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 to visit ash and field maple trees (the latter was as popular as ash today). When two meet they behave a little like Purple Emperor males: they circle round each other effing and beeing, before one chases the other off.
Crucially, all activity was out of the wind this morning. The word 'leeward' needs to be an important part of the Brown Hairstreaker's vocabulary, alongside 'sloe searching'.
At last I managed to photograph a male here - the first in 20 years:-
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