Black Hairstreaks & Marbled Whites

I had a day off work on Wednesday 19/06. Inbetween doing a few things at home, I managed to pop out in the morning for a quick look at nearby Croughton Quarry, in search of my first Marbled Whites of 2019.

My luck was in, soon coming across two sedate, freshly-emerged beauties. It always puts a big smile on my face seeing my first Marbled White of the year - a real sign of the summer, that gives a special sense of happiness that once again, my favourite butterfly is on the wing. Good times!







I decided to pop out again during the afternoon, however the weather was a bit indifferent with a bit of rain around - not ideal to look for butterflies. Still, it was mild, so I decided to go and suss out some Black Hairstreaks knowing their numbers were peaking at most sites, in good numbers too.

I would usually head up to North Northants to see them, however it was high time I found somewhere a little closer. A bit of mooching around online, suggested Hewin's Wood near Calvert (Bucks), was a good bet, and was just half an hour away.

I wasn't to be disappointed and within 30 seconds of getting out of the car there, I was seeing several flitting around the blackthorn, just a few metres into the site. The place was littered with them, mostly moving around the tops of the blackthorn and still very much active, despite a flurry of drizzle and cloud.

Then the big highlight - as a freshly emerged Black Hairstreak slowly fluttered into me, before continuing down (showing it's rarely seen cluster of orangey marks on the inside of the wings) onto a low branch close by. WOWEE, how lucky was that! It then just sat there for some 10 minutes, allowing me to fully appreciate it and get my best photos of one yet. A truly magic moment!







That couldn't be bettered really, but it was cool to explore the site a little more, seeing many more Black Hairstreaks, my first White Admiral of the year, a lovely showing of Common Spotted Orchids and a couple of Small Heaths.





I eventually tore myself away and headed back to the car. However there was one more distraction in store, as another pristine Black Hairstreak settled right next to my car, by the side of the road - amazing! I then sat on the bonnet of my car and took a few more lovely pics to finish off a brilliant little trip out. Well worth it and so close to home!