Waiting for H to transfer her Comma over!
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
Superb shots of the Small Copper, Jim, and by WE too. Haven't seen any this year sadly.
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Tony
My Flickr Photostream
I'm also a big fan of the Small Coppers, lovely shots.
My bird photos HERE
They are nice Haze, and small lol.
Seen lots here Tony, but we do have a lot of Ragwort around.
Thank you Paul.
Jim
My Pictures
My Fbook Group
Lovely shots Jim, Small Coppers are just awesome little butterflies. I love watching them give chase to other insects and butterflies that are larger than itself.
Tony, I'm the same as Jim, we have seen them quite a bit around different places.
I was out today looking for some Dingy Skippers in a local reserve that I've not visited before. But unfortunately, I do believe I'm rather late in finding them but I've noted the possible sites for next year.
I did see quite a lot of Small Coppers again today.
I also found a Small Skipper but It was the only one I saw today
A Comma was also seen, it was a bit awkward photographing this one, it was very very obliging however, the place was full of thistles, trying to get to eye level without getting pricked was impossible so I fired a burst of shots and hurried away haha.
Finally a large white allowed close views.
Love your second picture WE.
Thanks Jim, It was my favourite butterfly shot of the day. I just couldn't help taking shots of the Small Coppers, they are too irresistible! At one point there were a pair and the male looked keen on mating but after waiting for a while, the female flew away which was a shame.
Common Blue from today's visit to Saltholme.
Male
Female
Great shots WE, I'd hedge my bets with the female though, could be a Brown Argus! I can't tell from the photo!
Best wishes
Hazel in Southwest France
Thanks Hazel, my sister and I had a discussion last night, we were wondering if the last one could have been a Northern Brown Argus, but it was hard for us to come into a conclusion because I couldn't get a shot of the underside of the forewing. Since from my guide, the Northern Brown Argus/ Brown Argus does not have spotting close to its body on the underside of the forewing compared to the common blue.
Very good photos.
Apart from the spot on the forewing, I understand there is meant to be a (small) difference in the hindwing spots as well. A (Northern) Brown Argus has two spots very close together, described as almost a figure of eight.
See the spots highlighted on this Northern Brown Argus I took earlier in the year (it also lacks that extra spot on the forewing and was seen in a spot well-known for them, so I'm reasonably confident of ID in this case).
I don't know how reliable this method of ID is, but it worked for this individual obviously! Based on that however, I think yours would be a Common Blue.
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Nige Flickr