Thursday 21 August 2014

Brown Hairstreaks and Mill Hill

Brown Hairstreak, Thecla betulae
On Tuesday I did another Mill Hill transect on a sunny day. The butterfly season is definitely on the wane at the site. The three blues are mostly very tatty and numbers were down. The upside is that I saw the Clouded Yellow nectaring and dashing around the meadow where I saw it on Saturday. Results: 41 Adonis Blue, 3 Chalkhill Blue, 1 Clouded Yellow, 1 Comma, 31 Common Blue, 2 Gatekeeper, 63 Meadow Brown, 1 Peacock, 2 Red Admiral, 1 Small Heath, 1 Small Tortoiseshell.
Afterwards I visited Steyning Downland and met Neil and a couple of other Brown Hairstreak enthusiasts. Neil had seen one an hour before, but cloud cover ensured I had no luck.
On Wednesday I revisited Steyning and this time saw six Brown Hairstreaks. Neil saw the same specimens. An excellent day!
Mill Hill:
Adonis Blue, Lysandra bellargus
Carline Thistle, Carlina vulgaris
Chalkhill Blue, Lysandra coridon
Clouded Yellow, Colias croceus
Common Blue, Polyommatus icarus

Magpie, Pica pica


Mother of Pearl, Pleuroptya ruralis
Straw-barred Pearl, Pyrausta despicata
Treble-bar, Aplocera plagiata
Steyning Downland:
Common Darter, Sympetrum striolatum
micro-moth
Roesel's Bush-cricket, Metrioptera roeselii
Flesh fly, Sarcophaga species
not much left of this Speckled Wood, Pararge aegeria
Wednesday:
female Brown Hairstreak, Thecla betulae
female Brown Hairstreak, Thecla betulae




Common Darter, female, Sympetrum striolatum
Common Grass-veneer, Agriphila tristella
Ladybird, 7-spot, Coccinella 7-punctata
male Scorpion fly, Panorpa species
Small White, Pieris rapae
Traveller's-joy, Clematis vitalba
fly on computer screen
sundown

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