Black Hairstreak - Brampton Woods?

[NickB]

The alternative parking will be made by opening the gate at the car-park and moving cars up towards the barn in the wood. We meet in the car-park at the SE corner at 10:00am. Roger Orbell will be there and I will be there with Charles by 10:00am too!
http://www.multimap.com/s/DTDDzSKA
See you there!
N

[Trev Sawyer]

Weather was good for spotting the Black Hairstreaks today, but typically, they were not too keen to pose at camera level, even at the "most likely" site. Cheeky little devils kept pretending they were going to land, before fluttering back up to the treetops. I did eventually get some "keeper" shots though when one touched down for a few seconds. Thanks to Nick and Roger, I also got to see a few other sites within the wood for hairstreaks.
Highlight of the day for me was spotting a Black Hairstreak pupa amongst the vegetation - Yeayyy! :

Trev

[Padfield]

That's a fantastic picture of the adult, and I absolutely love the pupa! Well done!

By total coincidence, Matt Rowlings and I were looking for black hairstreaks at exactly the same time as you, four or five hundred miles away! They are actually rarer in Switzerland than in England and I was thrilled to see my first ever outside the UK. That got us talking about black hairstreaks in the UK, and we thought of you and wished you well in your searching. It turns out Brampton Wood was Matt's home hunting ground for black hairstreak when he lived in England (mine was Bernwood).

Ours were obviously well advanced compared to yours. This female was oviposturing (we didn't find eggs)...


(she's on hawthorn there, but was oviposturing on blackthorn)

... and this nectaring male (rubbish pictures - compact + cloud) had obviously been around a lot longer than your pristine specimen had!



Guy

[NickB]

Yes - a good day and a great spot by Trev of the pupa; that was worth it in itself
Cooperative is not a word one would use - mostly sightings were like this...

And as Trev says, good opportunities were rare!

Glad Matt and you, Guy, had a good day too
He can rest easy that The Nature Trust and BC are keeping an eye out for the Hairstreak and they appear to be thriving. They were mostly very fresh - Trev's shot captures that well!
I will probably head over again tomorrow; good to see Ian and his wife too.
N

[Charles Nicol]

We had a lovely time at Brampton Woods on Saturday... i didn't have to worry about my car being trashed because NickB kindly gave me a lift. ( Alas there were several sad little heaps of window glass at the car park from recent "lovable rogue" attacks ).

Roger shared his intimate knowledge of the various Hairstreak hangouts & we saw plenty of Satyrium activity. Trev's Super Pupa was the highlight of the day.

There was a suggestion ( was it Jack ? ) that the location of Black Hairstreak colonies is correlated with the estates of the Rothschild family in the heyday of butterfly collecting... intriguing possibility !

Charles

[NickB]

......I was wondering if pupa "Trevor" has emerged - anyone know?
N

[Jack Harrison]

Charles:

There was a suggestion ( was it Jack ? ) that the location of Black Hairstreak colonies is correlated with the estates of the Rothschild family in the heyday of butterfly collecting... intriguing possibility !

Yes, that was me. But I was only reiterating a suggestion I heard from a distinguished elderly gentleman who mentioned it to a gathering in Glapthorn a few years ago. I can’t recall his name but some of you will undoubtedly know who I am referring to. He was a retired teacher from Oundle School. Someone remind me of his name.

Jack

[Trev Sawyer]

"Supa Pupa" was still asleep yesterday... I did go back to check if it had hatched. I did find a black hairstreak keeping guard on the top of that little bush, but alas, it was a worn specimen. There were quite a few hairstreaks about again - even in the dull weather - but they were no more co-operative than the day before. I took my 100-400mm lens, extender and tripod, but even that didn't really help. I wanted to compare the shots with the Sigma 150mm lens, but they didn't play ball. I also tried spraying a couple of leaves with a sugar solution via an atomiser, but the sun came out so infrequently, I couldn't test our theory that they may be attracted to the sweet smell/taste.

Trev

[Jack Harrison]

Phil Bromley was trying a sugar solution spray in Monks Wood on Saturday. The spray seemed to me to have no effect but doubtless Phil will tell us more.

Jack

[PhiliB]

I can't be 100% sure that it is due to the sugar solution but there have been a good number of Black Hairstreaks coming down & 'nectaring' on the sprayed blackthorn. Many people have been getting close up photos yesterday & today, including Neil (Sussex Kipper) in less than ideal conditions this afternoon.

[PhiliB]

I also have this, albeit fairly ropey, photo from Saturday of 2 Black Hairstreaks 'nectaring' on the sprayed Blackthorn. The annoying thing is that there were 3 of them on the one leaf a second before I fired the shutter. All I will say is that the sugar solution certainly doesn't deter them.

[Jack Harrison]

Amazing pictures Phil getting two together like that.

Jack

[Trev Sawyer]

Yes. 2 or even 3 hairstreaks in one photo!? - maybe there is something in this sugar spray after all?

PS: Jack, has the time slipped on your computer (2.31am), or are you a total insomniac?

Trev

[Jack Harrison]

That time is correct - yes, I couldn't sleep.

Jack

[Rosalyn]

I wouldn't say that the sugar spray attracted the butterflies but they did stay put for a while, once they found it, and kept returning. I had lots of pics.

Rosalyn

[PhiliB]

Today I tried to be a bit more 'scientific' with the sugar spray. I arrived in Monks Wood at 9.30am and sprayed about half of a small, low stand of blackthorn that I knew the Hairstreaks would be flying near to. I then sat in front of it for the next 5 hours (no, I haven't anything better to do). During that time the blackthorn stand had 63 visits by approximately 12 different Black Hairstreaks. They did land randomly between the sprayed and unsprayed sections but the ones that landed on the sprayed section were very approachable and easily photographed close-up while they fed (one individual stayed for in excess of 15 minutes) whereas the ones that landed on the unsprayed section tended to fly off as I approached with the camera. The photographs below show the Hairstreaks feeding on the sugar solution.

[Trev Sawyer]

That's great Phil... I'm convinced anyway! Maybe we are onto something. It may certainly help to get photos (and suppliment/satisfy the butterflies' sweet tooth at the same time).
I particularly like the 4th photo... In the new edition of the Thomas/Lewington book, it states that Black Hairstreaks... "... slowly crawl from leaf to leaf with their tongues trailing between their legs, lazily drinking these sticky secretions (honeydew)".
I can see that this individual has perfected the technique!

Trev

[NickB]

Yes - great to see so many at the same time, on the same leaves. I was successful last year when there was more honeydew on the nettles and leaves lower down. Roger Orbell and I were discussing this; we had heavy rain before last weekend, which seemed to have washed most of the honeydew off. Or there are less aphids this year; either way it does seem that Phil's sugar solution mimics the feeding conditions which they like. Nice one!
N
I like the way they seem to always be on their tip-toes, holding their body well above the leaves...

[David M]

I thought I'd gone beyond the call of duty wading through marshland and getting covered in mud searching for SPB Fritillaries, but you guys have taken it to another level with your sugar solution spraying exploits. Very impressive and you deserve your reward.

[Trev Sawyer]

Compare this photo of "supa pupa" (taken early this morning) with the one further up the page - and ask yourself why it is like England's performance on the pitch this afternoon...

Yes -it's a pale, empty, lifeless representation of what it had once been (and the cracks are there for all to see)

I was quite surprised at how intact the remaining shell was after the emergence of the previous tenant. Presumably rain and insects will whittle it away over the next few weeks. There was still the odd adult Black Hairstreak about today, but they are just about finished. No sign of White Letters yet though.

Trev