Small is Beautiful

Small Blue (Cupido minimus) – Stoke Camp, Somerset, UK. ID JB4_4546. The wind never seemed to stop blowing this May. So in an attempt to find shelter I headed to Stoke Camp high on the exposed south-facing edge of the Mendip Hills. As mad as this seems I was hoping to find Small Blue butterflies. They prefer the partly sheltered bottom corner of the reserve – just turn left through the gate and find the area of Kidney Vetch near the exposed limestone out-crops.

After about an one and half hours I still had not seen a butterfly – any butterfly! Then deep in the grass under a patch of bracken I found one. Slowly it walked up its blade of grass. When it reached the top I bent over a taller blade so it could continue climbing. Eventually it slotted its wings through the bracken fronds to the top. As the clouds parted it finally got its opportunity to open its wings and warm-up!