Butterfly Road Trip

 Phil Rogers, Alan Shorrock and I took a cross border trip into the wilds of Oxfordshire in search of interesting butterflies. August is traditionally quieter than July for butterflies but there are a couple of late bloomers and second brooders that can make it a very interesting month indeed. While the weather was often somewhat marginal there was just enough of the good stuff to make for a decent day.

Brown Hairstreaks

We began our day at Otmoor where our arrival coincided with a fairly sharp rain shower. Eventually the rain passed and we could begin our search for Brown Hairstreaks in earnest. It was a little slow to get going but after a while Shozzer found a faded looking individual nectaring on a thistle. Happily for us it posed for pictures before fluttering off into a nearby Blackthorn. This same shrub played host to at least one other Brown Hairstreak though this one looked rather faded as well. A short distance away a third but much brighter individual was noted and this one was a beauty! Having taken plenty of pics we began to retrace our steps to the car park. Other wildlife on offer included a Raven, a trio of hawkers - Brown, Southern and Migrant, both darters and a selection of the commoner butterflies.

Chalkhill Blue and Brown Argus

After a very good pub lunch we made our way to Aston Rowant on the Oxfordshire/Buckinghamshire border in search of Silver-spotted Skippers. Conditions here were challenging as a stiff breeze was blowing across the site and there was also some pretty thick clouds obscuring the sun. First to pique the interest was a Chalkhill Blue, we were to see ten plus on our walk around. Lots of Brown Argus were joined by several Common Blues but many butterflies were probably sheltering from the wind. In a more sheltered part of the site a gorgeous looking male Adonis Blue was found and photographed. I was beginning to think that the skippers might elude us, other lepers had told us that numbers were still low. All thoughts of dipping however were thankfully pushed aside when one was found hunkering down in some grass. Satisfied with the day's haul we set off back to the car and made our way home.

Adonis Blue and Silver-spotted Skipper