A bridge camera for troubled authors

Back in August 2019, before our last trip abroad (a wildlife and yoga holiday organised and run by friends), I bought a bridge camera. Much lighter in the luggage and easier to handle when trekking about in the Greek heat.

Well, that was the plan. In the end, I couldn’t bear not having a decent camera and lens for all the birds – Eleanora’s Falcon, Bee-eater, Sardinian Warbler, Blue Rock Thrush, Red-rumped Swallow, Lesser Kestrel, Honey Buzzard, Black Stork, and many others. So, I took my old Canon 6D and the Sigma 150-600mm. I wouldn’t have realistically got the shots I did even with the so-called 60x zoom of the bridge camera I’d bought – Panasonic Lumix DC-FZ82. That 60x zoom means it goes from the 35mm-frame equivalent of a very wide 20mm to a superzoom of 1200mm, on its tiny sensor. The purchase was at the time a mistake; the camera has languished in a cupboard unused and unloved ever since to my chagrin.

However, something changed in the air this summer and I thought I’d dig out the camera again to do some experiments. What had changed? Well, the wind picked up and the overnight temperatures dropped meaning that moth diversity and numbers in the garden have plummeted in the last few days . So, apart from a couple of micros, I’ve not really had any new species to photograph in my macro studio with dSLR setup (Canon 7Dii and Tamron 90mm 1:1 macro lens). The most exciting moths in the trap* last night were a couple of Box-tree moths, the very familiar grass veneers, a solitary Scalloped Oak, and just one Large Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing (LBBYU).

I thought I’d dig out the Lumix and see how it fared with macro photography on these two specimens. Obviously, I have half-decent photos of both of those with my dSLR macro kit from previous seasons. The macro mode on the Lumix is pretty good, it lets you get to within 10mm or so of the subject. Obviously, that was too close to get the whole of the Scalloped Oak, perched on a matching chunk of wood, in the frame. But, I took a few shots anyway. They were okay. The quality of the basic single-frame shots doesn’t really match my dSLR setup but the focus stacking feature is handy and I gave that a try with the Scalloped Oak. To be honest, it works, but the image quality isn’t as good as the macro function on my phone.

Focus stacked image of Scalloped Oak moth
Focus stacked image of Scalloped Oak moth using Lumix
Scalloped Oak moth using Samsung A52s phone camera
Scalloped Oak moth using Samsung A52s

I then turned to another perhaps more useful feature I’d remembered on the Lumix – recording a 4K snippet of video from which you can then pick the best single frame and save it as a 4K photo. Now, this is something that’s not available with old dSLRs like my Canon 7Dii or the older 6D.

In order to test this feature and see if I could get a decent shot of the LBBYU’s yellow-marked rear wings, I released the moth from its and let it fly up against my studio window. I’d set the camera EV to somewhere between +2 and +3 above neutral exposure to compensate for the bright background and then recorded a few of those 4K video snippets as the moth flapped vigourously around the window. Unfortunately, they’re just blurry and noisy and not worth showing. I have in the past got better shots using burst mode with a dSLR and using the same EV over-exposure trick.

I think I will take the camera on our next trip abroad as the scenic shots are pretty good and much better than what I get with my phone.

*Skinner trap with Welmite 20W ultraviolet compact fluorescent tube.

A micro moth, relatively new to science

The rate at which I’m seeing new moth species in the garden has been somewhat slow this year. Obviously, in my first couple of years mothing, I saw dozens and dozens I’d never seen before. In fact, most of the moths I saw early on were all new to me. I think the garden list got to about 350 species after the first three years. In subsequent, years, I’d see double figures of new moths, at least 127 NFM in 2018, 125+ NFM in 2019, and so on. 2022 was a good year, 64 NFM with the last new one of the year being at the end of October, December Moth!

Anarsia innoxiella
Anarsia innoxiella (Gregersen & Karsholt, 2017)

So far in 2023, I’ve seen 22 new species.

