Cumbria Naturally
  • Home
  • Blog
  • My Books
    • Cumbrian Contrasts
    • A Lakeland Experience >
      • Introduction
      • Derwent
      • Langdale
      • Ullswater
      • Kentdale
    • About Scout Scar
    • Atlantic Odyssey
  • Other Writing
    • What Larks!
    • Further - Explore Shetland
    • Autumn Migration
    • Rydal and Nab Scar
    • Perspectives
    • The River Kent
    • Wings
  • Gallery
  • Contact

Green Hairstreak

22/4/2020

0 Comments

 
PictureGreen Hairstreak
High pressure and a strong NE wind once again.  A bright and sunny day.  It would be mid to late morning before the sun rose high enough to power down the track into the wood, into glades sheltered from the wind.  Brimstone butterflies and whites were on the wing.  I returned to the sunny bank seeking  the newly emerged brood of green hairstreak. And between two violets on a cushion of moss there it was, wings closed.   Once the green hairstreak has settled it scarcely moves.
It's flight is a  flicker of green and brown mingled, until it settles with closed wings and the green under-wing is revealed.

Through the photo-sequence it's probable this is the same green hairstreak.  Colours change with the way the light strikes the butterfly.  It flew from the mossy violets and came down amongst grasses.  The soft and furry body is silver-grey.  The wings are fringed with a brownish  colour that also dusts them.  There's a band of white spots on the under-wing.  Close to its body, the butterfly seems the colour of jade,,  Ochre toward the edge of the wing.  Seeing it on the mossy cushion, between violets, I began to take photographs. The butterfly was deep in vegetation and a tiny twig obscured it.  I needed a better angle so I stayed on the ground  and stretched out  closer. 
The bank descends into a fringe of woodland and as I watched the green hairstreak and a brimstone in flight I listened to chiff-chaff and willow warbler.  The contrasts between the stillness of the sunny glades and the bracing wind up on the escarpment was striking. 
In the sequence below the green hairstreak has settled in the grass and you can see the ochre colour on wings more clearly. 
Note on Green Hairstreak
'The GH has green fore and hind wings when at rest ......ie with its wings shut. [It never opens its wings at rest as the camouflage against a leaf is so important.] However in flight the green is hardly noticeable.....instead it looks brown from the inside colour of both sets of wings.
If you see one always follow it and others are often tempted to 'buzz' it in flight......they are very colonial.;
Thanks to  Chris from Cumbria Butterfly Conservation' 
'Where does this track go?' he asked.  In lock-down,  we walk from home.  Or for those who drive, the drive should not be longer than the walk.  So more folk are exploring the countryside close to home.   We are creatures of habit, seeking vistas and there are plenty to be had on Scout Scar. Today, I took a footpath below Scout Scar, below the hanging wood.  I was looking for sunlit glades with butterflies.  I found violets, a few blue bells,  and water emerging at the foot of the limestone, gathering in a pool amongst wild garlic.  It's there on the OS map,  a hair-line of blue that seemingly goes nowhere.  I could hear mallard which forage in the pastures about Barrowfield Farm, with lambs and pheasants. 
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    Jan Wiltshire is a nature writer living in Cumbria. She also explores islands and coast and the wildlife experience. (See Home and My Books.)

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    November 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    April 2010
    January 2010
    November 2009
    January 2009
    January 2004

    Categories

    All
    A Local Patch
    Birdlife
    Butterflies And Moths
    Flowers
    Locations
    Views
    Walks
    Weather
    WIldlife

    RSS Feed

Website
Home
Blog
Gallery
Contact



​Cookie Policy
My Books
  • Intro - My books
  • ​Cumbrian Contrasts
  • A Lakeland Experience
  • About Scout Scar
  • Atlantic Odyssey
    ​
Other Writing
  • Intro - Other Writing
  • What Larks!
  • Further - Explore Shetland
  • Autumn Migration
  • Rydal and Nab Scar
  • Perspectives
  • The River Kent
  • Wings
Jan Wiltshire - Cumbria Naturally
© Jan Wiltshire 2019 All rights reserved
Website by Treble3