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Silver-studded Blue - Favourite Photo of 2021

Week 15

Not long to go now! The Aconites at work are out and they’re usually only a couple of weeks ahead of the Small Torts…barring a sudden snowfall or arctic surge.

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 and stay safe

Wurzel

Steely blue in a sea of vibrant pink

Most of my encounters were in West Cornwall where numbers seemed pretty good in the second half of June. A problem with the Far West is the unpredictable nature of the weather, however, on this occasion I was not disappointed.

In 2021 I caught up with Silver-studded Blues during our week in Dorset in June. Given the generally late emergences last year I was wondering if we might be a bit early for these but in the event we managed to see a single fresh male at RSPB Arne (Coombe Heath) on the 14th June and then a couple of days later on the 16th we found lots of fresh males at Higher Hyde Heath near Wool.
Cheers,

Neil.

Silver-studded Blue

This may be my favourite photo but it’s only my second favourite sighting of Silver-studded Blue. The first was of an aberrant which had a more grey ground colour to the hind wings and instead of the orange markings they were a washed out lemon colour, all of which made the silver studs ‘ping’. Unfortunately it stayed still only for a very blurry record shot so getting back to the Favourite photo…I chose this one as I love the way that the orange markings have fused into a single orange band and also how it’s sitting on one of the food plants - Cross leaved Heath. It came from Slop Bog, possibly one of the best and contradictory named sites in the UK, during my only visit of the year. It was a flying evening visit after work, and the sights and sounds that I’m reminded off when I look at this image form another set of reasons for its selection as my favourite.
Have a goodun

Wurzel

On our yearly trip to West Sussex ,we managed a visit to Iping Common ,for the Silver Studs ,the weather was perfect
with sun and intermittant cloud cover ,and as usual , the Silver Studs behaved well ! in our short one hour visit we saw probably around 50 (give or take !) including two pairs in one spot ,less than a metre apart. Allan.W.

Visited the only site in south Wales for SSB in Pembrokeshire on 27th June. Normally, there are plenty around but the grey skies this day meant I only found a small number:

Numbers were very much down at Dawneys Hill in 2021, but the species seemed to be holding up well at both Fairmile Common and Chobham Common. The shining quality of the blue of this butterfly is unlike any of the other blues on the British list, and fresh ones are irresistible. These are from Chobham.A nice set of strong turquoise studs is always a bonus too.One other that does stick in the memory is a very aged specimen seen at Tout Quarry on Portland at the start of August. Dave