Interestingly, as I fill in my records and add photos of the moths to my galleries on Imaging Storm, I also note as part of the scientific name, the scientists who gave the species its official name. Most of these were done in the 18th and 19th centuries by Linnaeus, Hufnagel, Denis & Schiffermüller, Scopoli, Forster, and others. But, a new moth for me this morning was Anarsia innoxiella. This tiny micro moth was new to science in 2017, according to the UK Moths site. The species is, the site says, well-established but only in local spots in Southern England.

According to the site, “it is thought that most specimens of previously identified A. lineatella that have been light-trapped are likely to be innoxiella.” The site adds, “The long black streak in the centre of the forewing is said to be diagnostic of innoxiella, supported by the more contrasting pattern overall. A. lineatella has a less-contrasting, duller pattern and the central black streak is shorter and more elliptical.”

Stiffkey Spoonies and Trimingham Bee-eaters

We took our first camping trip to Stiffkey for several years. Torrential rain and wind during the first night, but better, brighter, hotter days to follow, mostly. Mrs Sciencebase had spotted Spoonbills at North Fen Stiffkey on Tuesday night before the rain, so we headed that way the next morning and discovered a flock of around 16 or 17. Grey day so not bright bird photos. There were also Cormorant and Avocet on the same patch.

Spoonbill in flight
Spoonbill in flight

The next day’s walk took us to Wells-next-Sea where there was another flock of 14 or so on land before you get to the sailing club etc.

Spoonbill in flight, showing breeding plumage
Spoonbill in flight, showing breeding plumage

In between those two sightings, however, we had headed for the quarry at Trimingham further along the North Norfolk coast to see the nesting Bee-eaters. There are three there this year (there were eight last year, but not nesting success, as far as I know). One of this year’s three is apparently one of the same birds, a male, that was at this site in 2022.

Bee-eaters
Bee-eaters
Flying European Bee-eater
European Bee-eater in flight
Bee-eater departing the threesome's burrow at Trimingham
Bee-eater departing the threesome’s burrow at Trimingham
One of The Trimingham Three Bee-eaters heading for their burrow
One of The Trimingham Three Bee-eaters heading for their burrow
Bee-eater
Bee-eater

Meanwhile, it’s always worth checking the utility blocks on a campsite for moths and I was pleased to see two species there that I’d not recorded before – Beautiful China-mark and Marbled Brown. Also, lots of Garden Grass-veneer, a Riband Wave, a Common Yellow Conch, and various other micros.

Beautiful China-mark washing-up block, High Sand Creek, Stiffkey
Beautiful China-mark

Interesting to learn that the campsite manager has also been turned to the mothside and was interested to know what I’d spotted and to show me some of her utility-block snaps. Apparently, one camping guest brings a trap and was hoping to snap up some rarities off the tidal marsh.

Marbled Brown moth roosting in campsite toilet block
Marbled Brown

Last camping night, we also noticed an ironically uncommon sight, a Common Gull. It was hunting for crumbs and scraps with a solitary Pied Wagtail, numerous Wood Pigeon, and several Jackdaw.

With plans to visit Holt Country Park on the way home to potentially see Silver-washed Fritillary, White Admiral and perhaps Purple Emperor, it was a surprise to catch sight of a White Admiral flying low across the campsite as we decamped. We saw lots of SWFs and five or six White Admiral at the Country Park, but no Emperors, sadly.

White Admiral butterfly high up in a tree at Holt CountryPark
White Admiral

Boosting a shady Scarlet Tiger moth

I visited Chippenham Fen NNR. Hoping to see Purple Emperor and seeing a solitary White Admiral instead. Also saw the nationally rare, fenland Silver-barred moth, and lots of Scarlet Tiger moths. It was a grey day by the time I got a snap of a Scarlet Tiger nectaring (one of the only moths of this group in the UK that can feed as an adult). Of course, being a grey day, the light levels were low below a bank of trees with the favoured thistles.

