@lucypics' eagle eyes spotted this beauty amongst the meadow grasses at the Gog Magogs this morning. It was an excellent start to the day. Impromptu rendezvous with Lucy and then home (feeling a little peckish) to find Rachel just putting the finishing touches to her bespoke banana muffins with caramelised banana stuck on top using melted chocolate - yum!!! I then segued into lunch with my old neighbours and we failed to put the world to rights as one is struggling with elderly parents and parents-in-law - with advance dementia in two cases and almost blindness and infirmity in another. She does an awful lot for them but it isn't the answer so this beautiful butterfly (named by @tishpics) is dedicated to carers everywhere.
What a beautiful tribute. As I ended my teaching career it seemed every second principal I met faced these same issues. Each juggling their roles of caring for aging parents and administering schools. A time for hard decisions to be made. A beautiful tribute for all careers
Careers everywhere save the government millions.....such a hard job...I know I have done lots! Beautiful butterfly.....such a pretty shade if pretty blue.....the feelers are incredibly detailed !
Gorgeous butterfly shot and fav. I hear these struggles with so many people - nearly everyone has to go through them. Thank goodness for Rest Homes and nurses who really care!
I forgot to mention Judith, but just spotted Lucy's id of thi sspecies. I think you will find it is a Brown Argus. Well spotted, I have never seen one, despite having a good hunt for them as recently as thursday! See the male underside pic on the following. http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species.php?species=agestis
@seanoneill well thank you very much! I think though that it is a male silver studded blue which is also an argus and very similar to the brown on the underside of the wing because I'm pretty sure it was blue with the wings opened. That's how Lucy spotted it in the middle of the dried meadow grasses (I have a photo of her in action well into the field!) I am going to go back and have another walk through that area with my butterfly book because I see that the female is brown (you can see lots of blues and browns flittering around on the Gogs) and I'm going to look out for the Brown Argus as well as the chalky landscape may be good habitat for that too. What do you think @lucypics - was it blue on top?
Then you've been very lucky Judith, because silver studded blues summer flight period ends in early August normally and they are only found in 2 sites north of Norwich and the coast of Suffolk normally in the whole of East Anglia.
@seanoneill Hmm - in that case what about 'Common Blue' - I have looked at another picture I took and there is an 'extra spot' on the upper wing which is hidden in this one? Common Blue are definitely seen around the area.
@judithg yes, it could well be. The markings are very similar to both tbe silver stuffed blue and the brown argus, and the common blue flies throughout the uk in September. If it had blue upper wings it almost certainly is. Common, yes, beautiful, absolutely.
