Thanks
Wurzel, that's not the end of my Black Hairstreak adventures this year, but more of that in a later post. When you finally get round to it I advise choosing a less than perfect day to get them. You'll get much better returns on a day with a fair bit of cloud and varying light levels, cooler temperatures and a bit of occasional drizzle won't do any harm either
Thanks
David although it is a double edged sword, we shouldn't be wishing our lives away to reach retirement age,whenever that will be when I reach that age range
Thanks
Neil, I will probably do another trip in better conditions when the June gap has finished to see what else is there
Thanks
Max, lots more to come, still several posts behind and with two weeks off coming up soon, I think I'm heading into Wurzel territory!
16th June
Another trip into Essex, this time the main target was the White-letter Hairstreak. I knew they were out but with an iffy day’s weather I wasn’t sure just how successful the day would be. The forecast was insisting some breaks in the cloud would appear at some point but I wasn’t convinced by the grey sky that greeted at Leigh-on-sea. Rain was also in the offing. I was quite early too so I was pleasantly surprised to find a few WLH active in the cool gloomy conditions. Some Holly Blues were also here, being much more Hairstreaky than the actual Hairstreaks!
I went for a wander, hoping things would brighten up, finding a caterpillar, not sure what he is.
Things didn’t brighten up much, occasional chinks in the cloud cover were nullified by occasional light drizzle but this didn’t seem to bother the Hairstreaks, more had awoken.
Whilst watching them move around on the Bramble blossom, I couldn’t help noticing how the white tips of the tails shone out like beacons, and when combined with the red spot underneath them they really do draw the eye, a perfect false head to distract a hungry bird.
I also managed to sneak up on a Holly Blue!
After half an hour I wandered off again. I planned to go to one of the Heath Fritillary woods again, more in hope than expectation since it would only be the second time I’ve been to this particular wood and I had no idea where they were. I didn’t get very far though, I got a bit waylaid by another season first, a Marbled White.
Whilst getting up close to him I noticed him doing something with his palps, opening and closing them (doing a pretty good impression of The Predator from the films). I presumed this was something to do with being freshly emerged, perhaps making sure everything was all tickety-boo and in full working order?
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I managed to drag myself away and got to the wood, where if anything the weather had deteriorated to the point where my raincoat was needed. Still I was here now so I might as well have a look around again. The last time I was here I was looking for Heath Fritillary larvae. I failed to find any but I did find a patch of what looked to be suitable habitat, which is the spot I went looking for today. The trouble was things grow a lot in the spring and the place looked completely different! I ended up walking around aimlessly, completely losing my bearings and finally, accidentally stumbled on the clearing. It was still rather gloomy but to my surprise I found a small gang of Heath Fritillaries loitering around.
![HF #1.JPG (312.87 KiB) Viewed 3089 times HF #1.JPG](./files/thumb_13753_dda50940f0a8e8cdf6f5a93d43f7b733)
As I looked around I saw more….. and more. This colony, by all accounts, isn’t doing as well as the ones over at Hockley but on the basis of the 50-60 I saw they seem safe for another year as long as the habitat doesn’t deteriorate. During the course of my time with them there were sunny spells and more showers, I really wasn’t expecting to get such good returns on what was a pretty dreary day. Interestingly the drizzle didn’t put many of them off and plenty stayed with their wings wide open in the rain.
The female of this mating pair looked rather pale, reduced marking near the body perhaps making her a slight ab.?
I spent about an hour with these friendly guys before making my way back to Hadleigh Country Park. Obviously I got lost in the wood again.
tbc