High ISO (2500) photo processed with DxO PureRaw3 removes noise to equivalent of ISO 320
DxO PureRaw3 can save you three full ISO stops of noise

As you can see from the left-hand portion of this photo, there was a lot of noise in the image. I used DxO PureRaw 3 (right-hand portion processed with the DeepPrimeXD AI setting) to cut the noise and do a little bit of sharpening to the image and then PaintShop Pro to adjust levels in this split-screen shot.

The photo was taken from about 3 metres away, closest I can get with that my big zoom lens, a Sigma OS 150-600mm lens fully extended on a Canon 7D mark ii. And, cropped from a pixel-width of 5472 to just the moth and some of the thistle, which gave me a 1590-pixel wide image, fine for the web and social media.

Camera settings used were shutterspeed 1/800s, f/6.3, and ISO 2500. I reckon PureRaw3 saves you about three full stops of ISO. So, the cleanup of this photo at ISO 2500 is giving you an image equivalent to what I would have got if I’d been able to get a correct exposure at ISO 320.

However, I felt that although the DxO AI software had done an incredible job on removing noise, as it always does, the photo could do with a different type of additional sharpening. So, I fed the original output from DxO into Topaz SharpenAI and then did my usual PaintShopPro tweaks on the saved filed from that software to get what I think is an even better final photo.

Topaz, DxO, PSP processed Scarlet Tiger
This Scarlet Tiger scrubbed up quite well with some RAW processing

Chippenham Fen National Nature Reserve

Having spent Saturday morning with the Coton Orchard mothing team, I missed out on a Butterfly Conservation mothing and butterflying event at Chippenham Fen NNR, which overlapped. So, I headed up to the Fen on the Sunday morning.

I spent a couple of hours there after a horrendous number of detours to find the place. Once on the site, I spotted lots of very flitty and active Ringlet butterflies, numerous Skippers, and a single White Admiral high overhead. Unfortunately, didn’t see any Purple Emperor butterflies, which had been my primary target.

I hadn’t realised that this Fen is a site for Scarlet Tiger moth of which there were lots. Also spotted the fairly common Yellow Shell moth, a couple of un-ID micros, and I did catch a very fleeting glimpse of the Fen’s signature Lepidopteral species, the incredibly rare and fenland-only Silver-barred moth, which was one of the mothing targets for the group there yesterday.

And another nice sighting – juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker (red underparts and size separate it from the much rarer Lesser Spotted).

Mothing at Coton Orchard

I helped out at my first public moth event and bioblitz on 1st July at the wonderfully serene Coton Orchard, a couple of clicks west of central Cambridge.

It’s a mature and well-established early twentieth century orchard with great soil and a lot of biodiversity, Anna Gazeley told me at the event. Plenty of wild blackthorn growing on patches that no longer host apple trees and several areas of rewilding and meadow creation underway. There were dozens of Marbled White, Small Skipper, Meadow Brown, and Small Heath butterflies enjoying the meadows while Buzzards circled the thermals overhead.

Marbled White butterfly
Marbled White butterfly

Coton Orchard is, unfortunately threatened by what can only be described as a wholly inappropriate, costly, and ten-years out-of-date transport-infrastructure project for Cambridge. All in the name of sustaining Cambridge’s purported 15-minute city ethos. It looks like a very misguided busway idea to me and many others, despite what the developers and some members of the council claim. Indeed, the 2020 biological survey of the site suggests that the development would have a very detrimental effect on the ecosystem and the wildlife. Purported offsetting of the harm by planting new trees elsewhere does not and never can compensate for destroying established systems. It’s greenwashing at its worst.

Privet Hawk-moth on privet stem
Privet Hawk-moth on privet stem

Anyway, there was a good crowd of people of all ages who turned up quite early on a Saturday morning to see the grand unveiling of the moth traps. There were a lot of species, Privet Hawk-moth, Elephant Hawk-moth, Lunar-spotted Pinion, Dark Umber, Heart & Dart, Heart & Club, Dark Umber, Marbled Orchard Tortrix, Small Emerald, Silver Y, Bordered Straw, lots of micros, and many, many more from three actinic and one mercury vapour bulb trap. Those big moths delighted young and old alike!

