Tuesday 30 August 2011

Purple Hairstreak

Purple Hairstreak butterfly, Neozephyrus quercus.  West Wickham Common, 24 July 2011.
Purple Hairstreak butterfly, Neozephyrus quercus.  West Wickham Common, 24 July 2011.
This is another butterfly I photographed on the day I had decided not to go for butterflies. It is normally an elusive creature, spending most of its time high up in oak trees. I had taken only one shot of this species previously, at a distance and with a long lens.

But this time I was looking among some low oak branches — lots of creatures live on oak trees — and this butterfly flew down from above, posed for me for ten seconds, and then flew back up again. Lucky! It is a drab little thing in flight, but the undersides of its wings are nicely marked.

2 comments:

  1. As so often the leaves are as interesting and as beautifully photographed as the butterflies or moths.

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