Small Tortoiseshell butterfly

After trying in vain to get a photograph of these butterflies for weeks now, today presented me with hours worth of opportunities as there were so many of them basking in the sun on the thistles in our croft. At one point there must have been about 20 of them posing for me! I got lots of fuzzy shots as the breeze blew them about a bit, but a good few turned out well like this one, which I'm quite pleased with.