Hanging about

This isn't my best photo of the day - that would be one of the shots I took of a very obliging young male Common Darter. And it isn't my best find of the day either - that would be a couple of Aspen Leaf-rolling Weevils that I came upon by chance, not knowing that they were present in this woodland as well as in Trench Wood, down the road. But when you go to Grafton Wood with no thought at all of photographing the Brown Hairstreaks everyone else is doing the four-field trek to capture, and then you're gifted an absolutely fresh and pristine female, it would be rude not to take the shot, and ridiculous not to post it.

I'm actually indebted to the photographer who didn't get the Purple Hairstreak in Trench Wood last month for this sighting. It was sunny when I arrived at Grafton around lunchtime and skated through the mire to reach the pond, but almost at once the sky closed in and the wind got up, and it seemed quite likely that I wouldn't be taking photos of anything this afternoon. Then my Hairstreak acquaintance arrived with another photographer I hadn't met before, and the three of us wound up huddling under an oak tree, commiserating over the weather and swapping photographers' tales to pass the time, as we waited out a sudden rain shower. 

Almost as soon as the rain stopped the sun emerged again, and while two of us stayed by the pond chatting, Mr Hairstreak walked along the ride to check the blackthorn bushes that line it. Almost immediately he called that he'd found a Brown Hairstreak, and we scuttled over to take advantage of his spotting skills before the butterfly could leave, which she did just a few seconds later. Shortly afterwards we went our separate ways, and I don't know if the other two found any more Brown Hairstreaks in better positions for photography, but I didn't, so I'm glad to have taken this.

Having been able to photograph some nice insects, my only real disappointment of the day was that I still didn't manage to find a Willow Emerald damselfly. This species as starting to feel like my nemesis for this year, and with the season now cantering towards its close, I'm going to have to put some serious effort into finding one if I'm to get it on my 2023 list.