Sleeping butterfly pictured perfectly silhouetted by glorious Shropshire sunset after ten-year wait

Stunning images show a butterfly sleeping on a reed perfectly silhouetted by a glorious sunset.

Wildlife photographer Andrew Fusek-Peters said he had spent ten years with no joy trying to capture images of a sleeping butterfly.

But this week he was finally able to snap a common blue roosting on a stem after hours of trawling the Stiperstones in the Shropshire Hills.

Andrew, of Lydbury North, said:" When most butterflies roost if they’re roosting in grasses, they will pick the spot that gets exactly the last of the sun.

"There’s one spot on the Stiperstones in Shropshire that I’ve been searching over the last ten years and not had any luck.

"So when I found this butterfly called a common blue roosting at the top of a stem and facing the setting sun I knew I was in with a chance.

"Then I just had to lie down on the slopes of the Stiperstones and hope and pray that the sun would turn orange.

"Just before sunset, literally the last few seconds, I got these shots.

"Trying to frame the butterfly in the middle of the sun is a very hard thing to do, especially as it was blowing around in the wind.

"This has been a terrible year for some wildlife, but the heat has been good for quite a lot of butterflies, including the common blue so despite the heat there is something positive. When I got the shot I was so ecstatic."