Purple rain

It has been a horribly wet weekend with almost non-stop rain.  When it eased slightly this afternoon I took my umbrella and went for a walk round the garden with my camera, hoping perhaps to find a few soggy bumblebees.  Instead I found a butterfly sitting on top of a sunflower leaf in the rain.  For a moment I didn't recognise it and then couldn't quite believe it was a purple hairstreak.

Having checked my photo against my field guide I brought the butterfly into the dry.  Unlike other hairstreaks, purple hairstreaks characteristically bask with their wings outspread but even indoors this one wasn't obliging.

To provide it with a bit of "sunshine" I brought out an anglepoise lamp and then it did open its wings to show it is a female, with iridescent patches on the forewings.

Perhaps attracted by the warmth it then flew into the hood of the lamp.

We agreed that wasn't a sensible place to stay so it obliged with a couple more photos before being released once the rain had eased.

Purple hairstreaks spend most of their time high in the canopy of mature oak trees (of which there are quite a few in the garden) so it isn't such a surprise to find one here.  However, because they feed on honeydew from aphids they rarely come down to ground level.  Now I know they are here I'll look for the males flying high in the trees on sunny afternoons (if we have any).