Purple Hairstreak

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.