Small Copper

As I will be away for most of next week, I was desperate to walk my butterfly transect today. There were some brief periods of weak sunshine this afternoon, but still a stiff breeze and it was quite cold. The only butterfly I saw, apart from a very hardy Orange-tip, was this Small Copper. It flew up from a clump of buttercups and I chased after it to try to get a photograph. It landed on this buttercup for just a few seconds and didn't even raise its head when I said 'cheese'...then it was off again and I didn't see another butterfly for the rest of the afternoon.