{"id":1187,"date":"2016-08-23T15:10:00","date_gmt":"2016-08-23T14:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hostgreenwich.co.uk\/?p=1187"},"modified":"2020-04-17T17:51:04","modified_gmt":"2020-04-17T16:51:04","slug":"a-hairstreak-on-the-heath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blissful-jemison.194-164-120-178.plesk.page\/index.php\/butterflies\/a-hairstreak-on-the-heath\/","title":{"rendered":"A hairstreak on the heath"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The hairstreak moved around the ragwort unperturbed. For ten minutes it slowly worked the golden florets. It only opened its wings for a brief aerial dispute when a Common blue came in and disturbed it. I never saw the flash of blue on its upper wings as it flew. Within seconds it returned to feeding oblivious of my camera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"White-letter<\/a>
White-letter hairstreak Blackheath August 2016<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The White-letter hairstreak is rarely seen. Spending most of its time high in the trees, it rarely ventures to the ground to feed. I have only ever seen two in the 30 years I have been watching butterflies on Blackheath. In 2011 I saw one resting on a large pink rose of all things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am sure there are more, for the Heath has a scattering of Wych elm around its perimeter. There are stands on the Point, at Vanburgh pits and on the butterfly bank as I call the bank adjacent to Hyde Vale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decline of the White-letter Hairstreak<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sadly its population fluttered downhill in the when Dutch elm disease ravaged the trees it relies on. The population is said to have dropped by 96% in the last 40 years<\/a>. What it\u2019s population was on Blackheath was back then I know not, but I suspect it was common.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"White-letter<\/a>
White-letter Hairstreak on Blackheath<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It is only up in the canopy that one get the chance to witness its blue patched upper wings. When it feed on flowers, it keeps its wings tightly clasped. I would like to see this but I will probably never climb up to view them among the leaves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So when I walk through the Wych elm scrub, perhaps, they are there with their wings spread. Let\u2019s hope so. I would like to think my two sightings over the years are a glimpse of a healthy population on Blackheath.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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