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Small Blue – Favourite Photo of 2017

Week 16 – From the Silvers and onto the Smalls! We’re flying thorough the species which is great because it means that the new season is fast approaching . Just a reminder then that in five weeks we will have the culmination of the 2017 Favourites thread with your overall favourite shot.

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

They seemed to have a decent year in my neck of the woods. Here's a radiant example from 14th May on the Swansea coastal dunes:

A very early start, and late finish for the Berwickshire coastal Small Blue colonies during 2017. The first were seen on the record breaking date of May 3rd and the last August 17th suggesting some partial brooding going on. This particular male was found on a cliff top terrace among a good number of very regular Small Blue on May 17th. He stood out like a sore thumb with his full blue scaled wings, and he was a little larger than the other rival males.

I saw these in various places but they were at plague proportions at Hutchinsons Bank during their first brood in 2017, I imagine they numbered in thousands! Here's a few images from last May:

As usual, I saw good numbers of Small Blues by the roadside on the Southam Bypass in Warwickshire, and these two stand out from a visit on 23rd May. The other one I particularly remember was from Durlston CP on 9th July, as I'd not come across any here before. Dave

This photo is from the South of France on the 8th of May. On undersides alone, I often confuse C. minimus with C. osiris, however C. osiris is usually found on Sainfoin.
Chris

My usual trip down to Bishops Hill in Warwickshire in mid May produced a good number of Small Blues although it was under grey skies and a few heavy showers. Consequently I didn't take that may photos of which the one below is among my favourites.
Cheers,

Neil

Was very pleased to find this mating pair ,at one of the Kent sites (Western heights car park ) at Dover ,fair numbers here
on the wing and also found a few nearby at Samphire Ho ,where they are found practically on the beach !(as are the small numbers of Adonis ) This is the first pair I,ve seen. Regards Allan.W.

Provence, early May. I love the way the butterfly's shadow is visible. The plant is obviously Anthyllis but is it a different species to the LHP over here or just a colour variant of it?

Matsukaze wrote:Provence, early May ..... The plant is obviously Anthyllis but is it a different species to the LHP over here or just a colour variant of it?

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Hi Matsukaze,
I'm not an expert on Mediterranean plants, I wish I were.
My reference books for France give the main host plant for C. minimus as Anthyllis vulneraria across Europe.
Apparently there are several subspecies with different flower colours including yellow, white, pink and red. Quote from 'La VIE des PAPILLONS' (T. Lafranchis).

If you want to test your French, have a look also at page 91 of this Web doc
http://www.arbres-lozere.fr/wa_files/2P ... IGUE-2.pdf
(uploading takes a while).
I've bought the hard copy version of this : 'Dictionnaire visuel des plantes de la garrigue et du midi' by Maurice Reille.
This is where my orientation would lie if I had more free time.
Chris

bugboy wrote:I saw these in various places but they were at plague proportions at Hutchinsons Bank during their first brood in 2017

The Small Blues at Hutchinsons Bank were seen for 17 consecutive weeks on the transect, so had a very long good year, the second brood was small which is great, as the Kidney Vetch had gone over, except for a few late flowering plants. There should be good numbers in the spring brood of 2018

Small Blue

This was taken at my Marshie Site. Having enjoyed some stunning Small Pearls at Bentley, bucketfuls of Marshies, fresh Common Blues, Greenstreaks and glimpses of Wall Brown Philzoid and I were having a blast and this Small Blue added to the feeling of satisfaction when it appeared whilst we were scrubbing about at the bottom of the hill.

It’s my favourite not just because it serves as another reminder of a cracking day but also because it gives an insight into the actual scale of the butterfly – showing how miniscule it actually is.
Have a goodun

Wurzel