Great day.......

....of blue skies and Green Hairstreaks!!
As the weather was still lovely today, but not set to last I thought I would take a trip to Mill Hill near Shoreham to look for Grizzled and Dingy skippers and Green Hairstreaks.
Mill Hill is a cutting on the South downs which faces West, and is usually warm, and a good breeding ground for some of our most lovely little butterflies.
As soon as I arrived another photographer introduced me to this beautiful Green Hairstreak Collophrys rubi,
The Green Hairstreak is a small butterfly , and probably the most widespread of all our Hairstreaks, but still considered local, forming small colonies, sometimes with as few as 12 individuals.
They always perch with closed wings which they tilt to catch the sun's rays and help with temperature regulation. The green colour is due to diffraction of light on a lattice-like structure found within the wing scales.
I think they are really beautiful, I hope you do too.
On another note there is an article about my blip 365 project in the local West Sussex County Times this week - centrefold indeed!! Shame they decided to tell everyone I am 56!