London sighting

[bugboy]

I was wondering whether there have been any known recent sightings in the London area. The reason is because a female settled near me in late August in North east London and from everything I have read they no longer occur here. I had my camera with me at the time but was initially too dumbstruck to get a pic and as I did try and focus on her she flew up to bask out of reach of my macro lense. I waited in the hope she would come down but instead she flew further into the hedge and proceeded to behave in a very charateristic 'I'm looking for a nice place to lay my eggs' manner, decending down out of sight into the blackthorn. I shall be going on a egg hunt later when all the leaves have dropped, hopefully she was successful in her search.

[peterc]

Welcome to the forum bugboy.

The Herts & Middx branch Brown Hairstreak coordinator would be interested to hear of your sighting in NE London so if you want to get in touch with him let me know. Also you might get some help with egg-hunting

Peter

[bugboy]

My area (Waltham Forest) is covered by the Cambs & Essex branch of which I am a member (I joined last month). I have emailed them but not recieved a reply as yet.

[peterc]

Very interesting nevertheless as it would appear that the site of your sighting, Waltham Forest, is beyond the butterfly's range in the UK.

Good luck with the egg-hunt.

Peter

[bugboy]

I shall add more information to this thread about this sighting as it happens. I was also planning on searching for a master tree next summer (yes I know the chances of finding one are quite low) but how far from master trees do the females wander when egg laying? The site of the sighting is about a 30/40 minute walk from the southern tip of Epping Forest.

[bugboy]

Well it would seem that the cambs&Essex branch did respond but the email never arrived in my inbox. Recieved an email from ther Brown Hairsteak coordinator from his personal address this morning to which I replied so now just waiting to see if that message gets through. If any of the relevant people are reading this maybe it's easier to discuss via pm on here until we can work out whats going on with external emails?

[Malcolm hull]

Brown Hairstreak is not usually considered to be resident in this area. Each year I receive a few reported sightings from Herts and Middx branch area. These are followed up with site visits in the flight season and winter egg hunts. However there have been no positive identification of the species in the two counties or areas close to the border during the period of20 years I have been the Herts and Middx Butterfly Conservation species recorder. Although this sighting appears to be in Essex, the Middlesex count border runs along the western edge of the reserve. I have received no previous reports from this area.
Most sightings are either of butterflies in flight or high up in trees where recorders only get limited glimpses. Subsequent investigations usually reveal the presence of Vapourer moth, Small Copper, Gatekeeper, or faded Purple Hairstreak, which can easily be misidentified. The clear description in this report appears to eliminate misidentification
Brown Hairstreak was recorded historically in Herts. The last confirmed record was an egg seen near Watford in 1996, although this may well have resulted from an unauthorised release.
There are large areas of seemingly suitable habitat within the green belt areas around the urban fringe north of London. Climate warming in recent years has seen the return of several butterfly species previously considered locally extinct and the return of Brown Hairstreak to Herts or Middx has long been anticipated. In recent years the species has spread into suburban south London, with several sites identified in the London boroughs of Sutton, Croydon and Kingston. So natural recolonisation is possible. I have also received a report of an unauthorised release of Brown Hairstreak in Epping Forest in 2013. So it is possible that this individual is the result of breeding following a release, or it may have been released itself.
The timing of the report in late August ties in with the time females would be egg laying naturally. The butterfly is reportedly quite mobile with females capable of flying 10km. In practice all new sites recorded in the two main inhabited areas in Surrey and Oxford/Bucks tend to be within 1-3 km of previous records.
An egg hunt this winter would be a good way to check for the presence of the species on this site

[bugboy]

I've been in contact with Rob Smith from the Cambs & Essex branch and we plan to go on an egg hunt after the festive season. If there is anyone else in the area that wants to join us in the last week of December (date to be finalised) let us know. It will either be 27th, 28th or 31st.

[bugboy]

Some pics of the area where I saw the Hairstreak, as you can see there is no cutting back being done. The hedge is mostly Blackthorn with a few Hawthorn and patches of Dogwood, Wild Rose and Bramble, all pretty standard fare for an English hedgrow.

[Neil Hulme]

That looks to be ideal habitat. Good luck with the egg search!
BWs, Neil

[bugboy]

Well today a small group of butterfly enthusiasts spent an hour and half in a cold, damp late December day searching for Brown Hairstreak eggs. 6 of us in total so quite a good turnout. It was good to meet some fellow butterflyers (if thats not a word I'm trademarking it) and despite the search being unsuccessful the general consensus of opinion was that the site is pretty much perfect so that at least bodes well.

Come late July next year I shall be keeping a very close eye on the site and if I see any, I shant forget to take a picture this time!

[peterc]

I was wondering how you might have got on with the BH egg-hunt. Sorry to hear that the search was unsuccessful - similar happened on the egg-hunts in the last two winters at Norton Green near Stevenage.

Better luck next year, hopefully with a photo.

Peter

[bugboy]

Although no hairsteak eggs were found I did find two eggs which looked rather moth like. Rob Smith from the Essex & Cambs branch thought they might be Blue Bordered Carpet eggs and took a few pics to see if an Id could be confirmed. I went back today and took some myself, the weather being much nicer today than yesterday, and after a little research via google they do seem to look like Blue Bordered Carpet eggs. Here's the best of my pics.

[Neil Hulme]

Hi bugboy,
Yes, you're definitely correct with the ID. We see quite a few Blue-bordered Carpet eggs while searching for Brown Hairstreak in Sussex. Their smooth, slightly elongate appearance and the fact that they are laid side-by-side (invariably in pairs) are characteristic of this species.
BWs, Neil

[bugboy]

Hi bugboy,
Yes, you're definitely correct with the ID. We see quite a few Blue-bordered Carpet eggs while searching for Brown Hairstreak in Sussex. Their smooth, slightly elongate appearance and the fact that they are laid side-by-side (invariably in pairs) are characteristic of this species.
BWs, Neil

Thanks Neil