In my experience blue butterflies in Britain are fast moving and rarely settle on anything for long. Also, they have that uncanny knack shared with many birds – they take off just as the camera has focused and the shutter is about to be pressed, leaving you with a blurred image or a great shot of the flower or twig where they were. (Perhaps they really are clued into our intentions.)

So I was delighted when this male common blue stayed still just long enough to be photographed with my camera in telephoto mode, last weekend at Anderton Country Park. There are plenty of areas of grassland in this park, providing ideal habitat.

Here’s a higher resolution of the shot, demonstrating how pretty and furry this butterfly is.