Small tortoiseshell butterfly

[nanila]

[click to embiggen]

We hadn't seen many butterflies this year until the past week, when it suddenly got warm. I was starting to worry because the oregano was in full bloom and our usual swarm of small tortoiseshells hadn't turned up yet. They have now (and there was much rejoicing). Prior to that I'd only seen the occasional cabbage white, a single peacock and a solitary painted lady, which was never around when I had my camera out.

I spent a pleasant half hour trying to get the perfect shot of one of the tortoiseshells. This is SOOC (straight off of camera, uncropped and unedited), and I'm pretty happy to have captured it.