Mothing at Coton Orchard
Mothing at Coton Orchard

I, and the proper moth experts there (Adrian Matthews, Ben Greig, Jim Cox, Lois Clarke, and others), talked to members of the public who were curious about various aspects of the moths, especially the names of different species.

Elephant Hawk-moth closeup
Elephant Hawk-moth closeup

I kept an eye on what was being revealed in each trap and was quite surprised, but encouraged, to see that I recognised a lot of the species from my own garden mothing over the last five years. There were dozens of species and hundreds of moths all enjoying their life in and around the orchard, I’m sure. Some were more rare than others, like Small Emerald and Dark Umber, and there may well be rarities at the orchard too that didn’t find the traps but were among the trees and in the undergrowth. Of course, there were lots of Apple Ermine moths. The team there is hoping and waiting to see the super-rare Black Hairstreak butterfly on the wild blackthorn on this site.

Sexton "Burying" Beetle
Sexton “Burying” Beetle

Also, there was entomologist Claire Wallace who pointed out that she could see that a sample had been taken for genetic testing from one of the beetles (a Sexton Beetle) found in one of the traps.


Five years of mothing

UPDATE: I helped out at a public moth event and bioblitz this morning at the wonderfully serene Coton Orchard, 2-3km west of central Cambridge. It’s a century-old orchard with great soil and a lot of biodiversity, Anna Gazeley told me at the event. It is, unfortunately threatened by what can only be described as a wholly inappropriate, costly, and ten-years out-of-date transport-infrastructure project for Cambridge. All in the name of sustaining Cambridge’s purported 15-minute city ethos.

Privet Hawk-moth on privet stem
Privet Hawk-moth on privet stem

Anyway, there was a good crowd of people of all ages who turned up quite early on a Saturday morning to see the grand unveiling of the moth traps. There were a lot of species, Privet Hawk-moth, Elephant Hawk-moth, Lunar-spotted Pinion, Dark Umber, Heart & Dart, Heart & Club, Dark Umber, Marbled Orchard Tortrix, Small Emerald, Silver Y, Bordered Straw, lots of micros, and many, many more from three actinic and one mercury vapour bulb trap.

Mothing at Coton Orchard
Mothing at Coton Orchard

I, and the proper moth experts there (Adrian Matthews, Ben Greig, Jim Cox, Lois Clarke, and others), talked to members of the public who were curious about various aspects of the moths, especially the names of different species.

Elephant Hawk-moth closeup
Elephant Hawk-moth closeup

I kept an eye on what was being revealed in each trap and was quite surprised, but encouraged, to see that I recognised a lot of the species from my own garden mothing over the last five years. There were dozens of species and hundreds of moths all enjoying their life in and around the orchard, I’m sure. Some were more rare than others, like Small Emerald and Dark Umber, and there may well be rarities at the orchard too that didn’t find the traps but were among the trees and in the undergrowth. Of course, there were lots of Apple Ermine moths. The team there is hoping and waiting to see the super-rare Black Hairstreak butterfly on the wild blackthorn on this site.

Sexton "Burying" Beetle
Sexton “Burying” Beetle

Also, there was bee expert Claire Wallace who pointed out that a sample had been taken for genetic testing from one of the beetles (a Sexton Beetle) found in one of the traps.


If you’ve been visiting Sciencebase for a while, you will know that in July 2018, I acquired a moth trap, became quickly fixated on this other world of nocturnal Lepidoptera, and have logged and photographed the species that turn up in my garden and that I see elsewhere ever since. Almost fanatically, Mrs Sciencebase would say…

Pine Hawk-moth
Pine Hawk-moth

I did an audit of my logs at the end of June ahead of my five-year anniversary as a moth-er on 24th July. So, I’m writing this post on the 30th June and will update as July gets underway.

