On Wednesday 11th.November , I spent another 3 hours on the Jackass Lane bridleway , removing probably hundreds more Ash seedling from the entire lenght and also checking to see if leaf fall on the blackthorn was complete , enabling an egg count to take place in the near future . On Friday 13th. we ...

After a sharp shower yesterday afternoon , a walk along the roadside verge heading towards Hutchinsons Bank , Croydon , produced both male and DSCF0700.JPG DSCF0703.JPG female Brimstone , enjoying the ' barmy ' temperature . DSCF0705.JPG Also found were two Small Copper , both well past their sell b...

Well , I think it's safe to say that the Brown Hairstreak season in Kent is now over . A singleton on the 20th.September for me and 2 on the 22nd. for myself and Keith , brought the curtain down . In all , there were 40 sightings that I am aware of , but there could well be more that I don't know ab...

Two weeks ago , I thought the BH season was coming to an end . But in that two weeks I personally have had an additional 8 sightings ( 3 today ) at the Jackass Lane bridleway , Eric , one of the egg collectors , had 2 sightings on the bridleway along with another some 2 miles away towards Coney Hall...

A chill wind greeted Keith and myself as we parked up and headed towards the transmitter mast sitting on top of Whitehawk Hill on the outskirts of Brighton . One enthusiast was aready there for an hour without a sighting . A wander around produced Sm.Copper , Sm.Heath and several Whites , but not th...

With the wind shifting into the North , it feels like the BH season might be coming to an end , but I did manage 3 sightings on Wednesday and a further 2 on Friday , bringing the sightings I am aware of on the Jackass Lane bridleway to 22 . That being said , the condition of those seen _MG_4642.JPG ...

Eight days had passed since the last BH sightings along the bridleway , and I was beginning to think that it was all over . Today , fellow enthusiast Terry had travelled up to join Keith and myself for yet another search . With rain for most of yesterday and cloud rolling in to exclude the early mor...

Managed just one and a half hours ' cooking ' on Jackass Lane Bridleway between 1030 and 1200 this morning . But it turned out to be a productive visit with 4 BH sightings . The first was before I even got the camera out , another female with hindwing damage , but not as bad as the one found on an e...

Meeting up with Keith again , it was hot work visiting three BH sites . The first at Fox Hill footpath failed to produce , but moving on to Jackass Lane Bridleway , we were rewarded with two female BHs , one in pristine condition and the other far from it , with a large portion of _MG_4225.JPG hindw...

A good 3 weeks earlier than last year , the first BH of the season appeared today at Jackass Lane Bridleway , Keston . I had arranged to meet Keith , one of the original egg collectors from two years ago , to search the bridleway and to clear more bramble from the site . The cloud rolled in soon aft...

It would appear that the BH flight season has started at Spring Park , with a visitor to Hutchinsons Bank telling Martin that he had seen two
BHs last Sunday ( 26th. ) and had photographed one of them .
No sign yet at the Jackass Lane bridleway .

Used my excersise walk this morning to check up on the BH eggs at Spring Park . With the leaves out now , much harder to find the eggs , but most of those found had hatched . Most happy to find the ones rescued from the flail and wired into the area of naturally laid ones had hatched , one with the ...

A second visit to Spring Park with Martin , and the final egg count was 67 , which makes it the No.1 site in Kent for eggs this year , overtaking the 63 at the bridleway near Keston . Given luck , this could become a truly excellent site for the Brown Hairstreak as it has everything required by the ...

Since mid November , I have made many visits to the bridleway , and on every occassion have removed more Ash , varying in size from seedlings upwards , and I think that will go on during this year too . Impossible to estimate the total number , but for sure it will be in the thousands , as most visi...

Well , I did have the site meeting with the owner , and I am glad to say that he agreed to not having the bridleway flailed this winter , in return for the removal of the Ash saplings amongst the thorn and ensuring that the bridleway was kept clear for the horse riders and walkers . I had been worki...

With the flight season finished , a look back at the four sites where eggs were wired into blackthorn . The first sighting was at Down House by a member of Kent BC on the 8th.August . Despite many more visits , including the weekly transect , there were no further sightings that I am aware of . At t...

Hi Pauline , I think your ' Cabbage bug ' could be the early stage of the Pied Shieldbug - Tritomegas bicolor , but don't hold me to it . Glad the Brown Hairstreaks eventually turned up for you . Here on the Kent / Surrey border where we had to rescue eggs from the flail last autumn and wire them in...

A catch up on a few additional sightings , as far as I am aware . 31st. Aug A visitor from Hutchinsons Bank had 3 BHs , initially warming up then egg laying on the Bridlepath . I had left probably about half an hour earlier to check the other sites , none of which provided a sighting . 8th. Sept. Af...

For anyone tinking about visiting Jackass Lane bridleway in Keston over the weekend / next week , after 21 sightings of BH up to Saturday 24th. , there have only been four sightings this week , 2 on the 26th. and just 1 on the 28th. and today 29th. Apart from being windier and a bit cooler , I have ...

The warm weather produced a number of BH sightings along the Jackass Lane bridleway . After the singleton on the Wed.21st. , things really got going on Thur.22nd. with 6 sightings which included 4 egg layers . On Fri.23rd. , two enthusiasts were treated to a ' lifer ' , and the two hour visit total ...