Thank you, Wurzel! Lots of posts to get through, as despite less than perfect weather I've seen butterflies somewhere every day since the end of July... If anything, the bright cloudy days or the mixes of sunshine and showers have actually made getting a few snaps here and there easier than usual. I've been lucky with my trips further afield as well and haven't suffered any complete washouts. Funny you should mention Shipton B., as that's what comes next...
After a couple of late postponements because of unreliable weather forecasts, I agreed to meet up with Wurzel and Trevor down at Shipton Bellinger on
Monday 16th August for the annual Brownstreak Festival. Sunny intervals perhaps best describes the weather on the day, but there was quite a breeze blowing as well, and as I walked up from the village I wondered whether we might not see much because of it. Amazingly, the main hedge where Brown Hairstreaks can be found completely blocked the wind, so the sunny side was calm and warm (though just round the corner a cool gale was blowing). It was excellent to meet up with both Trevor and Wurzel (I think it must have been a year since I'd last seen Wurzel), and as ever much fat was chewed and worlds put to rights.
Apart from ourselves, there were several other Hairstreak aficionados, including Mark Tutton and Jenks from UKB. It was great to see both of them too (and I was also able to dicuss my trip to Portland with Mark who had seen Large Tortoiseshells in Tout Quarry the day before my visit. I came away from the chat more reassured that I had actually seen the species.). The details of how many Brown Hairstreaks we saw altogether are beginning to dim - I hope Wurzel has kept some notes!
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
However, I'm pretty sure we just made double figures but by no means all of these were within reach of a camera lens, especially mine.
I'll start with some of what else was flying. The day began (and curiously also ended) with female Holly Blues. They are fairly different one from t'other, with the first one much more heavily marked and the other looking more like a spring specimen.
![HB1 160821.JPG (1.01 MiB) Viewed 301 times to start with...](./files/thumb_9839_ed84addcfbf00ea7a68ba6ac47ce67aa)
- to start with...
![HB2 160821.JPG (1.75 MiB) Viewed 301 times ...and to finish on](./files/thumb_9839_68f65e9f876bd9c926091e41b1f82bc1)
- ...and to finish on
New Red Admirals and the odd Peacock were taking advantage of the sheltered side of the hedge.
As ever, female Gatekeepers caused a few false starts.
There were very few blues of any description, but this Common Blue female did stand out.
Finally, a very nice new female Wall appeared, nectared long enough for a few photos (I think Trevor got some crackers from his viewpoint), and quickly disappeared.
Putting all this aside, we did find Brown Hairstreaks of both sexes. The females were more active than the males (I remember that one of the latter remained in the same place nectaring for much of the time we were on site), and we were treated to some open wings when the sun actually shone a bit. First, the males:
![BrH6 160821.JPG (1.93 MiB) Viewed 301 times rather worn](./files/thumb_9839_463f4a4c90ed316794f7679b6149b0b4)
- rather worn
![BrH26 160821.JPG (1.85 MiB) Viewed 301 times missing some hindwing](./files/thumb_9839_66aa55885d609d0888ba986500abac62)
- missing some hindwing
The females:
That last female in particular was worth travelling for (plus the company for the day, naturally!
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
). Another excellent day out.
Dave