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Saturday 4 July 2020

Black Hairstreak bonanza

With a glut of warm weather and seemingly good, early numbers of Black Hairstreak butterflies at the usual sites, I decided to pay homage to these beautiful little creatures!

Last year, Hewin's Wood, just the other side of Bicester, proved really good for them and being only half an hour a way, it was somewhere I could target after work on a warm, sunny evening.

Tuesday 02/06 was just that and so over I went post-work. It didn't take me long to find 2-3 around the tops of some sunlit Blackthorn, no more than 30 seconds after getting out of the car -the omens were good! However, it was hard to find many more, with just one briefly down at eye level. Most of the good areas along the track were in shade, while the majority of bramble flowers were yet to open.



One area that had plenty of sun, was right by the roadside, next to where I had parked! It soon came apparent that this was the place to be and I went on to enjoy fabulous views of many, both basking and down to nectar.









I ended up staying far longer than I intended, with it being so still, calm and warm. They were still very much active right though to 20:15pm, when I thought it was high time I got myself home! The perfect visit and just before the weather was due to turn too!



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