Butterflies on Otmoor by Mike Flemming

http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/phpBB//viewtopic.php?t=7459&start=900#p135110

Visit the link to see more.The photos are all copyright

Extract:
As the month ended, I decided I should see what was happening at Aston Rowant NNR. I prefer the south-western end of the reserve, at Bald Hill near Christmas Common, which is away from the incessant roar of M40 traffic but has similar hillside habitat. After all the hot dry weather, i was surprised to see how tall the grasses had grown and, since there was a stiff breeze blowing, few butterflies were to be seen, at first glance.

Soon, however, I realised that the slope was buzzing with Silver-spotted Skippers, keeping low as they zoomed between Scabious flowers.

There were also plenty of Chalkhill Blues, of both sexes, although these seemed to appear in ‘waves’ : for a while, nothing to be seen and then a group of 5-6 madly chasing around the slope. Their condition was very variable, with several looking very battered, while others were near pristine. Perhaps, this depended on how they had fared on the recent wet days.

I took several ‘regular’ shots but rather liked this one, where the butterfly took off at the end of a short burst of photos.