Green 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.
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.
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'
'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.
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