Brown Hairstreaks

I drove over to Otmoor RSPB reserve on the morning of Sunday (30/07) to look for Brown Hairstreaks and maybe bump into a few dragonflies. The weather promised a deluge of rain during the afternoon, but despite it being quite breezy, the morning forecast suggested a fair bit of sun.

Thankfully, the forecast (for once) was about spot on! The bridleway or Roman Road just east of the car park, at the end of Otmoor Lane, is a fantastic place for insects in general. This day was no exception, with butterflies and dragonflies zipping around - Red Admirals in particular were abundant.

From late July and into August, it is a reliable area to look for Brown Hairstreaks, a very localised species, albeit slowly spreading and one that perhaps will recolonise Northants in the future.

It took a little while, but eventually I caught sight of a couple of male Brown Hairstreaks around the tops of some blackthorn along the bridleway, with one of them resting lower down on some foliage for a short while to soak up some rays. Further on, what must be an Ash 'master tree' held perhaps as many as 10 BHs (all males from what I could see), as well as a lone Purple Hairstreak and a Willow Emerald Damselfly nearby too. 

As time pressed on, my hopes of getting one down close up were fading fast. Then just when I was thinking I may need to head home fairly soon, a pristine Brown Hairstreak dropped onto a creeping thistle right next to me, while I was chatting to someone! Weirdly, in the space of about 20 minutes I then had a further two down to creeping thistles in the same area, including one that had been severely munched by presumably, a dragonfly! 

Having been treated to a really good showing, I headed back home. On the way back, I was also treated to a surprise trio of Hobbys hunting by the side of the road between Middleton Stoney and Ardley. Conveniently, a lay-by was close by and I was able to park up and enjoy them for a few minutes.

Elsewhere this past week, I've popped into Grimsbury Res and Bicester Wetland a couple of times each at least. Grimsbury held a Sanderling on 27/07, found by Gareth B - a scarce patch bird on return passage. If we get them it is almost exclusively in Spring, so a pleasant surprise.

Bicester Wetland has held up to 16 Green Sandpipers in the past 10 days or so and were joined by both a Dunlin and a young Little Ringed Plover last week. Wader passage is now underway and with the reserve showing plenty of shoreline and mud, let's hope for something a bit scarcer over the coming few weeks.

The weather has been a bit of a mixed bag and not great for seeing butterflies. However inbetween the showers and cloudy skies, there has been a bit of sun on occasion. Of interest, the garden produced a couple of Gatekeeper abberations, one I'm yet to ID, however the other is ab. tithonellus, showing a few extra spots and standing out amongst the more standard ones.