Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Welsh Trip Part 2

02-08 Wednesday

The weather forecast said it was going to be terrible so we spent the day inside pottering about and getting various things done. It was only after lunch that we ‘risked’ going outside for some fresh air and a trip en masse up the Lane to the Dog Cottage. True is was cooler than it had been and it was a little grey but again the forecast was wildly inaccurate, I think I might bin off the weather apps. There were some Hedge Browns as we made our way along the Lane and round the corner. A Red Admiral was backing on a slate driveway in the weak sun and Swallows chittered from the overhead cables. About half way along the walk one of the Hedge Browns really caught my eye as it was so unusually marked. The usual white spots were elongated into streaks and there were accentuated by being surrounded by the usual orange background colour in rings against a much paler hind wing. Unfortunately it decided to sit at a difficult angle which meant that I couldn’t get the whole butterfly in focus in one shot. Still it’s pretty impressive looking.

03-08 Thursday

Having been incorrect all week the weather app was even worse as today was supposed to be the best day of the week, at least that’s what it was saying right up until the previous evening. Now in the morning it was looking distinctly wet and wild. There was a break in the weather in the morning so we quickly made our way over to Llanachaeron but it was still pretty dire. A bedraggled Meadow Brown and a fly by Peacock in the walled garden were the only butterflies and there was a nice moth sheltering in the kitchen courtyard but that was about it and as the mizzle became drizzle which became proper rain we headed back home. So the holiday ended in a whimper in scenes reminiscent of the very end of the season.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

As the acknowledged champion of all things Hedge Brown, it is only right and proper that you should find such a splendid aberrant underside! It's a stunning individual - I wonder what it looked like on top?

Dave

[trevor]

I am afraid to say I failed to recognise your Hedge Brown, my first reaction
was for another rare migrant ! . What a find!.

All the best,
Trevor.

PS. The Wall Browns at Great Cheverell seem to have finished.

[Goldie M]

Hi! Wurzel, nothing was lost that day if you got an ab, unusual one as well Goldie

[Wurzel]

Cheers Dave I would have loved to have had a glimpse of the topside but it was such a dreary day it was shut up tight
Cheers Trevor No worries Trevor I didn't know what it was when I first saw it either Fingers crossed for the Walls next year, did you ever see a female on site
Cheers Goldie Indeed that ab certainly made up for the day, the whole week actually

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

No female Walls at Great Cheverell apparently, and I've only seen two round my way.
With so few females no wonder the males are always ready for a squabble !.
Of course the Ladies can always play hard to get.

[Wurzel]

I'm hoping that the females will move from territory to territory until they find a male they approve of - so hopefully another male will hold territory there next season OR a pair might have already bred and we missed it, there were a good few males there so the habitat suits them, fingers crossed

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Wurzel, that is a great looking Hedge Brown ab. cracking find

Your moth looks like a Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Neil for the Hedge Brown comment and also cheers for the ID, another one to add to the ever growing iPod gallery - at this rate I won't have any room for music, apps etc

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Shipton Bellinger 05-08-2017

So having to sit out the Brostreak fest that had been ensuing on UKButterflies I was finally back with time to spend at Shipton and wouldn’t you know it the weather which had been terrible in Wales was now not particularly crash hot round home. So I found myself playing the usual demoralising game of ‘race the clouds’. To make matters worse it seems that while I’d been away in Wales Wiltshire Council had decided to improve the highway at some point on very road that I needed to take . When we pulled in at the back entrance to Shipton the girls were straight out of the car and we practically ran round the corner and along the hotspot hedge in an effort to catch the final rays of sun that were fast disappearing behind the cloud. As I looked ahead to check the terrain I spied a small cluster of people circling a small area of bush. As we drew up I swung my camera around and fired off a few record shots – Brown Hairstreak on the yearly tally. I then did something very strange, I joined a queue to get some decent close-ups! It was a strange affair; you’d queue, then take your shots and then join the back of the queue so you could check what you’d gotten and try for a different angle when it was your next turn.

