The Wall

The Wall, or Wall Brown, has always been one of my favourite butterflies. Fortunately I know the locations of at least half a dozen Wall colonies on the South Downs so I can usually find some. Having said that, this female was about three-quarters of a mile away from one of those centres, perhaps seeking suitable egg laying habitat on the marginally less frazzled north facing escarpment slope. I think its beautifully camouflaged against the background of decaying cow dung. The Wall is notoriously skittish and difficult to photograph so I was quite pleased to get this close to this one (I only had my 55mm lens with me) while the spaniel obeyed the lie down command for once.