Le Grand Nacré

A wonderful three hour walk over the South Downs with the spaniel this morning. Hundreds of orchids out now and lots of butterflies on the wing as well as some Humming-bird Hawk-moths. It was a twelve species butterfly walk including Adonis Blues and quite a lot of Dark Green Fritillaries. I think the French name - Le Grand Nacré (Mother-of-Pearl) - for this species is rather apt. It was very blustery on top of the Downs and I was pleased to get a shot showing both the upper and lower wing patterns.