Thanks
Trevor, as a general rule I don't go for Black Hairstreaks on a sunny day, I've always had better results on a warmish overcast day. The subdued lighting also brings out the red band on the hindwing really well. They remain active quite late too, perhaps unsurprisingly since they fly on the longest days of the year, after 5pm has also proved productive.
Thanks
Wurzel, the pics came out better than I thought they would considering they weren't as cooperative as I'd hoped. That third one was with flash which I rarely use, but it worked well in that situation I think.
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June 2023
Monday 12th. Having dipped twice on the Swallowtail, and seeing on Facebook I came dangerously close to tripping over one or two in Kent two days earlier, I threw caution to the wind and booked another train down to Dover. On arrival though the weather was somewhat less than butterfly friendly, thick sea fog was blowing from the Channel shielding the cliffs from sight, and the air was filled with foghorns as the ferries navigated through it. It didn’t look promising to find anything, mainly because I could barely see my hand in front of my face! Still, I was here now so I stubbornly made my way in the direction of where the cliffs should be to make my way along the coast.
![IMG_0029.JPG (36.56 KiB) Viewed 18911 times Arriving from Calais, and in the background, barely visible, off to Calais.](./files/thumb_13753_d9ede7996f689c009503a440d2280ecd)
- Arriving from Calais, and in the background, barely visible, off to Calais.
I found the cliffs, which were trying to poke out the top of the fog giving me a glimmer of hope that things might improve. Further glimmers were in the form of a few brave Whites flitting around. A little while later there were even patches of blue sky which woke up a few Common Blues, things were indeed looking up.
And by the time I got to the general area where the Swallowtails were last reported I was under a clear blue sky with temperatures souring. The actual spot I was looking for was a little bit vague but wandering around more Common Blues and Whites were joined by Walls, Small Copper, Brown Argus and Large Skipper but there was no sign of the target.
I spent quite a bit of time wandering around Bockhill farm before concluding I wasn’t going to find any so I broadened my search and right there, less than 5 minutes away on the other side of the war memorial was a male Swallowtail being chased by two enthusiasts who informed me it had been here all morning and it was here I spent the next 2 and a bit hours, precariously close to the edge of the cliff.
A few more enthusiasts came and went and as well as watching the butterfly, we kept a close eye on each other, we really were very close to the cliff edge… looking back, stupidly close!
I guess it was 3rd time lucky and believe it or not, this is the first time I’ve ever seen a
gorganus, even though it looks pretty much indistinguishable from a
britannicus.
The walk back was notable for another yearly tick, my first Marbled White of the year, although it did unfortunately pale against the earlier cliff edge encounter.
It was a weird day weatherwise, all through the day the foghorns continued, the sea fog didn’t really start to budge until I returned to Dover mid afternoon.