Winning Streaks

 A hot and sometimes sunny day saw Alan Shorrock and I visiting a range of local sites in search of insects. We began at Oakley Meadow nature reserve before heading across the road to the Old Kettering Road on the edge of the Oakley Vale housing development.

Small Copper and Black Hairstreak

The meadow was alive with butterflies with Meadow Browns in particular being very common. Joining them were lesser numbers of Ringlets and Marbled Whites and there were several hyper active small skippers buzzing around but I couldn't I.D them with certainty. On the edges of the meadow there were plenty of elms and blackthorn and we spent some time searching for hairstreaks. Initially our efforts met with no success but sightings of seven or eight Small Coppers made up for that, I haven't seen this number of coppers at one site for many years. Both Large and Small White were noted before we finally found a single Black Hairstreak which was my first at this location. A short walk took us to the Old Kettering Road where at least three White-lettered Hairstreaks provided the highlight as they fluttered around a small patch of elms not too far from the entrance. They were very active in the sunshine and it took quite a time before either of us could grab a record shot but once we had achieved that it was time to head off for Barford Meadows.

White-lettered Hairstreak

By the time that we had reached the meadow the sun had gone in though it remained warm. A Marbled White and a few Large Skippers were seen near the car park and there were quite a few Meadow Browns flitting about too. Another species doing well was Six-spotted Burnet with many noted nectaring on knapweed. Along the River Ise we caught up once again with Beautiful Demoiselles, at least twenty were noted including one teneral male. In the same area I saw a few Banded Demoiselles and also a Large Red Damselfly. Anxious to stay hydrated we then headed towards the Star in Geddington where a cold pint restored me to something approaching normality.

Six-spotted Burnet and teneral Beautiful Demoiselle.

Final stop of the day was at Harry's Park Wood though we arrived during a shower and things did not look too promising. Eventually the rain moved on and the clouds parted treating us to some early evening sunshine. Butterflies responded to this improvement and I got flight views of both Purple Emperor and White Admiral. Other species included Comma and Red Admiral along with Ringlets, Meadow Browns and Large Skippers while whites were represented by Large, Green-veined and Small.  It was getting a bit late by now and we decided to call it quits, if the weather is favourable tomorrow I may well return.

Small and G-v Whites on a horse Donald Trump