Chalkhill Blues

This morning I spent a happy couple  of hours visiting  our local  Yew Hill butterfly reserve. Today there was a myriad of Chalkhill Blue butterflies on the wing and feeding on the knapweed flowers. While  the males have blue upper wings those of the  females are brown, tinged with blue, near the body. (See extra for a mating pair. )They lay  their  eggs on Horseshoe Vetch, the food plant of the caterpillars.
I also saw many other butterflies: lots of Meadow Browns and  Gatekeepers, one Peacock, one Marbled White, one Skipper, one Brimstone,  and a Clouded Yellow.   
See also earlier entry: Yew Hill orchid