A beautiful rare butterfly was spotted by a local photographer upon visiting the grounds near Hunterston recently.

Our regular contributor George Crawford was given a task by Largs News reporter Calum Corral to source a rare blue butterfly which had been spotted near Hunterston.

George explained: “I went looking for them today and found half a dozen on the stretch between Portencross Castle and the power station, but I couldn’t get them to sit still and smile for more than a fraction of a second at a time.

“This is the best I could manage. It’s a Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus), although it’s not so common around here. Isn’t it not just a spectacularly gorgeous wee animal? The colour of a lovely summer day like today. I found a couple more on the cycle path near the Largs Yacht Haven, but their pictures aren’t any better.”