Silver Studded Blue

Silver-studded blue as promised yesterday. I arrived quite late at Stedham Common , one of the few remaining heathland sites where the rather demanding silver-studded blue can still be found in Sussex. The butterflies had already stated to form their roosting colonies tucked down into tufts of long grass where they are both sheltered and tricky to photograph. However there were still quite a few flying around including this fresh looking male. I've now reached 35 species - my highest ever total for mid June and not far short of my all time maximum of 40 species in a season.