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Common Blue - Favourite Photo of 2023

Week 4

Last year I wrote about how ‘there might not be many butterflies left after the deluges’…looks like history repeated itself! Saying that I’m sure there might be a few stalwarts still out there looking to stretch their wings should the sun reappear!

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

Common Blue
When it came to picking the Favourites for this species it actually was quite hard this season/year. In the end I went for two but both shots came from a late afternoon visit to Sidbury Hill which I did as a bit of a recce in readiness for Dave’s visit.
The first I chose because it was an unusual looking Common Blue; it was tiny – about the size of a Brown Argus, the black spots above the orange lunules were pretty reduced and it lacked the ‘cell spot’ on the underside of the fore wing. In fact if I hadn’t have seen the blue topside I would have had to have checked the pattern of spots to ID it.
The second shot came from the end of the visit as the sun was going down and the small field that I was in was bathed in a glorious golden light. The tall grasses were littered with Common Blues and Brown Argus which were starting to settle down for the night. There were so many that this pair had to share a roosting perch. I love the way that they’re sitting next to each other, side by side, like a cosy couple settling down with a cup of cocoa to watch Corrie.
Have a goodun

Wurzel

A very tricky one to decide, considering how many I've seen during the year. They had a better year on my local patch in 2023, starting mid-May - and remarkably there is still one left today (5th November). This one certainly sticks in the mind, and one of today's photos with a bit of context in particular.(I may return to this topic when I've been through the last six months of butterflies - but maybe not! )

Dave

I visited my favourite site at Fallin Bing near Stirling for this glorious little butterfly in early June. The old bing is covered in a huge variety of wild flowers and is a fantastic place to go walking. Burnet moths, meadow browns, ringlet, small copper, peacock, red admiral, tortoiseshell, small white, large white, green veined white and orange tip can all be seen at various times. I also managed to see a very worn green hairstreak.....so I will be looking for them next spring.

Cheers

Bert.

Are larvae allowed? My favourite this year was this first instar demonstrating feeding damage.

My favourite is of a perched male, but I had to include a photograph of a “blue” female whose blue is as intense and extensive as any that I have photographed.

I seem not to have taken many photos of Common Blue this season, though I don't think that reflects any unusual scarcity. Here's a male from the first generation, from a site in suburban Surrey.
And a blue-form female from the second generation, from a site on the North Downs where Common Blue is very much the dominant blue species. Couldn't resist two photos, as the different angles of the wings produced different but equally attractive shades of blue.

Common Blues were down in numbers locally for me this year ..........that said there were certainly some beauties about .
The first shot was taken at St.Margarets bay ,in a small reserve beside the Dover Patrol monument where i found several on the wing ,along with good numbers of Small Blues . As i crouched down to take this shot ,a large butterfly shot past me at head height..................... a Swallowtail ,heading towards Dover ...........at speed ! I walked on towards Kingsdown Leas to look for a couple of rare plants ,and to see how the Everlasting Pea was faring ...............and it was doing very well ! things were looking good for a little on ! I found one of the plants i was looking for (Oxtongue Broomrape ) although it was only just starting to flower and along the base of the cliff i found a fresh "Brown "(ish) female Common Blue. The last female was taken in the Orlestone forest .................. I think ! Allan.W.

An average year at best for Common Blues around my local sites this year. Over the past two years both broods had been hit by poor weather and although there was a bit of a recovery in numbers this year and they turned up everywhere that I would expect them to, they were still well down on numbers compared with a few years back.

By favourite shot of a male was probably this one taken at the local park by my Mom's house, a site that only ever produces a small handful of individuals each year.
Although I saw some nice females, I struggled to get decent photos of them with the one below from my local spot by Wagon Lane being about the best I managed.
Cheers,

Neil.

I found the Common Blue's at Seasalter on the 24th of May and a Female at Temple Ewell in August , it's always a pleasure walking through the fields at TE there' s so many Butterflies to be found there. Goldie

Wolfson wrote: ↑Mon Nov 06, 2023 9:37 am...but I had to include a photograph of a “blue” female whose blue is as intense and extensive as any that I have photographed.

That female's an absolute peach, Wolfson.

Didn't take too many images of this species in 2023. Probably my favourite was this female at West Williamston, Pembs, on 24 August:

It's difficult to look past some of the stunning females this year but I just like the way this male posed for me one morning on Mill Hill. There was also this one, feeding on Round-headed Rampion.

Not great numbers but a wider distribution over the flood plain of the River Chelmer. One male on the local patch nectaring on Tufted Vetch Vicia cracca:
and a very beautiful female that allowed me to follow her as she was egg-laying as well as nectaring on Bird's-foot Trefoil Lotus corniculatus along a newly created meadow created when a new bridge was constructed over the flood plain as 'offset':

That looks to be an exceedingly blue female, dlaz.

Did you get any other images of her?

I didnt actually see that many this year for one reason and another. Thin on the ground in the most typical spots. This female was one of the few up at Greenlaw Dean in June.

David M wrote: ↑Tue Dec 19, 2023 11:15 am That looks to be an exceedingly blue female, dlaz.

Did you get any other images of her?

Hi David, I expect she was a superb blue when she was fresh. By the time she came to my attention she was already worn and tatty. It just so happened that the angle of the light created a lovely mauve sheen from her wings. She was very busy and did not settle long. After chasing her for the perfect upper-side shot I had to let her be as I did not want to disturb her anymore. I only use an iPhone 11 Pro and have to wait until it focuses, as well as get very close - so it is very frustrating, as you can imagine. I ended up with lots of unusable photos - either blurred or with a piece of plant in the way like this one:
The most frustrating one was missing her lay an egg my milliseconds
David

Thanks, dlaz. Ues, I'm sure she was a beauty when she first emerged.

Reminds me a bit of this one I found in August 2019:

David M wrote: ↑Wed Dec 20, 2023 2:32 pm
Reminds me a bit of this one I found in August 2019:

Wow, she’s a beauty!

She was quite similar, perhaps a little bit more mauve and ‘chalky’ - a stunner providing me with a few moment's of pleasure.

I was lucky enough to come across quite a few ‘more blue than brown’ females this year around Essex but she was the best of the lot.