Small Blue
They say small is beautiful so today I headed up to the Stoke Camp reserve hoping to find the Small Blue (Cupido minibus) butterfly.
Stoke Camp
Stoke Camp is a nature reserve owned by Butterfly Conservation. It is the site of an ancient hill fort. You can see why because the spectacular site has views across the country side and steep limestone slopes. Today it protects a population of butterflies. The smallest of which is the Small Blue.
Small Blue
A tiny little butterfly and one I have not been out to see for several years.
The small blue seems to like the area just inside the reserve immediately down to the right. This slope has a mixture of short grass and brambles which they seem to like.
The Chase
One of the butterflies in this pair was very keen. So not the other and they chased each other around the grassland.
And Finally…
All the other small blues liked to sit on the grass or brambles. Not so this one who preferred to stroll around on the bare ground. Perhaps its pretending that its the first butterfly to walk on Mars.