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Michaeljf wrote: Monday 29th August 2011 – West Williamston (Pembrokeshire)

I’d wanted to return to West Williamston since last year’s trip (also on the August Bank Holiday) but the weather hadn’t been that reliable. I’d decided that with a good forecast this Monday might provide the best time to go – however, we were already a little travel-weary from coming back from Kent the night before. Nikki who does much of the co-ordinating and managing of the reserve had organised a Brown Hairstreak count from 11-12 so I knew the reserve might be a bit more busy than normal.

After a good drive across to west Wales we arrived to clear sunshine at the reserve just after 9pm. However, my confidence in the forecast turned out to be a bit ill-founded as some cloud came over and it was soon clear that shorts and a t-shirt weren’t the best thing to wear this morning! We did an early morning walk at the estuary’s edge, being careful not to slip on the kelp from the morning’s tide. We got back to the car for the early morning organisation from Nikki – there were probably about 16 enthusiasts and local wardens willing to help with the count - and so Karen and I spent the ‘spotting hour’ in what she calls ‘the middle field’. However, the sun kept on coming in and going away again and I knew this was ‘borderline’ conditions (again) for the Hairstreaks. We had 1 possible sighting at the top of an Ash, but otherwise there were only Speckled Woods, Large and Green-Veined Whites, Small Coppers plus a few Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers and one Red Admiral keen to spend time on the ragwort. After our hour we returned to the Estuary banks where there was at least one Painted Lady nectaring from the Sea Asters, plus a few Common Blues making our way past the last field.

We got together with the other spotters just after mid-day and it turned out that the morning was not a big success, with only about 5 Hairstreaks being seen. A couple were in the usual ‘glade’ and some good specimens had been seen at the ‘Limestone Ridge’ further down the reserve. In the glade there were a few nice Commas, plus one Brown Hairstreak briefly dropped down to the Blackthorn. Karen and I would venture out towards the Limestone Ridge later but the weather continued to cloud over and we returned home fairly early in the afternoon as I didn’t think the weather looked like it would improve. All in all, a slightly disappointing trip but only really due to the continuing ‘borderline’ weather conditions. Nikki had also mentioned that the first Brown Hairstreaks of the year had been flying at West Williamston in mid-July, very similar to sightings in Oxfordshire.

Matsukaze wrote:Considering the abundance of bog and mire habitat in western Britain, it is surprising we have so few of the Continental bog specialist butterflies resident here.

David M wrote: Lovely shots once again, Michael. Shame the weather was playing up (again). It looks almost perfect in your first picture.

Hoggers wrote:I found this little chap in the field near my house this weekend

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Otherwise it has been very quiet. The flowers look rather empty and although i've been out looking the only Painted Lady i've seen this year was a single on Collard Hill back in June when I was surrounded by Large Blues and unfortunately didn't pay it much attention!