At the time of writing, I have recorded 448 moths in my South Cambridgeshire garden, mainly drawn to a 40W actinic light over the years, but occasionally and regularly for a month or so to a (cheaper-to-run) 20W Wemlite, an even-cheaper-to-run LepiLED, or to various pheromone lures. There has been the occasional moth that turned up without my having done anything, The Vapourer and the Lilac Beauty, for instance. The former on our bedroom window one afternoon (spotted by Mrs Sciencebase), the latter perched at the front door (spotted by me).

December Moth
December Moth

I have also recorded 34 species elsewhere, either random sightings on nature reserves, in woodlands, or in holiday house gardens. I have also photographed 38 species of British butterfly (butterflies are moths) and ten species outside the UK. So, in total, well over 500 species of Lepidoptera.

It’s the garden moth list that I focus on, however, I was hoping to reach 500 species of moth in the garden for my fifth anniversary, that seems unlikely unless there’s a big change in conditions and wind and weather in the next three weeks that brings some newbies in.

Convolvulus Hawk-moth
Convolvulus Hawk-moth

In my first year (2018), I saw approximately 127 species new to me. I had obviously seen a few moths in my life before that. In 2019, the NFM list was 125, in 2020, when we had a run of very warm days and cold March nights, I only ticked 30 new species in the garden. For 2021, that number was 38. Things picked up considerably in 2022 and despite that fact that I was basically seeing mostly the same moths year after year, I recorded more diligently the micro moths and the macros too and had 64 new species, with Convolvulus Hawk-moth (attracted to my Nicotiana flowers) and the wonderful December Moth (also in late September) being the highlights of that season.

Mother Shipton on Devil's Dyke
Mother Shipton on Devil’s Dyke

At the time of writing, I’ve recorded 19 new species in the garden and one elsewhere, Brindled Twist, which was in the local Les King Wood sitting next to a fairly rare Pyramidal Orchid.

Hummingbird Hawk-moth
Hummingbird Hawk-moth

So, as of 30th June, 482 (non-butterfly) moths and just 34 of those not in the garden. Incidentally, I have ticked only one new butterfly species so far this year, Dingy Skipper at Devil’s Dyke. In the previous two years, I’ve seen 6 new species each year. I am hoping to add one or two more to that short list in 2023, but it may not happen.

(Almost) 500 moths in five years

As I approach my fifth anniversary as a mother, my tally shows that I have recorded and photographed almost 500 species. The most recent was new to my garden – The Leopard Moth, Zeuzera pyrina.

Leopard Moth. Its forewings with flapping very rapidly, but flash and a fast shutter froze teh action
Leopard Moth. Its forewings with flapping very rapidly, but flash and a fast shutter froze teh action

There are several things of interest about this moth aside from the fact that it’s fairly large and white with spots of black (almost metallic blue, in some cases). First is that the adults, the flying creatures, as opposed to the larvae (caterpillars) have no working mouth parts and so cannot eat. There are several other species, such as the Emperor, which are in a similar predicament, as it were. They are to all intents and purposes flying sex machines and nothing else, to be frank.

Sideview of the Leopard Moth, not the structure of the antenna
Sideview of the Leopard Moth, not the structure of the antenna

A second point of interest to me, is that with a quick glance you can see that the males have feathered sensory antennae, they resemble those of the Willow Beauty males. But there is an important difference in structure. Where the Willow Beauty antennae resembles a feather along its length, the Leopard’s antennae are feathered half-way along their length and seem to end in a bare spine.

Now, the really interesting thing about the Leopard Moth, as pointed out to me by uber-mother Leonard Cooper, is its lifecycle. Once mated, the female lays clutches of eggs in damaged areas of bark in the larval foodplants (deciduous trees). The larvae hatch from the eggs and begin burrowing deeper into the wood, they tunnel out feeding galleries, eating wood (they’re xyophagous) and leaving frass (poo) in their wake. If the adults are flying sex machines, then the larvae are burrowing food machines.

