Common Blue

Backblip

Polyommatus icarus

A stroll up to the foot of Cairngorm this morning, where we saw some reindeer, a flock or two of Meadow Pipits and several butterflies. The Scotch Argus was having a rare foray in the sunshine, but this simple wee Common Blue gets the blip, flitting about the sedges like a little chip of summer sky.

The next stop was more ospreys and squirrels at Boat of Garten, and our (now traditional) walk by the shores of Loch Mallachie, breathing in the enormous silence of the Caledonian pine forest.

We both had our eyes trained to the treetops hoping for a glimpse of a crested tit (or hoping against hope for a crossbill) but nae luck...