blackhill greens

 

03-05-25 This was an excellent day, checking out green hairstreaks on Blackhill near Earlston. Iain hastily organised it with one eye on the weather window and the other on the early appearances of the hairstreaks which were turning up everywhere slightly ahead of the normal schedule: a theme of this year's almost-too-fantastic Spring and early Summer.

the nearby Eildons

Blackhill is pretty much the back garden of local wildlife enthusiast (and equestrian) Fiona McQ. She wasn't able to join us (due to work) but generously suggested we all use her equestrian centre to park. I had arrived by bus from Edinburgh and got a lift from Hazel (thank you!) between Earlston and Fiona's. There were 5 of us in total and we made our way up the hill across the field on the other side of the road. The day started cool and it was a while before the hairstreaks showed themselves in numbers. We were checking the gorse bushes which were interspersed with blaeberries, the preferred foodplant of the greenies. Iain and Fiona had both found the butterflies on the lower slopes of the hill and this was a more concerted effort to get numbers and assess the spread and area of the hairstreaks here. At least I think that was the plan - I was just along for a hike, packed lunch picnic and photoshoot in fine company.

There was a large corvid soaring on the breeze at the top of the hill. It looked bird-of-prey like until I zoomed in and saw it was a rook or raven. I get mixed up with which is larger and which has a grey beak. It saw us coming and kept its distance.

I can't remember who saw the first green hairstreak but it wasn't me. I think I discovered the fewest on the day with my eyes still recovering from the hectic early start having to be in the bus station at the sort of ungodly hour I am always otherwise in bed asleep. I relied on others sharper eyesight to locate the wee green creatures and then I'd push in for a photo! The first few were ten minutes apart but as the day warmed up we'd see them nearly constantly. Not as numerous as the famous firing range at Castlelaw (Pentlands) - more like the numbers at Torduff Hill - sporadic, but definitely there.

Iain and Hazel

bee on blaeberry flowers

the amount of white dotted line on each butterfly changes

quite a few speckled woods

and drone flies
looking handsome on the yellow background

a distant Lucy

We were also visited by several emperor moths. This never happens. They will only approach humans if you expose a pheromone lure. I had one in my backpack but kept it contained as we were busy enough finding hairstreaks on quite steep ground. I think Iain must have tied his laces with emperor pheromone on his hands on a previous occasion as they seemed compelled to mob his boots. 

Hazel's finger

the speckleds looking great on the gorse

At the end of a sweep along the line of low gorse we stopped for lunch. A gorse circle made a good windbreak and we had brought sandwiches (or chocolate eggs!) to have as a packed lunch. A fresh small copper graced us very briefly with its presence but didn't hang about.

There was a green hairstreak on the bush nearby and since it was taking off regularly and then landing in a similar spot I thought I would try and capture the take-offs to see if I could photo the upper wings which always remain hidden as the perching hairstreak always sits with closed wings. They are extremely fast moving butterflies and it is virtually impossible to anticipate such activity. Happily my camera does Pre-burst mode. When set up, you can hold the shutter release halfway down and it records a rolling second of buffer. When you see the butterfly take off you push the shutter the whole way down and it records stills from a second prior to the time you push it. Meaning you don't have to shoot endless seconds of waiting for the take off. It is still fairly hit-and-miss but very satisfying when it comes off. I had to set the shutter speed really high as well as otherwise the speed of the butterfly made for motion blur.

1/2000th of a second - not fast enough = blurring

these at 1/8000th of a second - enough to freeze the action

shot of the day - even though it catches
the far less spectacular aspect of these butterflies

Mick found this longhorn moth.
Normally they gather in groups but this one seemed to be out on its own.

always a delight with their metallic-like wings

Trying to capture take-off again. The camera can isolate the action but you can't always be sure of direction. I'd leave a blank space above the butterfly assuming a vertical direction of travel and then it would fly out of frame to the left or right. Trial and error, hit and miss.

After lunch we hiked up to the summit of the hill. Great views across to the Eildons.

looking nearly vertically down to Fiona's place

across to that viaduct

Two things here: Iain's new action camera which is very good for walking through the woods videoing bluebells at bluebell height - great stabilisation. And shooting videos of the buttercycle zooming along borders roads. Also: another emperor moth - followed Iain to the top of the hill: charisma or pheromones? Who knows? He shot a quick timelapse of the clouds scudding across the blue sky. Very little fuss about setting it up and the result was terrific except when yours truly got excited about the emperor and walked in front of the camera like a chump!

greeny well camouflaged on blaeberry
which is why we like to photo them on gorse

back to base

One last sweep along the lower gorse bushes. Iain spotted a ruby tiger moth which I'd just walked past. I got a couple of photos before it flew off hastily.

Lucy, Hazel, Mick and Iain heading back to Fiona's
a very relaxed and successful day out

a final treat: this orange tip female (with someone else's egg)
near the last gate

A great day out with lovely company, sunshine and hairstreaks. Fantastic!

3miles in 4.5hrs