Bird's eye view of a Leopard Moth, the spots presumably confuse them into imagining the moth is nothing edible
Bird’s eye view of a Leopard Moth, the spots presumably confuse them into imagining the moth is nothing edible

Once they’ve had their fill and by some conditional trigger, the larvae burrow through the wood and then pupate just under the bark. Presumably, they find a damaged patch so that once they have completed their metamorphosis within the pupal form and are ready to emerge as adults, they can spread their wings and fly off to find a mate. To do so they will use up the food reserves built up during the time they were very hungry caterpillars. In the UK, you might see adults in flight from June to July.

Oh, when I said “very hungry caterpillars, they can spend two or three years feeding in the galleries they create within the stems and branches of the tree before pupating. Now, several moths overwinter as larvae or pupa. The Leopard is not quite exceptional in that it lives so long as a larvae, perhaps up to four years rather than just 2-3 years, the Goat Moth, too spends a long period within the trees, I am sure there are others.

As to my mothing for five years, do you seriously think I am looking for a new pastime? Do Leopards ever change their spots?

Of moths and box

This is a female Box-tree Moth. They were inadvertently brought into the UK in 2007 on imported, exotic Box plants. They are spreading rapidly and I see lots in Cottenham. I don’t think they’ve got as far north as Ely yet, but it’s only a matter of time.

Female Box-tree Moths lack the male's hair pencil at the end of the abdomen
Female Box-tree Moths lack the male’s hair pencil at the end of the abdomen

The female lays her eggs on Box plants and her larvae will ravage the plant, you’ll see the damage pretty quickly. In their native environment the moths are kept in check somewhat by the ecosystem itself, but that doesn’t happen here. I have warned people not to plant Box here any more…it will be eaten…even established hedges will succumb. Please don’t spray pesticides around, pesticides are nasty, and I say that as a chemist. If you really want to try and save the hedge pick the caterpillars off by hand and “relocate” them…

You can buy a pheromone trap, a plastic flask, often green and yellow, and you put a little rubber bung in the top. The bung carries a tiny quantity of the female sex pheromone. You hang it near your beloved Box hedge and it attracts the males who are suckered into going into the trap thinking a female awaits…they can be drawn in from up to about ten miles away.

Sounds like a cunning plan, doesn’t it? But, think about it. The females are all over the place, and most likely on your hedge, to which they’re drawn because it’s their larval food plant (hence the name!). There may well not have been males in your street, but you’ve just put out a big chemical communication and invited them to the orgy…even if you catch a handful in the trap before they mate, chances are you won’t catch them all, and it only takes one for your local female to have a clutch of fertilised eggs ready to lay on your hedge. Her very hungry caterpillars will feast on it soon enough…

You can distinguish between the male and female moth, because the males have a tuft at the end of their body known as a hair pencil, it’s basically a diffuser for their own pheromones. There is also a melanic form of this species, which is dark brown-purple where this one is white.

Brampton dragonflies and butterflies

I only occasionally photograph dragonflies and damselflies, the Odonata. My big zoom doesn’t give me the best results with these insects for some reason. However, I was at Brampton Wood yesterday to see the recently emerged Black Hairstreak butterflies. Took a shorter zoom, Canon 75-300mm for that job instead of my Sigma 150-600mm and tried my chances on snapping some dragonflies in between hairstreaks.

First in the frame was this lovely Black-tailed Skimmer, Orthetrum cancellatum. What a great scientific name.

Black-tailed Skimmer dragonfly - Orthetrum cancellatum
Black-tailed Skimmer – Orthetrum cancellatum

And, here’s a male of the relatively common species Broad-bodied Chaser, Libellula depressa, coming into land on a stick protruding from Wayne’s Pond at Brampton Wood.

Broad-bodied Chaser coming in to land
Broad-bodied Chaser coming in to land

A Four-spotted Chaser, Libellula quadrimaculata, favoured the perching sticks in the pond too.

