True Blue

Adonis Blue

All began with ardour and merriment under azure rods from a handsome sun. Light paved the way up precipitous limestone grassland, where knee met chin and every step was to the key of a crunch, as wild thyme, profuse on the slopes, released the only scent of home on difficult foreign terrain that promised sightings of the Large Blue, which feed exclusively on the herb.

Large Blue on Thyme

Large Blue underwing

An Adonis Blue drew the eye from the offing, careering acrobatically over angelic alpines before landing on a nearby trefoil where subtle shades of sensational pastel blue evidenced themselves much to the delight of the dear heart, which missed five beats and sank, with teenage lust to the bottom of a breakfast-laden stomach, returning only after a portfolio of thankful snaps from every angle known to Pythagoras.

Blue after blue was scrutinised for over ninety minutes, without success, before a flash of black on dark blue came bobbing over. The species is rare in the U.K., with locations of populations protected, so a glimpse and some welcome 'field time' with this highly sought after blue created delirium on a, suddenly bearable, Pyrennean slope.