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Week 16

So continues sequence of posts giving one and all the opportunity to showcase their favourite shots of 2014 (or the last time you saw one)!

Please could I ask that everyone waits until a topic has been opened by me for a particular species before posting photos? Of course our overseas members are very welcome to fill in the obvious gaps relating to rare UK migrants. As like last year 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

Didn't pay too much attention to Small Blues in 2014 (I overdosed the previous year when numbers were approaching plague proportions!)

However, a visit to the coastal strip at Crymlyn Burrows in Swansea on 4th May saw a healthy number of individuals active:

I didn't manage to photograph one this year to busy doing other things, but heres one i took in July 2011.

The time slot for Small Blues is tight down here in the South of France.
The aim of this photo of a Small Blue on an adult hand is to illustrate the very small size of this butterfly for anyone who has not had the opportunity to see one yet. Chris

As I have done for the past few years, I nipped down to Bishops Hill last May and was pleased to see that they appeared to be doing well, with good numbers seen on a sunny afternoon with just enough cloud to slow them down a bit so I could get some photos.
At one point I spent some time watching a mating pair being harassed by another male until he seemed to get the message and flew off.
Cheers,

Neil

Nice images, Neil. Is that an inland site?

Yes David, an inland site in Warwickshire, just off J12 on the M40 between Warwick and Banbury. There has been a lot of conservation work for Small Blues in that part of Warwickshire and they have been responding well and spreading to new sites

Neil.

Neil Freeman wrote:Yes David, an inland site in Warwickshire, just off J12 on the M40 between Warwick and Banbury. There has been a lot of conservation work for Small Blues in that part of Warwickshire and they have been responding well and spreading to new sites

Neil.

Excellent news. In my locale, Small Blues are exclusively coastal so it's nice to hear they're still thriving inland.

Once again, a selection! First of all, my most reliable site - Totternhoe Quarry in Bedfordshire. On 18th May there were lots around, including mating pairs and the behaviour Neil illustrates above of additional males bothering the two "in cop". Here is a single male in typical pose on the wild clematis. Next is a site not far from Neil's, namely the Southam bypass. This is now an established colony at the side of the A423, with a good deal of the foodplant. My opportunity was a bit later in the season (7th June), but this female posed nicely. Finally, this year's surprise. I was on Box Hill (Burford Spur) on 11th June, admiring the first of the year's Marbled Whites and DGF, when I spotted a smallish butterfly that looked almost inky blue in flight. I expected a Brown Argus or maybe a female Common Blue, but when it landed, it turned out to be a female Small Blue. The species are only very occasional on the Hill, but clearly persist somewhere - I was very pleased to see it. Dave

My shot was taken at the BBOWT Seven Barrows reserve, north of Lambourn, Berks. It was taken on one of my 'learning' trips with my Panasonic Lumix FZ200, when I was pleased to find that a +1 close up lens allowed me to tackle this tiny butterfly:
Mike

Small Blue

This was taken at Martin Down early in the Small Blue season. Philzoid and I were having a cracking morning starting at Sillen’s Lane and wandering down the hedge tunnel to come out near the hill fort ramparts. Having already encountered a wide range of species it was a delight to encounter some Small Blues. This was my favourite of the lot and the year because of the diminutive scale of the butterfly one of the smallest I’ve ever seen. Have a goodun

Wurzel