Hairstreaks

I spent the afternoon on the moor, mainly looking for and recording Green Hairstreaks. It was mostly a warm and sunny day, but still quite a strong breeze. I didn’t manage to get around everywhere, but I found 40+ including this pair. There were a few in spots where I haven’t previously seen them.

I tried out the new “timed count” feature on the iRecord Butterflies app - it seemed relatively easy to use, but I’m not convinced that my data will be considered clean enough given my somewhat erratic wandering from bilberry patch to bilberry patch. 

Bird sightings included Kestrel, Lapwing, Curlew and Wheatear, but no sound of Stonechats. 

While I was out, three emergency response units tore across the moor road towards Bingley with sirens blaring and a police helicopter was hovering over in that direction for a couple of hours. There has been a passing mention in the local media about an incident near Five Rise Locks - I hope it all got resolved as best as they could be.