I reckon an injury time flurry of decrepit females in mid September might just get the win for me
Wurzel 
Thanks
David, they're doing really well down here this year, turning up in new places too
Thanks
Goldie, I've waited several years to find a courting couple to get the chance for some upper side Grayling shots
22nd August, Steyning for a change
Still in Brown Hairstreak hunting mode, I'd been eyeing up the reports from Steyning with growing envy. But with only normal rostered days off from work and it being a bit of a pain for me to get to, I try and avoid buses as much as possible, I thought I was going to miss out on the Brown Hairstreak bonanza going on there this year, until Millerd offered a lift. Wednesday was forecast to be the last warm day before unsettled weather took over and all week it had been promised to have a sunny afternoon.
I awoke to a rather overcast, almost leaden skied morning, but the cheerful weather lady on the breakfast news was adamant it would break and provide the promised bright, Hairstreak friendly weather..... hmm
.
I met Dave at Dorking station, both of us wondering on the likelihood of forecast coming to fruition, it still looked unlikely. It was however still early so there was plenty of time for things to improve, in the meantime we decided to go to mill hill and see if the Adonis were up and about.
Indeed they were and it only took a barely noticeable increase in light levels for them to become surprisingly active. Although not good for Hairstreaks this light was perfect for capturing the electric blue of an Adonis, even aged ones look like they've been plugged into the mains.
Among them were the occasional Common Blue and Small Heath and some larger relatives of the well-known Mint Moth, Pyrausta purpuralis.
Meadow Browns were also relatively numerous, mostly very fresh and mostly on the small side. You’d be forgiven for mistaking them for Gatekeepers based on their size alone, the larvae of these later emerging insects clearly being affected by the drought and resulting poor plant growth.
Amongst all these normal looking ones though, Dave found a rather eye-catching individual with a fair amount of bleaching on all wings, giving it a very distinctive look. After a bit of chasing he settled and posed well for us.
We stayed here for some time, noting how the Adonis reacted to even the slightest brightening in light levels. By midday their pale cousin also began to appear in small numbers, some of them still looking in reasonable nick.
We dragged ourselves away after a couple of hours, the sky having barely changed from first thing. My weather app on my phone was convinced that cloudless skies were just around the corner, perhaps an hour away.... hmmm
. On the way back to the bottom car park we were surprised to find significant numbers of Adonis in the long grass near the road.
To kill a bit more time while we waited for the promised sun we decided to visit Anchor Bottom just down the road, a site neither of us had visited before. We found a very picturesque hillside, but much more exposed and consequently somewhat cooler and breezier. At the top I found some nice chalk downland flora, but little in the way of butterflies.
Through a mixture of educated guesswork and luck though we stumbled on a hotspot that was teeming with them, all activated during brighter spells of cloud cover just like at Mill Hill.
The magic hours of early afternoon were now upon us, but sadly the promised blue sky wasn't. My phone app was still insisting it was just an hour away though ... hmmmm
.
Under thick cloud we arrived at our final destination, still hoping for a glimpse of blue sky. As we walked along the path to the main site, just past the bowling green, Dave noticed what was almost certainly our target fluttering around a bramble bush in a horse field. It never settled in sight though so we continued onto the main site. Here we spent an hour ambling around in distinctly un-hairstreak friendly weather with my phone app still stubbornly insisting things were just about to improve
. Dave did briefly spot another Hairstreak flutter up into an Ash but only a few Hairstreak eggs, Speckled Woods and a lone Great Spotted Woodpecker were photographed.
Despite all this, that one distant sighting made this my most successful Brown Hairstreak hunting trip to Steyning, my previous two a couple of years ago both drawing blanks!
I got home at about 7, my phone app still insisting I’d see the sun before it set, needless to say the sun remained hidden behind thick cloud.
Like the gifs as well. 
. I left later than normal since the forecast had promised the sun would appear around lunchtime, giving me a nice lay in. But it stayed resolutely cloudy for much of the afternoon and only really brightened up as 3pm was approaching. 
