Butterfly of the day

After the rain this morning there have been some nice sunny spells and this brought an unexpected visitor to the garden. Apart from over-wintering Brimstones and vanessids, this Small Copper is often a late flying species, but I don't think I've seen one this late in my garden before. It seemed to like this perennial Candytuft that is having a second flowering this year. An added bonus was that this particular specimen is the form caeruleopunctata (Tutt) showing a line of blue spots on the hindwing. I think this is more usual further north - I will need to check with my local Butterfly Conservation group.