21 May 2017

21 May 17 - Green Hairstreak on the Patch

I'm catching up with a backlog of photos from earlier this year & came across this Green Hairstreak photographed at Greenlands Farm on the Studland patch. Greenlands Farm can be a good migrant pocket for Wheatears, Whinchats & Warblers and has produced some of the rarer passerines on the patch over the last few years with Rose-coloured Starling, Red-backed Shrike & Richard's Pipit (along with a bonus Hoopoe). But there were few migrants around at Greenlands on 21 May this year. However, I did get my best photos of Green Hairstreak from the patch. Some Birders are purely into Birds & don't look at other wildlife & therefore would have been disappointed in the morning. But having a wider interest can help brighten up an otherwise dull Bird day.
Green Hairstreak
Green Hairstreaks are a species that occur in low numbers on the Studland patch. I suspect they are probably not uncommon around the Nature Trail around Littlesea, but as this isn't a migrant area, I rarely spend much time there during May when Green Hairstreaks on the wing.