I spent a day in north Shropshire recently photographing the Silver Studded Blue butterfly. The site was at Prees Heath which is managed by the Butterfly Trust and is the northernmost location where this rarity can be found. There are a couple of roosting areas here which need carefully searching out. The day started at 5:30am and I was on site by 6 o’clock, a quick search discovered a number of them still drowsy near the bottom of the vegetation where they overnight. They were gently lifted out on a small twig and placed on the heather tops in the early morning sunlight. They soon warmed up and arose from their slumber and were off. There were plenty others around though to try in different settings. The following photos were taken on a Canon 6D with the 100mm macro lens attached. These delicate specimen were no more than 10-12mm high.
Steve Proctor 