www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

hi
I met a chap wednesday night while looking for purple hairstreaks and he mentioned Brown Hairstreak had been seen at Somerford common.Could anyone confirm this
Mark

Hi Mark.
It's not a million miles away so I may try to find this wood tomorrow or Sunday. I'll report back.
Eccles.

I got there today and spent three hours wandering around the wooded rides. Unfortunately I have no idea where to look for brown hairstreak and saw none. I DID see:
comma
peacock
small skipper
gatekeeper
meadow brown
marbled white
common blue (female)
red admiral
white admiral (2 - both tatty)
brown argus
small copper
silver washed fritillary (about half a dozen)
large white
brimstone
ringlet
speckled wood

So not a bad place to visit anyway.

Directions from M4 - leave M4 at junction 17 and head north to Malmesbury A429.
At southern end of Malmesbury is the first roundabout of the bypass. Take a right here to Brinkworth B4042.
Almost through Brinkworth keep an eye out for an unclassified road on the left signposted Minety and Charlton.
The "common" is actually a wood and is about 2 miles north on the Minety road. There looked to be some expensive equine flesh being ridden on this road when I went there so take care.
There are several pull-in points where there are open rides through the wood. I stopped at a large gravel car park on the right where there were open rides and some light coppice/meadow east from the car park, and a nice open ride west if you cross the road and walk about 50 yards up the road.
The latter is where I saw the white admirals and SW Fritillaries and they were dead easy to get to for photos. Having said that my photos of the SWFs aren't much good because they just wouldn't stop. Watch out for a small hidden channel/ditch in the middle of the ride!

I'll be going back in August when BH is more likely to be flying.

hi
I will try and get some more info about where the brown hairstreak is most likley to be found at sommerford common.As soon as I know I will post details.
rgards
mark

Any news on the brown hairstreak, Mark?

I spent another three hours trawling Somerford Common for brown hairstreak, concentrating on coppice and the more open areas, but didn't see a single one. I met a guy who seemed to know a bit about butterflies and suggested I looked around the northern edge where there were hedgerows but there was nothing there either.
So unless I missed a small colony I would guess there are none there. There are muntjack deer there if larger wildlife is your thing.

hi eccles
sorry but i've not been able to get any more info so far.I am due back to bath soon after being away on holiday so I will do some more enquiring asap,I might get over to sommerford in the next few days to have a look around.If I see anything I will let you know
regards
Mark

Thanks Mark.
Ravensroost Wood and Common, just north of Somerford Common is another supposed hotspot for these butterflies and I visited the place last weekend. It was a bit too overcast really for much life but again I didn't see any brown hairstreak.
As a volunteer at the Avon Wildlife Trust I leaned on the Somerset branch and got info about Gilling Down, one of the East Poldens reserves on the West Mendip Escarpment. Eggs were definitely found there earlier this year, and the word is that adult males have been recently seen displaying there. The location is near a large ash tree near the top of the reserve. I went down there about a week ago but couldn't find the reserve. I think I know where it is now so will be off down there when we get the next fine day.
I'll keep you posted on what I find.

I believe the Brown Hairstreak is also found at Collard Hill, laying its eggs in the scrub at the top of the slope on which most of the Large Blues are found (which may be out-of-bounds at this time of year) and also further east on the way to Hatch Hill, on the slope below the monument. I haven't looked for it there myself, though.

I saw a single Brown Hairstreak when passing through Hatch Hill last Saturday - could easily be combined with a visit to Gilling Down, which I don't know. From the entrance at ST495337 keep to the track along the base of the hill. Keep your eyes open for the sheep's skeleton - the BH was hanging around in the vicinity. I think it is a sheep's skeleton - might have been that of the last person who didn't want to leave till he had seen the BH .

Also Chalkhill Blue, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Painted Lady, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Wall, and of course the ubiquitous [never thought I'd be saying this] Clouded Yellow.

Keep your eyes open for the hornet's nest about 20 feet up in the group of trees on your right if you climb the track that goes up the hill. There is also a bee's nest in another of the trees.

Simon

Hi all,

I managed to see 1 on Thursday at Noar Hill (thanks to my girlfriend who has razor sharp eyes!) about 150 yards from the entrance. Only for about 5 seconds or so though.

This would seem to be a really tough species for most people.

BH and Mountain Ringlet must rate as the hardest of all British Butterflies to see.

It looks like being another miserable week's weather. Does anyone know if this butterfly will fly during dull days or does it need sunshine?

I visited the area again today (21/08/06). The weather was breezy but there was some sunshine and butterflies were flying in the sheltered spots.

I found Gilling Down and snapped a holly blue and red admiral.

I walked back through Great Breach Wood and spent half an hour around a buddliea that had taken root in a clearing. There were two rather worn sw fritillaries, several red admirals and also several hummingbird hawk moths. I got some good snaps of the sw frits but the hummingbird shots that I got are poo. Dragonflies were everywhere and on a single twig were four migrant hawker dragonfly males. I've never seen that before.

I found Collard Hill and checked it out. Breezy conditions floored just about everything on the hillside there with one or two common blue and meadow brown, and a single clouded yellow. At the top near the road were several fresh small heath.

Not a brown hairstreak anywhere.