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White-letter Hairstreak – Favourite Photo of 2017

Week 19 – So we enter the penultimate week of the 2017 Favourite Photo thread so think ahead ready for the Overall Favourite for next week.

Please could I ask that everyone waits until a topic has been opened by me for a particular species before posting photos? Of course our overseas members are very welcome to fill in the obvious gaps relating to rare UK migrants. As like last year 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

For me ,White-letters have always been hard to come by in my part of Kent ,years ago ,Northward Hill RSPB reserve(isle of Grain ) was always the spot for them and I believe it is still an excellent site to this day ,nearer to home the Royal military canal ,on Romney marsh ,holds a few ,small scattered colonies,one of the most well Known is at Warehorne ,where there is a large Huntingdon Elm one of only two of the originals ,planted when the canal was first dug ( to try to keep "Boneys" army at bay ) the other is at Seabrook ,numbers vary from year to year ,and of course timing is key .But I did have one excellent visit to the tree ,when everything seemed to click ,and had an excellent hour plus
just sitting and watching them ,rolling in and out of the branches ,just to confuse things the tree also hosts Purple Hairstreaks ,that nip across from the numerous Oaks.Unlike the Northward hill White-Letters these.rarely come down low . My pic is heavily cropped and is the only White-Letter shot I managed this season with my trusty old Bridge camera., the second is a winter shot of one of the grand old "survivors".
Regards Allan.W.

I saw White-Letter Hairstreaks in several places, this photo is one from Box Hill, near to the fort, in the members car park, on a Surrey Butterfly Conservation Walk for Dark green Fritillaries. Others were seen at High Elms in Bromley, and our colony at Chapel Bank Nature Reserve.

My favourite, taken on 27th July last year in my local woods:



Guy

I finally managed to find a local colony this year, but sadly the adults I saw were all wedded to the higher reaches of the elm and ash canopy, making photographs near impossible!

I got luckier in the French Alps though, as we recorded this species for the first time ever! What's more, there were several seen at close quarters nectaring from the umbellifers in the wooded area adjacent to the hotel:

Yet again my Essex site came up trumps for this species in 2017. These images were all taken on the best of a few visits when somewhere between 40 & 50 were flying around brambles. If anything there were almost too many, you'd just close in on one perfectly posed when another one you hadn't noticed would fly up from under your nose and disturb your target (yes I do realise how silly it is to even suggest there were too many of this illusive species). Still I ended up with a camera full of images and losing a few hours in their company was a joyful way to spend a sunny afternoon And a lucky shot of a male and female where the breeze caught the females wings just perfectly to display her tails at a different angle

Now that Bugboy would be my idea of heaven. What a sight that would have been...tremendous!! Maybe this year.

Last year I was over the moon when I saw my first White Letter Hair Streak It was at Brockholes CP Nr Preston at the edge of Bolton Woods, (which is conveniently close to us ) on the 3rd of July, when I think of that day and that moment i still enjoy that trip over again. Goldie

IAC wrote:Now that Bugboy would be my idea of heaven. What a sight that would have been...tremendous!! Maybe this year.

Thanks Iain, it was/is a wonderful sight, and seems to be a regular event so I consider myself very lucky to have a site close by where they come down in good numbers. Fingers crossed that your one on the borders is a forerunner for a nice invasion, if they're not already lurking somewhere

Having seen Bugboy's splendid posts of this species from Leigh-on-Sea, and having not seen many of them anywhere in previous years, I made the trek round half of the M25 to catch up a bit: I wasn't disappointed. On 4th July, another warm and muggy day, they were still around, though more worn and fewer in number than when Buggy had seen them. One thing I noticed was that if disturbed, instead of disappearing they tended to return almost immediately to the same spot, unlike many others. There were more than I realised - the first photo had another in the background which I didn't spot at the time!A return visit this year seems obligatory...

Dave

bugboy wrote:Yet again my Essex site came up trumps for this species in 2017. These images were all taken on the best of a few visits when somewhere between 40 & 50 were flying around brambles. If anything there were almost too many, you'd just close in on one perfectly posed when another one you hadn't noticed would fly up from under your nose and disturb your target (yes I do realise how silly it is to even suggest there were too many of this illusive species). Still I ended up with a camera full of images and losing a few hours in their company was a joyful way to spend a sunny afternoonAnd a lucky shot of a male and female where the breeze caught the females wings just perfectly to display her tails at a different angle

I absolutely love those latter two shots in particular, Bugboy. How I wish I could find colonies near me where the adults readily descend!

The White -Letter- Hair- Streaks certainly love the Brambles, that 's where I saw my HS's , once on the Brambles they're too busy to mind other things. Goldie

Daneway Banks, late July - I noticed the Meadow Brown perched a little oddly on the thistle and it took me some minutes to notice Her(?) Unobtrusiveness hidden away underneath.
The butterfly later proved slightly more camera-friendly.

I saw White-letter Hairstreak in my local wood for the first time in 2017. This individual was sat on Hazel and was very patient of my close approach. Shortly after, another was sat in long grass.

White-letter Hairstreak

This was taken on a totally awesome day at Bentley – I might have mentioned it previously WINK – when I encountered my first Silver-washed, DGF, His Nibbs, a Hedgie and a Purp as well as my first Whitter of 2017! This is actually my favourite ever Hairstreak shot to date as it’s my first ever grounded Whitter from Bentley and also from Wiltshire, where it features on the local branch logo. As to why I chose this shot? Well it’s at a slightly different angle which brings a slightly metallic lustre to the wings.
Have a goodun

Wurzel