Thanks Wurzel, yes and if the weather forecast is to be believed (
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
) we might just all be lucky in the coming days!
4th July Monks Wood
A third and final last ditch attempt to try and tick off Black Hairstreak for the season. I got there earlier this time and for once I had plenty of sun and blue sky to encourage some activity. The rides were alive with Speckled Woods and Ringlets today and I stopped off at every patch of bramble blossom in the hope of finding something hairstreaky. Some Whites were about and the summer generation of Small Tortoiseshells were busy fuelling up but no Hairstreak's showed themselves.
![IMG_7382.JPG (102.73 KiB) Viewed 981 times Large White male](./files/thumb_13753_42118afc542caef62e76a9cbaea0f1b5)
- Large White male
Wandering down to the main ride I bumped into
PhiliB doing his transect. He hadn’t seen any yet but gave me some pointers to give me the best chance of finding one. I carried on walking up and down the ride, Large Skippers whizzing up and down and Ringlets doing their best Hairstreak impressions flying along the Blackthorn hedges.
My first Silver Washed Fritillary of the year showed up and was very active, bombing around at warp factor 9 after being warmed up at gas mark 10 from the looks of it, he never settled long enough for a picture.
This Hairstreak did stay still for long enough for a few pictures. Had I been here a few hours earlier I may even have found her alive! So close yet so far
![Sad :(](./images/smilies/icon_sad.gif)
.
Not sure if I can tick Purple Hairstreak off for the year with this one though…
I spent a bit of time with some Hoverflies and found a cute little Picture Winged Fly.
But by 2 it had clouded over and activity had slowed down so I took that as my queue to make my way back home.
Oh yea, almost forgot, I got one
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
. I was just lining up a shot of a Meadow Brown of all things shortly after bumping into Phil when she plopped down a couple of feet away from me causing me to miss a heartbeat. I carefully crept to within range but only managed a few record shots before she was off and I lost her as she flew back down the ride. I suspect it was the bumping into Phil that did the trick though, great to meet and have a chat with you.
She won’t win any prizes in a Black Hairstreak beauty pageant but she’s my first so she’s special to me
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
. Next year hopefully the weather will be better behaved.