Holly Blue - Favourite Photo of 2014

[Wurzel]

Week 8

Another week comes and goes soon be Christmas! Here continues the sequence of posts giving one and all the opportunity to showcase their favourite shots of 2014 (or the last time you saw one)!

Please could I ask that everyone waits until a topic has been opened by me for a particular species before posting photos? Of course our overseas members are very welcome to fill in the obvious gaps relating to rare UK migrants. As like last year details of locations, dates, times and circumstances would be welcome as would any accompanying stories and anecdotes or other observations of behaviour and interesting other points.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

With the unprecedented late sightings this year, right into November, this is a difficult choice to make. I saw this butterfly in every month from April to November, with a peak possibly in August. However, I saw at least one on most outings locally and one or two elsewhere. All these photos were from my local patch near Heathrow. First up is a first brood female from 26th April, and then a second brood female from 21st July.

Next is a male from right at the start of the season, the first I saw this year, on 8th April.

Finally, probably my favourite of all, is the third brood male I spent a good half hour with on 5th October.

(As a postscript, perhaps it would be right to include the last of this somewhat unusual year as well, another male from 9th November!)

Dave

[David M]

This is a species that I have still to reconcile myself with.

I know of a couple of places locally where they can be reliably found, but even then getting an image is a different matter altogether!

My best shots of both male and female came at my prime site, i.e. Danygraig Cemetery in Port Tennant, Swansea, in mid to late Spring:

[Wurzel]

Holly Blue

This is my favourite Holly Blue shot as it captured an interesting moment in time. I was at Shipton and despite some frustrations with Brown Hairstreaks I was finding the Holly Blues were much more approachable. One landed on a Bramble almost in front of me and so I started snapping away. Then a fresher one fluttered down to join the feeding so I thought I’d get a few shots of that one. The first HB took umbrage at the intrusion of the second and so set about it.
Although the HB in flight isn’t in focus I like it anyway as it conveys all the vigour and energy it was displaying in trying to usurp a rival.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[MikeOxon]

Holly Blues are regular visitors to my garden in both Spring and Autumn, probably assisted by the fact that I have both Holly and Ivy trees to support their successive broods. Nevertheless, they can be tricky to photograph, since they are constantly on the move and tend to settle high up amongst the leaves.

On this occasion, I spotted this female on a cool Spring morning, resting with wings closed on a low leaf. I took several photos and then, as the sun began to warm her up, she slowly raised her antennae and opened the wings before turning on her leaf and flying up into a Holly tree. This 'favourite' was the last shot I took before she flew.

garden, Abingdon - 5th May 2014
Nikon D300s with Tamron 90mm macro lens - 1/125s@f/16 ISO400

Mike

[Neil Freeman]

I too have Holly blues as regular visitors to my garden although this year they were definitely fewer of them with just half a dozen spring brood seen and even fewer later in the summer. Most of the time they were just passing through as usual but a couple of spring individuals were attracted to a patch of Forget-me-nots at the bottom of the garden where I managed to take my favourite photos of this species this year. I particularly like the effect of the blue butterfly on the blue flower.

Holly Blue - Coverdale 09.05.2014

Holly Blue - Coverdale 09.05.2014

Cheers,

Neil.

[David M]

I'd pay good money to get an image of Holly Blue on forget-me-nots, Neil.

I think I've only ever seen them nectaring on bramble.

[Goldie M]

My one and only encounter this year with Holly Blue was at Hall-Lee-Brook where I live so it's got to be my favourite
I took the photo on the 18th of April, | went back there loads of times but never saw one again Goldie

[Chris Jackson]

Hi all,
My first sighting of a Holly Blue this year down in Marseilles was February 15th, which helped accelerate what was already an early start to the season this year.
Female 1st brood, Marseilles

I particularly like Neil's contrast of blues above.

Cheers, Chris

[PhilBJohnson]

I really like Neil's contribution. "Blue on blue" works very well, I think.
Here is my contribution. These photos were taken on 12th July (Summer Brood). Like some other butterflies taking minerals, I guess there is only a small window of opportunity to photograph them like this before they become less interested. This was the day when I also got pictures of grounded Purple Hairstreaks. These pictures are my favourite because of the content and not because of my "weird" camera settings

Holly Blue. "Hill topping behaviour" :)

Holly Blue with dirty feet ! :)

There were actually two Holly Blues doing the same thing but I didn't get the correct distance away to picture them both clearly together.
Best wishes,
Philip