West Williamston egg predation survey – week 3

What a difference a week makes! There are now 104 eggs, and to date no predations.  On Tuesday I took 61 pale green lengths of wool with me to our study area (roughly 20m x 10m in size) and left with just 3.  Further additions had also made that day by David Redhead making this a very good count for a relatively small area.  Part of the reason for this may be that a nearby stand of Blackthorn has been recently removed as part of the ongoing BH habitat management. And...

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West Williamston salt marsh habitat

The Brown Hairstreak butterfly shown here was photographed on Tuesday down on the foreshore of the reserve – part of what makes West Williamston rather unique.  These grasses, Sea Beet, Orache and other saltmarsh plants are all covered by salt water when the tides are at their highest. Strange but true - several of the lowest laid eggs can be found in winter covered in seaweed washed up by storms. Nikki Anders...

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West Williamston Egg Predation Survey

Week 2.    -  Week ending 19 August 2014 On Sunday 17th August David Redhead located all 11 tagged eggs and added a further 20 eggs to the count, tagged this time with white wool. Out of these 31 eggs he recorded 5 sets of doublets – a high proportion of twins in a relatively small area.  Many of the BH adults recorded so far this year were in trees on the right of this photograph.  The brown area visible below the Ash was the site of a large stand...

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West Williamston Egg Predation Survey

West Williamston egg predation survey - Week 1  There has been some anecdotal evidence at West Williamston that early laid BH eggs may be more liable to predation than those laid later in September.  The eggs were not tagged.After the first eggs of 2014 were found by David Redhead we have established a small survey site in the top field (near the small car park) adjacent to the north side Ash trees nos 1 - 3. On Sunday 10th August a total of 11 eggs were found...

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It's behind you

It pays off to stand back and watch the action unfold when searching for the Brown Hairstreak and as Neil pointed out on Saturday we had some superb action at the Rifle Range. Whilst Neil and a group were watching a female move out of a thicket to a better vantage point both Susie Millbank and I noticed another female descend from the ash tree behind them.. Whilst a throng followed Neil to photograph the one he was watching, I went to a dense thicket where a female was now hiding. A couple...

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Crowd Pleasers

As I was passing close to Steyning Rifle Range this morning I couldn't resist another visit, despite the fact that the cloudy spells outweighed the sunshine. There was quite a crowd already on site and a very faded male had been seen on the ground earlier.  After chatting to a few regulars in the reserve area I headed up towards the northern flank with Susie Milbank, speculating that it was probably not quite sunny enough to bring many Brown Hairstreaks out to play. As I got to the top...

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The Ash Brownie pin badge unveiled

I will be sending out all pre-sale pin badges over the weekend so keep an eye on your post for them to arrive. I hope that everyone who purchased one enjoys wearing it and for those who are yet to buy one this weekend don't miss out....

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Bank Holiday Brownie Events in Worcs

What better way to spend your Bank Holiday time off work! The following 2 events will be taking place this Sunday and Monday in Worcestershire and are not to be missed! SUN 24TH AUG - BROWN HAIRSTREAK OPEN DAY, GRAFTON WOOD By far, this is the best opportunity to see this elusive species as there will be lots of pairs of eyes looking! I will be there selling the last 25 limited edition Brown Hairstreak pin badges (more info here, and see the badge design above). They will be sold at a special...

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Wednesday 20th August - A second try at Grafton.

  This being the second Wednesday that I had booked off work and with my lack of success in seeing any Brown Hairstreaks at Grafton Wood last week I decided to have another attempt today. I left home about 10.00 and drove over, arriving and parking by the church at Grafton Flyford about an hour later. The morning had started off nice and sunny albeit with a bit of a nip in the air after a cold night, and by the time I arrived at Grafton some more cloud had built up with the sunny spells...

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More Steyning Brownies

Returns at Steyning Rifle Range were rather modest today, with only 5 females seen by the numerous visitors. The first was seen at 11.35 am and another 3 descended before 12.30 pm, at which point large banks of cloud appeared and the temperature plummeted. One more dropped into the thorn very briefly before close of play was announced soon after 1.00 p...

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End of Season Steyning Downland Scheme Brown Hairstreak Social Group

Today I joined the ‘End of Season Steyning Downland Scheme Brown Hairstreak Social Group’ at the Rifle Range, where annual gatherings celebrate the passing of another season and members hope to photograph one of our most beautiful and charismatic butterflies.    Brown Hairstreak watching here is very much a social event and the more eyes the better! Although it sometimes gets so busy that you will find yourself shoulder-to-shoulder with other participants, business...

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Alners Gorse Females - 13/08/14

Having booked a week away in Dorset during Brownie season, how could i miss the opportunity to visit Alners Gorse for the first time? Unfortunately, the weather in Dorset this week has been pretty bad with torrential downpours and thunderstorms that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Thank goodness i took my waterproofs! With the intention of targeting female Brownie hunting (and a nice morning lie-in), Simon Primrose, Geoff Thompson and I arrived at around 11am and were immediately caught in a wonderful...

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Late start at the rifle range pays off

After a ridiculously late start by anyone's standards, I arrived at Steyning at 1pm today. I expected there to by a large number of fellow brown hairstreakers to be on site but to my amazement  there were only five others. In the Sussex contingent were Katrina Watson, Trevor Rapley and myself. There were a couple on holiday from the north of England intent on finding some Ash Brownie action too. I made my way up to the top slope after exchanging form notes with Trevor and Katrina who between...

