, I am extremely happy to be here and have admired your and fellow butterfly compatriots work in Butterfly Conservation and related charities for some time (am 23, have been a BC member - with the family - since the tender age of 3).

Is David Simcox on this forum? I took these photos at his Cotswold site and ran into him and some other workers doing observations there. It'd be nice to share them with him as it was a really special moment for me to see these creatures, facilitated by his stellar work.

Looking forward to contributing in whatever way I can!

Solomon

Beautiful!

Hi Solomon,

It was a great pleasure to meet you and your friend on a National Trust site in the Cotswolds and I'm delighted that you were able to both see and photograph Large blues. Your photos are lovely and I very much enjoyed our discussions.

I remember laughing with you, that I was exactly your age when I was sent on a mission across Europe, in an ageing campervan, to try and locate a suitable donor population of Large blues to re-introduce to the UK. It seemed an impossible task at the time but ultimately I was very lucky.

Thank you for your kind words, but I must stress that the success of the Large Blue Project is due to the collaboration of many scientific and conservation organisations and the hard work of numerous individuals!

It is great to see that young people like you are interested and this bodes well for the future.