Ravensroost Heatwave

25 June - Flaming June, already 27 degrees by 10am. An early arrival before the butterflies became to active to settle at all. Quite a few pristine White Admirals seen, together with Silver-washed Fritillaries...….. a White-letter Hairstreak seen briefly before it flew up towards the treetops, and several Purple Hairstreaks settled including one at eye level. Lots of Marbled Whites in the meadow.

Norfolk Hawker, at last ..............

15 June - At last, time and weather came together. I had discovered that there is an established population of Norfolk (Green-eyed) Hawkers much nearer than East Anglia, at Paxton Pits between Bedford and Cambridge. The forecast was warm morning sunshine, and possible showers in the afternoon. Shortly after arrival, fairly early, I fortunately bumped into the local dragonfly guru, Peter Wood, and he took me off the beaten track to show me the area where the Hawkers were perching, enjoying the heat of the morning rays. I had already seen a couple flying, and there were several around a small area of overgrown vegetation, giving close perched views. A fairly small Hawker, with buff-brown body and obvious large green eyes. An excellent addition to my dragonfly list, Scarce Chaser and Four-spotted Chaser also being seen.

Brown Hairstreaks........

2 Aug - my annual visit to Shipton Bellinger, and Brown Hairstreaks surprisingly elusive, but several seen around the “master” Ash tree. Surprisingly, none in the large hedge which is normally a reliable site for close up views. Also seen - several Holly Blues, Red Admiral and Peacock as well as Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns.

Garden Butterflies .............

28 July - A garden Holly Blue today, also recently a Painted Lady, the sole representative of the current influx that I have logged so far.......

Hairstreaks and Skippers......

31 July - Brown Hairstreaks and Silver-spotted Skippers that is...... firstly, good views of male Hairstreaks at Shipton Bellinger, in warm sunny spells, always an exciting butterfly to see...... then on to Aston Rowant and a lot of one of my real favourites, Silver-spotted Skippers on the wing, easier to photograph with some cloud cover as they buzzed around rapidly as soon as the sun reappeared. They have so much character!. Also lots of Chalkhill Blues on the wing.

Ravensroost

13 Jul - a fine warm summer day during the current heatwave, and a most productive morning walk at Ravensroost - no less than 18 species seen, including the Ravensroost specials Silver-washed Fritillary and White Admiral but also the highlight, a White-letter Hairstreak at eye level- my best ever sighting of this species, I've only seen them flitting around the treetops previously. Also Purple Hairstreaks near the car park.

Lower Moor Dragonflies

21 May - A productive couple of hours at Lower Moor in CWP. I'm aware that this is a good site for Downy Emerald, and I saw at least 8, quite active in the warm sun - but I'd read recently that Hairy Dragonfly can also be seen here,

and I saw a male hawking actively and not settling - my first of these quite scarce dragonflies that I've seen in the Water Park.