Wednesday, 8 August 2018

BROWN HAIRSTREAKS







Well what a change in the temperature today, I actually felt cold in a t shirt !

Having not succeeded in finding any brown hairstreaks yesterday I made the decision to visit Otmoor today. It was rather breezy with a fair amount of cloud in between the sunny intervals, but I was one of a number of people searching the Roman Road area of RSPB Otmoor reserve.

It quickly became obvious that there was a hotspot underneath a tall ash tree - the grass had been flattened by previous visitors and there were a few  butterflies spiralling around the top of the tree from time to time. One did come lower, and made for a decent photo, except closer inspection revealed a piece missing from its wing -- probably pecked by a bird.

We did manage to see both a female and male brown hairstreak, but they were quite high and difficult to photograph. After a couple of hours of waiting, and with no sign of any more individuals coming down,  and the weather becoming less sunny I decided to leave. Maybe it will be worth a further visit later on if I  get an opportunity, however, its one more tick for the year.


male brown hairstreak

female brown hairstreak

brown hairstreak with piece missing!


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