The forecast was cloudy at home, so I decided to venture eastwards into Oxfordshire, where it was predicted to be sunny and warm! Looking for somewhere to go, I saw on the Butterfly conservation website that black hairstreaks were flying at Whitecross Green woods, and since I'd not seen one before, it seemed the ideal chance.
With a number of cars already in the car park, it seemed hopeful, and I soon got into conversation with someone knowledgeable who offered to help me look for them. Much to my surprise we found a couple of these butterflies flitting around the top of the blackthorn, only a short distance along the ride leading from the carpark, landing briefly once to enable me to get a record photo. Moving on, we saw several more, in different areas of the woods, till we'd seen a total of 11, a good number for a first visit, I was told! They were staying mostly around the tops of the bushes, sheltering from the breeze amongst the leaves, not ideal photo conditions although I did manage a few, rather dark shots. A few other species were seen, including speckled wood, common blue, large skipper and meadow brown. Also a white, not identified.
Returning to my car, I stopped where we had seen the first butterflies; nothing was flying, then something caught my eye...a single black hairstreak sitting in a perfect position at eye level! A fantastic finish!!
A view of one of the rides at Whitecross Green woods
Black hairstreak butterfly
black hairstreak butterfly
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