29th June 2019, 6 - 9.30 am, Browndown, Full Sun, 18-23 degrees
The hottest day of the year so far – it peaked at 31 degrees in Alton mid-afternoon. Phew what a scorcher!
Of course we were pre-warned about this so I decided to go very early. I arrived at 6 am, and it was already 18 degrees!
Browndown as you probably know is a prime Purple Hairstreak site because the coastal oaks are stunted here and so the canopy is very low. I parked in the car park beside the diving museum and walked into the reserve from there. I took a collapsible stool with me. This has two advantages. While you wait for the action you can sit in the shade and when the action begins you can stand on the stool to gain a bit of height!
First of all, the butterfly count: 1 L White, 1 L Skip, 1 S Skip, 2 Painted Lady, 7 Purple Hairstreak.
I only saw 7 Purple Hairstreak at a site that can contain hundreds because within a few minutes of arriving I found what must have been a master tree for them. There were 5 Purplestreaks on this one tree, 4 male and 1 female I think.
Next the side shot. It’s a bit like a stage set with a spotlight on the main actor!
Being early meant that they were at times willing to open their wings for me.
And I was able to get some great close-ups which was my main reason for being here.
Also some unusual shots, such as this one from behind – you can see between its closed wings.
But I think what surprised me the most was the actual physical combat going on between males. There were as I say four males I think and they were sparring in pairs for awhile, but on three separate occasions while I watched they grappled directly face-to-face for some considerable time. I have never seen this behaviour before. It frequently appeared to get quite violent.
There never seemed to be a victor though. Adversaries often stopped their fighting only to feed side by side for a while.
The heat started to build up and it touched 23 degrees. They all suddenly stopped. Nothing moved. I saw two of them close together – they had orientated themselves so as to be on the shady side of their respective leaves. The leaves acted like butterfly parasols! And there they stayed. So I left them to it. It was only 9 am!
On the way back I took in the scenery which is quite wonderful with some beautiful flowers such as Yellow Horned Poppy, Vipers Bugloss and Rosebay Willowherb in some abundance.
Even the Sea Kale was interesting.
Then half a boat went by in the Solent. Weird. I wonder where the other half had gone?
A pretty good few hours.
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Cracking set of Purps 
and some really interesting behaviour - I've seen male blues competing and they seem to do it aerially but nothing like this 
