www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Here is the opportunity to post your favourite photo(s) of a particular species taken in 2012 (or the last time you saw one!).

This is part of a series of topics which will grow over 20 weeks throughout the winter until all 59 UK species have been covered. The intention is to showcase three species per week (in alphabetical order), so please wait until a topic has been opened by me for a particular species before posting photos. Our overseas friends are very welcome to fill in the obvious gaps relating to rare UK migrants.

Details of locations, dates, times and circumstances would be welcome and please feel free to contribute observations of behaviour, stories of personal encounters, anecdotes or other interesting points.

Vince

Green Hairstreak

This is my favourite shot of Green Hairstreak as I thought it was going to be the only one I would find! I tried everywhere in the locale for Green Hairstreak – Martin Down (all over), Five Rivers, the down land on the way to Bentley Wood, Coombe Bisset and almost every Hawthorn between Salisbury and Pewsey. Finally I got to Middleton Down and despite almost destroying my car, bee stings and vicious cows as well as 4 hours in the area – no joy! Until the entrance of the reserve I’d given up on Green Hairstreak and took the girls to Martin Down for the morning. As we walked along from Sillen’s Lane we found some cracking moths in the car park and the girls had fun herding Dingy Skippers when something caught my eye, fluttering low down. It seemed almost grey in flight – perhaps a trick of the flickering between green and brown under and upper sides? Any way I didn’t think about that at the time as it landed and I had my shot of Green Hairstreak – brown socks, beautiful large eyes and all! Have a goodun

Wurzel

My favourite Green Hairstreak photo was taken in the Vallon de Mardaric in the Alpes-Maritimes in March using a Canon PowerShot S100.
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Colin

one from hod hill.Unlike poor Wurzel i saw more green hairstreaks this year than i have in my previous years put together, ok my previous tally was only 4 this year i must have seen at least 6. this one from Hod hill is my favourite as i spent 20 minutes just watching and waiting for it to come down low enough for a picture. it spent most of it's time in this pose and the other thing i like about it is it shows a hairiness i've not noticed before on the hindwing. ( tried cropping to show the hairs as opposed to full image ) I did get a more traditional pose at Martin Down

Seen early in Cambs, but the weather turned ........

Anyone got any with the line of white hindwing spots?

I saw Green Hairsteaks this year on just a couple of occasions, I remember one late afternoon / early evening at Ryton Meadows watching half a dozen or so males dancing around above a Hawthorn and adjacent Oak and staying just out of reach for photos. Luckily I also found a couple of females low down in the meadow checking out the Birds-foot Trefoil which they breed on at this site.

Two different females with lines of hind wing spots, albiet a bit faint.
Cheers,

Neil F.

Ryton also turned out to be the best site I visited for Green Hairstreak this year. I was there on 26th May, and saw quite a few, both adjacent to the meadows and in a newly created clearing within the wood itself. I particularly like the way the iridescent green of these butterflies can vary from turquoise to a pale almost bronze-green depending on the way the light falls.

Dave

A reminder of summer colours:



That was 26th May, in the Rhône Valley.

Guy

Green Hairstreaks were generally hard to find this year on Frog Firle. Most years 20 plus can be found quite easily whereas this year I only found 6 or 7 all year. A dramatic dropoff in numbers. I was pleased to find a particularly fresh specimen on 27th April which also posed very well. I was also pleased to be able to find a couple for Philzoid when he visited in May.

My favourite Green Hairstreak image was captured at Ryton woods in May. I was watching five Grizzled Skippers all on the same patch of Forget-Me-Nots when this beautiful little hairstreak came down to feed. It was one of those magical moments that i happily shared with my nine year old son Ben who was sat alongside me. We stayed with the skippers until they roosted (all five together) whilst the hairstreak returned to the trees. Wonderful memories.

Lovely shot, Nigel.

This species is much under-represented but it is one of the most interesting butterflies in the UK.

I haven't been posting to many of the 'favourite photo' topics because I took so few this year. But this is one of my best butterfly memories from the year: a scorching hot day in March, and a very early GH (which got me on the BC first sightings page ), found in a place I'd never seen them before or since.


Green Hairstreak, 24-Mar-12, Cambs