Brampton Woods - 11th July 2011

I called in at Brampton Woods with the hope of catching one of the UK's rarest butterflies the Black Hairstreak. There are 5 known sites in the woods where they can be seen but its at the end of their short flying season so hopes weren't high. The weather didn't help either, it was warm but cloudy with a slight wind not ideal conditions so I wasn't disapointed when I didn't see one maybe next year.

                                Ringlet

 There are plenty of other species to be seen with Ringlet being the main one flying low in the long grass and flowers rarely landing. The bottom photograph shows a very worn specmen which amazingly was still able to fly.

                               Essex Skipper

There were 3 species of Skipper, Essex Large and Small. They can be distinguished by their antenae with the Essex having a black tip and the Small having an orange tip.

                                Large Skipper 

                                Small Skipper                              

Only one Brown Argus could be found on my visit and no other small blues seemed to be present but this may be due to the weather.

 



Other species included Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood and Green-veined White also reported at the site are White and and Purple Hairstreak.

                                Gatekeeper

                                Green-veined White

                                Meadow Brown

                                Red Admiral

                                Speckled Wood