After a couple of turns at the Brostreak I shook myself out and setting the girls with their lunch and books in the edge of the wood I set about to have a closer and independent look at the hedge. Don’t get me wrong the female I’d seen was nice but it felt like a bit of a cheat to have it handed over on a plate on arrival. My own spade work paid dividends almost immediately. At the corner of the hedge is a large clump of Bramble which rises at the front edge to between chest and waist height. A few centimetres in it drops down to just below waist height forming a bowl of bramble. Right in the middle of this was a strangely triangular dead leaf. I slipped one leg down between the brambles, feeling my way through and articulating my foot this way and that so as not to crush the stems and once my boot reached the ground I repeated a similar action with my other leg and what had been a distant butterfly was now almost right in front of me. It was a male Brostreak and although worn and tired still maintaining his wing margins and tails and the more honey like colour. After a few shots I reversed my initial procedure and felt very satisfied when looking at the bush you wouldn’t have known that I’d been standing in it a few minutes previously.

I carried on along the hedge but got waylaid again by the showy female who was still in the same place. Luckily by now most of the crowd had dispersed so I stood back and waited for only one or two people to get their shots. I noticed that it seemed slightly brighter and checking the clouds was surprised to see the clouds parting and the twinkling of some blue sky; “hhmmm this might be good”. As I thought this the Brostreak started to twitch her wings and ever so slowly she started to open up. I took a few shots and got in a little closer as she opened up some more to almost wide apart. She was finally totally open, wings a kimbo and then someone got a bit over eager and pushing front of me from below spooked the butterfly, she started closing up again and the overeager butterflier spooked her again and she was gone!

Slightly irked I cheered myself up by finding another male a few steps away. He was right at the top of a Bramble right on the edge of the hedge for all to see but strangely no-one seemed interested in him? Bemused by this lack of excitement (every Brown Hairstreak is special to me) I went and picked the girls up. At least they were chuffed to see the two tired looking males as I pointed them out as we went past...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

"Every Brown Hairstreak is special to me", my thoughts exactly Glad you didn't miss out the Hairstreak fest!

[Art Frames]

Well I missed out this year so I have enjoyed seeing all of the lovely BHs on here. Yours are lovely and it is a good story too. Next year I may be lucky too.

I would extend your philosophy to say every butterfly is special. I try and stop myself getting blasé about any species, as some years I don't see them and miss them. It was hard this year on a few occasions when I was seeing extraordinary numbers of a few species, but I just had to say next year it may be different. So I have taken a huge number of similar pictures and tried to ensure I checked everything out. It is great to be able to go back over some of the days to remember just how great the numbers were.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Bugboy It was a close run thing this year, I almost thought that I wasn't going to make it as the weather was never really that crash hot and there were plenty of other commitments keeping me out of the field.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Katrina]

Magnificent brostreak shot Wurzel. If only I had a time machine and could go back and take some more photos of them this year!

[essexbuzzard]

Great stuff there, Wurzel. I too thought I would miss out again this year, but everything came together, just in time.

[Butterflysaurus rex]

"It was a strange affair; you’d queue, then take your shots and then join the back of the queue"

Ah yes queueing up for Brown Hairstreaks, I've spent many an hour doing that at Steyning. Only for it to fly off just when it was my turn!

[millerd]

I'm glad you got your Brown Hairstreaks, Wurzel, especially that male which you discovered independently - very satisfying. Great shots: the colour is really quite subtle compared to the brightness of the female.

This year I've only had to queue behind Bugboy for Brostreaks...

Dave

[Wurzel]

Cheers Peter Glad you enjoyed the narrative, there is a bit more to come but it's tricky fitting in everything
"I would extend your philosophy to say every butterfly is special".Definitely something to be more conscious of...each year I do a look back and sometimes I surprise myself with how many images I have of certain species and how few I have of others and then I make a pledge to myself 'next year I will focus more on...'

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

Very much enjoyed your Brown Hairstreak saga. Male and female in one session is great going.
For me 2017 will go down as the year of the Hairstreak. We had the impeccably behaved
Purple's, a good showing of White Letters, then for me 22 male BH in one week.

Trevor.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Katrina I know what you mean It would also be good to see what taking the other side of adecisoon would have revealed; what would I have found if I'd checked the other side of the hedge first etc
Cheers Essex We did cut it a bit fine but like the Tortoize we got there in the end
Cheers Rex This was the first time I've queued for a Brostreak, it was a bit of culture shock
Cheers Dave I still don't get the disdain shown to the makes I have found them fresher but even then they don't glow as much as the female

Have a goodun

Wurzel