Four-spotted chaser, Libellula quadrimaculata, with its eight spots!
Four-spotted chaser with its eight spots!

Another interesting dragon at Brampton Wood is the relatively rare Green-eyed Hawker, Aeshna isoceles. The isoceles is a reference to the yellow triangle on its second abdominal segment. It has an alternative vernacular name, Norfolk Hawker, this common name in the UK refers to its lasting presence in the county of Norfolk, although it was common in the Cambridgeshire Fens until the 1980s. It is now known to exist in Suffolk and Kent, but is localised and scarce.

Green-eyed, or Norfolk, Hawker
Green-eyed, or Norfolk, Hawker

However, old Green Eyes is back…in Cambridgeshire. Although it remains fairly elusive; it always was a rarity. Perhaps the species is benefiting partly from the creation of numerous wetlands on the sites of old gravelworks in the county, such as RSPB Fen Drayton. It favours ponds, ditches, and marshes with dense vegetation and seems to rely on the aquatic plant Water-Soldier, Stratiotes aloides. There’s plenty of that in my garden pond, so fingers crossed and there is obviously something about Brampton Wood they like too.

In non-dragonfly news, also spotted a Bumblebee Plumehorn, a type of hoverfly, Volucella bombylans.

Bumblebee Plumehorn
Bumblebee Plumehorn hoverfly

There were Brimstone and Garden Grass-veneer moths to be seen and Spindle Ermine and Pale Eggar moth nests, a few scattered Large Skipper butterflies on the site as well as several Speckled Wood butterfly. Also at play numerous Longhorn Beetle, a few European Hornet, and a lot of Green Oak Tortrix moths, Tortrix viridana. They’ve been coming to traps in large numbers during the last few days around Cambridgeshire, so it was no surprise to see them on the oaks in Brampton Wood.

Green Oak Tortrix moth on green oak leaf
Green Oak Tortrix moth on green oak leaf

However, my target species for the day was the Black Hairstreak butterfly, Satyrium pruni. I estimate I saw 40-50 over the course of the visit. Although the butterfly is nationally very rare, it is present on this site and other ancient woodlands with well-established Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) to the west and southwest  in huge numbers. There were several within yards of the site entrance, one or two along the main ride, several on blackthorn near the aforementioned pond, and several on the two sites marked for visitors to observe them. I got photos of perching and puddling butterflies, some ovipositing females, and caught sight of a mating pair, but didn’t get the money shot of that coupling!

The Black Hairstreak was not known as a species until 1828 when a professional entomological dealer, Mr Seaman, charged with gathering up specimens of the rather similar White-letter Hairstreak delivered these to his patron only to discover a novel species among the White-letters. Edward Newman, a Victorian entomologist of note, declared the novel species to be the Black Hairstreak. Monk’s Wood, like Brampton, is an ancient woodland with a lot of old Blackthorn growing on heavy clay soil, just what the Black Hairstreak needs for its life cycle.

Black Hairstreak butterfly
Black Hairstreak butterfly

Another Black Hairstreak with a wing problem allows us to see the dark-brown upperside of the forewings with their orange-spotted fringe. Usually, it is very difficult to see the upperside of the wings as the insects invariably close their wings together when they land. It is worth noting that non-native Muntjac deer can be a voracious nuisance in this kind of ancient woodland. If it is allowed to graze freely in such habitat, there is the potential for rare, native species that rely on the habitat to be lost. As I understand it, at least one of our nature conservation organisations is involved in culling Muntjac where it is roaming freely in such habitat for the sake of conservation of the sensitive native species.

Black Hairstreak revealing a little of the upperside of its wings
Black Hairstreak revealing a little of the upperside of its wings

Not to be confused with a butterfly of the Americas, Ocaria ocrisia, with the same vernacular name, that also goes by the monicker Hewitson’s blackstreak.

One final thing – Common Spotted Orchid, Dactylorhiza fuchsii.

Common Spotted Orchid
Common Spotted Orchid