Black Hairstreak - Favourite Photo of 2015

[Wurzel]

Black Hairstreak - Favourite Photo of 2015

Starting this week the first opportunity to showcase your favourite shots of 2015! Please could I ask that everyone waits until a topic has been opened by me for a particular species before posting photos? Of course our overseas members are very welcome to fill in the obvious gaps relating to rare UK migrants. As like last year details of locations, dates, times and circumstances would be welcome as would any accompanying stories and anecdotes or other observations of behaviour and interesting other points.

Here we got then!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Padfield]

Like many in the UK, I make a pilgrimage every year to see these beautiful and rather local butterflies. Whoever named them was mad. Far from being black, their wings are laced with fine gold:


(Geneva, May 30th)

I don't usually get much choice of pose or composition. Only a few - usually females - come low enough for a picture. More often, I stand and watch the males playing higher up in the blackthorn or other trees.

Guy

[David M]

I know how you feel, Guy!

I made a visit to the M40 compensation area at the back end of Bernwood Forest on 23rd June and managed to see a double figure numbers, but as you say, most were wedded to the upper reaches of the shrubs, making photography difficult.

The best image of a male was this:

One female DID get down to about 8 feet:

Sadly, my one close encounter was with a damaged specimen, although she did alight on a flower, which is something I've not witnessed before with this species:

[Pete Eeles]

Sadly, my one close encounter was with a damaged specimen

I'd be extremely happy with that, David: one of the best examples of a bird strike I've seen Seriously - some people only photograph pristine specimens and miss out on an awful lot as a result!

Cheers,

- Pete

[millerd]

A trip To Whitecross Green Wood on 19th June found me this splendid little butterfly. As with David's above the clearest photo I managed was of one with damage to its wings - those tails really do work!

Another peeped coyly from behind a leaf...

However, the one I remember best was completely accidental - a blur of wings on takeoff, but a glimpse of the upperside.

Dave

[celery]

Tip-toeing among the twiglets at Glapthorn Cow Pastures in June.

Black Hairstreak (Satyrium pruni) - Glapthorn Cow Pastures, Northants. - 27th June, 2015

[Neil Freeman]

Despite living in the midlands, I had never yet seen a Black Hairstreak and so this year I had resolved to make the effort. With this in mind I had booked a couple of days off work and my first attempt was a visit to Bernwood on 16th June where saw my first ever example by the blackthorn stands in the Meadows and managed to get a long distance record shot. I then walked through to the M40 compensation area where I got some good views of a few individuals high up.

The following week I had my second day off and had another go, this time to Whitecross Green Wood. This time the weather was a bit more favourable and I had some good views of a number of individuals, mostly around the pond area. The shot below is a crop of a fairly long distance shot which was the best that I managed at this spot.

Black Hairstreak - Whitecross Green 24.06.2015

I wasn't until I wandered down a side track however that I got some close up views and managed to get some closer photos.

Black Hairstreak - Whitecross Green 24.06.2015

Black Hairstreak - Whitecross Green 24.06.2015

Cheers,

Neil.

[David M]

Love the last image, Neil. Beautiful specimen.