www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

First time I've photographed these

I'm assuming this is the female? You can see the male attached - hiding behind the grass seedhead...



Another female?





I think this is a male?

I think it might be the male. If you look at the other photos, a female has very little blue scaling on the underside.

But these are absolutely superb shots! What's your secret?

Seriously - I think other visitors would like to know your equipment and technique (tripod?).

You should submit these for inclusion on the main species pages on the UK Butterflies website

Cheers,

- Pete

Pete Eeles wrote:I think it might be the male. If you look at the other photos, a female has very little blue scaling on the underside.

Hmmmm.... *Scratches head!

But these are absolutely superb shots! What's your secret?

Take LOTS and hope you get a good one?

Seriously - I think other visitors would like to know your equipment and technique (tripod?).

Nikon D200
Sigma 150mm EX DG Macro
Manfrotta 190ProB tripod with Joystick head
Take LOTS and hope you get a good one

You should submit these for inclusion on the main species pages on the UK Butterflies website

Cheers,

- Pete

As far as I'm concerened - if I post it here and you think it's good enough - feel free to grab it for the website

Thanks Oy (Dave!). Will do. Do you have location info?

Cheers,

- Pete

Yes - they were taken today at Three Sisters Recreation Area, Bryn, Near Wigan, Lancs.

Yep, cracking shots.
I don't know whether Pete agrees with me but in my experience, female CBs have more pronounced orange roundels on the forewing undersides, and also tend to be generally browner on the undersides than males. When they get older and a bit shabby then it becomes difficult to tell the difference. Also, I don't know if this is a rule of thumb or not, but I've never seen a female on top in a mating pair.

Not sure about the amount of orange, but certainly agree with the overall "ground" colour. Which is why I'd say the first 3 are a male, and the last 2 a female.

The last shot is just stunning.

And remember that there's a photo competition running

Cheers,

- Pete

Coincidently, here's a pair I took today. Not *quite* to your standard but getting there maybe...

Nice shot! And same comment applies regarding the competition - and there are no entries, so far, in the "behaviour" category

Also - something I'd not really noticed before until I watched about 20 pairs of mating Chalkhill Blue this morning. I figured that it is only in the "blues" that the male is larger than the female (and this doesn't even apply to haistreaks!). Anyone care to comment? And this photo backs it up! Am I going nuts?!

Cheers,

- Pete

Yes I'd noticed that, with chalkhills too. It's quite pronounced. I thought a female chalkhill I saw at first was a common until three male chalkhills began to fuss over her!

And further to that comment I noticed that when the competition was sorted and a single chalkhill male was left, he'd flutter around her for a while, then pause for breath as it were. As he paused he'd display open winged to the female, an ideal time to snap an open wing shot. You just get a second or two but it's enough if you're waiting.

Oy, those last 2 shots (females) are truly breathtaking.

Well done