A second trip out today with a friend to Bedford Purlieus where we hoped to catch up with some White-letter Hairstreaks. First find was a White Admiral which settled down long enough for a picture. These really are a beautiful and understated species without any of the disgusting habitats of Purple Emperors but often seem overlooked in the presence of their bigger cousins.
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| White Admiral |
Silver-washed Frits are common in this wood and we saw many and most of these seemed more than happy to pose. Big butts like these make tempting targets for birds and many showed signs of close scrapes with bits of wing missing. Once again the males showed a clear preference for bramble while the females could be found on knapweed and Marjoram.
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| Female Silver-washed that's survived a close shave. |
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| White-lettered Hairstreak |
Marjoram was also the favourite source of nectar for the Hairstreaks and we saw about eight in total. They seem far less flighty than their Purple relatives and I got some good shots. Another species that is always welcome was a Small Copper which also had a taste for Marjoram and was equally obliging.
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| Small Copper. |
An open area on the edge of the wood had good numbers of Marbled Whites but the star was a new brood Brown Argus, it seems as if the next phase of the Summer is about to begin.
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| Brown Argus. |
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