Chalk Hill Blue

He's a little ragged around the edges, but this male Chalk Hill Blue is still going strong.  Chalk Hill Blues are quite a specialised species, as their only food source is horseshoe vetch, they are therefore restricted to areas of calcareous grassland in southern England.  Numbers are down by 50% in the last 50 years, so I was quite pleased to find this one.  

They are a paler blue than the common blue, and you can tell them apart in flight as a result.  Tracking them to a landing spot and then sneaking up on them to grab a photo is a wholly different matter, particularly when it is as warm as it is today.  

I spent a couple of hours looking for butterflies on the mendips earlier today at which point I knew that I'd gone about as far as I wanted to go in the heat, and I was very pleased when I eventually retraced my steps and was able to get back to the air conditioned car.