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West Williamston Update - 10/08/14

From reserve warden, Nikki Anderson: Dedication to the cause has finally delivered results at West Williamston - the photograph below was taken today despite the remnants of 'Bertha' lurking off the south coast of Wales. The male Brown Hairstreak was on the wing at 12:25pm in the top field of the reserve and was observed for several minutes. The sun was intermittent, there was a gusting wind and it was seen in Ash 5. A few minutes later, a second BH was seen leisurely flying in Ash 4, then...

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Steyning Rifle Range - 09/08/14

From Harry Faull: Please find attached shots from Steyning today of my first and only Ash Brownie so far, on my second successive weeked 4 hour round trip from Colchester! Thanks to Neil Hulme last weekend for telling me when and where to look, and to Katrina for spotting it. ...

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Grafton still showing well

Only 14C and cloudy at Grafton earlier this morning, but sun out by 11am and two fly-by sightings at 11.30am. At 12pm, first female flew down from the canopy to bask near blackthorn, by the pond. Exactly the same place as mentioned in my last post on August 4th. This female basked for 2/3 minutes and flew deep into the nearby blackthorn to crawl along the young shoots looking for egg laying sites. After 10 minutes alternating between crawling along twigs, basking and egg laying, she flew...

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Just for interest

As Bertha seems set to disrupt things for a couple of days, I thought I would share some more photos from Grafton. All were taken around 12.00 p.m. on August 4th, near the pond area. Forgive the quality of some of the images but my camera (and head) were poking through blackthorn bushes, at the time. 1. Female showing characteristic behaviour of crawling along twigs looking for egg-laying sites 2. Ovipositing on the shaded side of a twig junction. 3. Basking low down in the shrubbery, near...

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More News From West Williamston

From David Redhead: Egg laying has commenced in Pembrokeshire with two fresh eggs found this morning (8th August) in the top field at WTSWW's West Williamston Reserve. They were found on sucker growth in the top field opposite ash tree 2 - see previous reports by Nikki Anderson. An adult has now been seen at a second Pembrokeshire location, a private site near Jeffreyston a few miles to the east of West Williamston. And from reserve warden, Nikki Anderson: Had a good morning unexpectedly...

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No luck at Whitecross Green Wood

What a contrast. Spent the morning of Thurs Aug 7th at Aston Rowant NNR trying to avoid stepping on Silver Spotted Skippers and Chalkhill Blues and lunchtime at Whitecross Green Wood, on my way home. Finding Brown Hairstreak is a much more difficult challenge. The habitat looks perfect for Brown and Black Hairstreak, with ancient deciduous woodland and blackthorn along all the rides. However, I spoke to 4 or 5 local people, who knew the wood and the best sites to see Brownies, but all said that it was "hard work". On the day, only one "hairstreak sighting" high in an ash tree, but not by me. Nevertheless, I suppose it is the hours spent searching without luck that make the actual sightings so much more satisfyi...

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Deeper inland in West Wales, yet to stir?

Ben Williams, one of our fairly regular surveyors, but like me more than an hour's drive from Wales's brownies, took a chance on Tuesday 5th and spent nearly 6 hours in sun, cloud & some rain at West Wales Museum of Childhood in mid Teifi valley, where we manage 3 fields for brownies, with enthusiastic support of owners, Hilary & Paul Kennelly. Ben got there at 1100hrs and left at 1630 after a day of sunshine, rain and overcast skies. West Wales inland sites always seem to be later, but perhaps weather on the day, had some effect. We're hoping that some keen volunteers living a bit nearer might chance their arm, as soon as weather settles a bit! Good to hear news from West Williamston however.  ...

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West Williamston Update

From reserve warden, Nikki Anderson: Arrived at the reserve at 8.15am on the 4th August - glorious morning, no wind, blue sky and already very warm. Was full of confidence, armed with the Trust project camera and battery fully charged. It was not to be - none of the following were stationary at all.... 8.31am: BH flew from right to left and disappeared into Ash 5 - the small bushy one 8.43am: BH flew across top four fifths of Ash 2 - did not settle by clear ID 8.43am: BH in top third of...

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Brownie Bonanza

This morning (7th August) Steyning Rifle Range hosted a social gathering of Brownie fans from near and far. I had arranged to meet my father, Simon Primrose (BC West Midlands), Brian Henham and Paul Fosterjohn, but our number was swelled further by several other Steyning Downland Scheme members and visitors, all eager to see the site's fabulous hairstreaks. Simon and I stayed for the longest period and we eventually clocked up a minimum of 7 different females, all appearing between 11 am and 2...

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Sussex Females Get Going

As always the Brown Hairstreak season in Sussex has started slowly, at least in terms of close encounters. The males have been active for several weeks up in the canopy, and this is where the early season females have been lazing about, doing very little while their eggs ripen.  Although it is currently only a trickle, females are now beginning to descend to lay their first eggs. It will be another week before multiples are guaranteed, assuming good weather of course. This morning I...

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Double-deckers at Grafton

Thought today would be a perfect day at Grafton: 20C, blue sky and no wind. After two hours searching in the rides by the pond area, and not even a fly-by sighting, I was beginning to think otherwise and was about to leave. Then, low down in the blackthorn, only 10m to the East of the pond, I saw my first Brownie of the year - an egg laying female.  As I moved in to photograph, I noticed a second egg-laying female only 12 inches away basking. It was like catching a bus, nothing for two hours...

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Latest Doings

Delighted to report 25 apparent individual males in my local patch, Ravenroost Meadows near Minety in N Wilts, in two and a half hours this morning.  That's the most I've ever counted there, and was managed despite an irritating breeze.  They kicked off at about 8.15, when my car thermometer was reading 14C, and only tailed off when a ribbon of cloud came over at 10.45.  From 8.30 to about 10.00 males were dashing about like mad, searching the tall sloe hedges and rising up...

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