Collard Hill

by Jeff Bevan · Published 11th June 2018 · Updated 25th July 2018

Compton Dundon from Collard Hill – Somerset, UK. ID 825_1796

Last year I visited Green Down hoping to photograph the rare large blue butterfly. This year I decided to give Collard Hill a try. Collard Hill is owned by the National Trust and they have a wonderful Large Blue blog which is a create help in planning and timing your visit.

The Large Blue

I saw this large blue resting in the grass. It was hanging around going no where fast so I had time to lie down and take some photographs. With my camera I need to get just a foot away to get a good enough close-up.

Soon another large blue flew in giving me a few quick seconds to grab some blurred pictures of the butterflies together.

Large Blue (Maculinea arion) – Collard Hill, Somerset, UK. ID 825_1586

Large Blue (Maculinea arion) – Collard Hill, Somerset, UK. ID 825_1606

Large Blue (Maculinea arion) – Collard Hill, Somerset, UK. ID 825_1608

I was never going to freeze the butterfly in flight. Even these pictures were at 1/250th of a second with my lens nearly wide open. Once they settle things get a lot easier and a lot sharper!

Large Blue (Maculinea arion) – Collard Hill, Somerset, UK. ID 825_1706

And Finally…

I spent a couple more hours looking for large blue butterflies with little success. But the small heath butterflies were out in numbers and were far more keen to pose for their picture.