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White-letter Hairstreak - Favourite Photo 2019

Week 19

Dennis the Menace I still battering us as we enter into the penultimate week the Favourites 2019. A heads up for next week…as well as Wood White there will also be the Vagrant and the overall Favourite thread.

Please could I ask that everyone waits until a topic has been opened by me for a particular species before posting photos as then it will be easier to keep track of things? Of course our overseas members are very welcome to fill in the obvious gaps relating to rare UK migrants. As in previous years details of locations, dates, times and circumstances would be welcome as would any accompanying stories and anecdotes or other observations of behaviour and interesting other points.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

The Essex colonies proved as amenable as ever last year, they were even flying on a grey cloudy day with occasional light drizzle, the subdued lighting worked well though I was also fascinated by how the tails worked to make a false head to distract predators from the real head, further enhanced by the breeze and the occasional bit of wing rolling.

Very nice, BB. There are a small number of UK species that escape my intimate attention every year and this is one of them.

I'd love to get so close as you have done, but for some reason they 'cling' to the canopy in south Wales.

Close to home is a relatively large Elm wood that I had not visited prior to 2019. Last June, I did and encountered plenty of White-letter Hairstreak. Although many of the trees have died, there are still plenty in good health. I have chosen this mating pair, that were sat at head height, which would have been ideal if it wasn't for the brambles between us.

Easy choice for me. I was thrilled to discover white-letter hairstreaks in my local meadow, in the middle of Woodbridge, but even more thrilled to find eggs, confirming breeding here. Not that there was any real doubt, as I'd seen males lekking and females wandering with eggs, but this was the icing on the cake:



Guy