Cheers Goldie
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
They were a fitting finale to a brilliant trip
Epsom 17-06-2023
Epsom was recorded before a live lepidopteran audience and was brought to you today by UKB productions. A massive thank you goes to Trevor for behavourial intelligence, Bugboy for site information and navigational operations and Dave for reconnaissance, guiding and most importantly caffeine logistics.
Having dropped my daughter K off at Heathrow so she could jet off to Camp America, dried my eyes and made the drive down to Epsom I pulled into the entrance of the car park a little before 5am. Luckily I’d not imbibed any caffeine and so crawling into the passenger seat I managed a couple more hours sleep. I was woken at just before 7 by the Steward as he unlocked the gate and then I was able to drive in and get set up for the day. With ablutions completed, ‘eyes in’ and breakfast eaten I went for a quick stroll around to properly wake up. An unearthly squawking alerted me to a Rose-ringed Parakeet and the two tone call of Nuthatch were the highlights amongst the other passerines but it was still a little early for butterflies. Dave arrived shortly after this with a truly magnificent cup of coffee and we started chatting and walking. Frist across the field and then down through the wood and through a gate into a scrubby looking little field. There were a few mature trees scattered about and also lots of strips, clumps, ‘hedges’ and thickets of Blackthorn. A Red Admiral flashed past an and settled which was the first sign that things were starting to wake up. The odd Meadow Brown took off and then just when we were discussing where to head a call went up from nearby and so we headed over and there sitting under a leaf was a Blackstreak – my second ever helping as it were.
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As we made the formal introductions (nice to meet you Dan) the sun started to peer our and the butterfly ventured forth from the shade onto the top of the plant where it sat seemingly oblivious to the three of us taking it in turns to take its photo. After a while it decided that it had basked enough and it set off to flutter around the tops of the Blackthorn and so we set off to have a bit of a wander around and see if we could find any more.
The spot where we’d found the first was a little scallop in a roughly triangularly shaped thicket which stretched from it’s base, the main path running along the boundary, up to a point about half way into the field. There were a few breaks across the narrower parts which saved us having to walk all the way round and after delicately picking our way through one Dave found another Blackstreak just sitting along the edge of the path. It was on a leaf at about chest height on the left-hand side hedge which had formed a narrow corridor between the triangular thicket and another which was dominated by a large Oak. It didn’t go anywhere as the sun had nipped in behind the clouds. This one looked quite aged but I imagine that what with fluttering around Blackthorn and nectaring on Bramble its state of disrepair actually belied how young it was, probably a matter of days.
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Slightly further on the narrow corridor opened up and the track ended in a T junction with the boundary fence. Dan found a nice looking Hairstreak in a much better state of repair it’s blonder look suggesting that it was a female. Once it had departed we discussed about how sometimes the butterflies just appear as if out of nowhere and by magic when I conjured up a female myself. She was stunning and I fired off a few shaky shots as I was so pleased to be seeing the kind of views that I’d hoped for. When she flew off into the higher reaches of the thicket we took this as our cue to move on as well. It had clouded over slightly so we mooched around a bit chatting away and clocking likely looking spots that would be worth examining later. Back to roughly where we’d seen out first Dave found our 5th Hairstreak of the day and possibly our 6th.
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The sun started to reappear and so we saw one or two other species, Meadow Browns a Small Heath and just on the other side of the little break through the thicket my first Small Skipper of the year. We finished up our travels almost to the start of the narrow path way where Dave had found the second Hairstreak. As the sun had returned we started seeing more Hairstreaks but rather than sitting nicely on leaves and sunbathing they were acting in typical Hairstreak fashion; jinking about up high and setting other, hidden individuals off in rapid chases. It proving difficult to watch one individual butterfly and so instead I’d stand back and do quick scans across the tops of the scrub. For a while 4 was the highest number at one time but this rose to 6 eventually, possibly more but a couple of Large Skippers at ground level distracted me momentarily. Dave and I set out on another exploration and had a look further afield but the mosaic of scrub became a blanket of ferns with the odd tree puncturing the verdant blanket. Sitting in the gloom was an aged Blackstreak – at least I though it was as it was so tatty I couldn’t really be sure. It took umbrage at me calling it tatty and so flew off up into one of the nearby Oaks.
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Back at the back, down the narrow path and in the miniature clearing by the boundary we joined a couple more enthusiasts. There were three Blackstreaks all flying up high just over the boundary line and as we were willing them to come closer and lower a White Admiral flashed past, another first for the year. There were a few more sightings of what I’m guessing was the same Admiral as we waited patiently (and in the end futilely) for the Blackstreaks to come to us. There was some excitement behind us but alas it turned out to be the smallest Meadow Brown that I’ve ever seen that was acting like a Blackstreak, jinking flight, fluttering about up high, sitting on a Bramble leaf and trying its best to remain obscured behind various leaves.
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The group had now grown to 6 and so with more pairs of eyes it was inevitable that more Hairstreaks were spotted. However they seemed to be coming down less frequently now and so getting shots involved distant views that would need to be cropped to within an inch of their life’s or standing on tip toes and holding the camera above your head whilst peering through the viewfinder an relying on autofocus to do its thang. Time was passing and with the caffeine starting to wane I was feeling less and less alert and so Dave and I started on our way back. We paused by the spot where the day had begun for a Marbled White and a White-legged Damselfly. While Dave and another enthusiast watched the Marbled White I found my final hairstreak of the day. It was walking along in the grass so at first I thought that it was the extraordinarily small Meadow Brown but when it hopped up onto a leaf I could see the markings.
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This final Hairstreak in roughly the same place as the first would have made for the perfect ending of the trip but as I’ve noted before butterflies don’t have a good sense of the narrative and so while we were making our way out of the scrubby section the/a White Admiral alighted on a clump of Bramble and started feeding. I couldn’t really complain at this usurper for my tale and while we watched it a few Meadow Browns fluttered around as did another Small Skipper. When we made it into the shadow of the Wood a Specklie flew amid the shafts of light filtering through the leaves and a Toadlet did its best to get flattened as it crossed the track at a snail’s place. We reached the car park just in time as I’d now gone beyond flagging and was in desperate need of a stimulant. So weary was I that when I wish Dave well on his further travels I tried to climb into the passenger side to drive away!
Very early start
And Blackstreaks revisited
Make a great morning
Have a goodun
Wurzel