Holly Blue Butterfly (Celastrina argiolus)

The Holly Blue is a frequent visitor to urban parks, and this is just where I first spotted one, in the Holly-rich area of parkland that is part of the Barbican complex in Central London. I first spotted four or five of these beautiful butterflies on a dry and hot April lunch time, where they would fly high and erratically at around 25ft. before coming down to rest and feed for many minutes on the flowery bushes. The following Saturday I came down with my camera and waited for one to come down to the bushes, and this was one of the shots I got after two hours of waiting. The butterfly tends to sit with wings tightly closed, rubbing them together slowly. Only in weak sunlight do they rest with them open.