Sunday 21st August - Betulae at Bernwood
I returned to Bernwood Meadows today as Brown Hairstreaks should be at about their peak. There was a small herd of cows in the meadow near the car park who obviously thought I was going to feed them as they followed me initially as I walked in. I watched them eat some of the young blackthorn shoots so I hope they don't eat all the eggs....
The forecast had been for a sunny day and I Ieft home to a glorious morning but as I arrived at around 11am it had clouded over. I met a lovely couple, Alan and Kerry, who were armed with a video camera. They left for Whitecross Green Wood and I walked the entire circumference of the meadows and saw a few browns and blues but no Brown Hairstreaks. I went back to the car for an early lunch just as the sun was beginning to come out properly.
I then met some fellow Hairstreak hunters, Kevin and Ian, both from Cambridgeshire and a couple from Bristol, and we searched the thin meadow. Kevin had seen 2 in an oak tree over the road from the meadow and we watched these for a while. I walked on toward the end and at exactly 1pm this lady literally landed at my feet!
I called the others over and hopefully we all got some photos, we certainly all saw her. She flew up into the hedge and I watched her ovi-posturing - I didn't find and eggs subsequently. We also found a tatty male that stayed on a thistle for a most of our time there.
As it was now proper Hairstreak weather Kevin, Ian and I split up and I had another 2 females down low, both in lovely fresh condition.
They were stunning!
A couple of Red Admirals were in the meadow.
While some third brood Speckled Woods were fresh out.
This female Meadow Brown seemed pretty fresh but very pale; I think she had no orange pigment in her scales.
Common Blues were present in small numbers while the second picture is I think a strangely marked Brown Argus.
Sightings for Bernwood Meadows:
6 Brown Hairstreak (at least 3 females, 1 male)
15+ Common Blue
5 Brown Argus
2 Red Admiral
6 Speckled Wood
20+ Gatekeeper
15+ Meadow Brown
10+ Green Veined White
I was debating whether to stay on at Bernwood (it's not every day you have several Brown Hairstreaks land at your feet) but the lure of
coridon was strong. So I called into Aston Rowant on the way home but Chalkhill Blue were surprisingly few. I didn't see one until I reached the bottom of the slope.
I'd met Ian from earlier here and showed him where to look for Silver Spotted Skippers - they were in good numbers still, with some fresh individuals. I also saw two courting pairs, with (presumably) the male vibrating his wings near the female, although I didn't get a good photo of this.
At the bottom of the slope near the gate there are huge patches of wild thyme and this was covered in butterflies. Some stunningly fresh Brown Argus were beautiful:
While this female was superbly attired!
Also on the thyme were the most Small Tortoiseshells I have seen in one place in many years - I counted 8. That topped off a terrific day
Sightings for Aston Rowant:
25+ Silver Spotted Skipper
10+ Chalk Hill Blue
10+ Common Blue+
8 Brown Argus
6 Small Copper
8 Small Tortoisehell
30+ Meadow Brown
15+ Small Heath
2 Green Veined White