Purple rain

It has been a horribly wet weekend with almost non-stop rain.  When it eased slightly this afternoon I took my umbrella and went for a walk round the garden with my camera, hoping perhaps to find a few soggy bumblebees.  Instead I found a butterfly sitting on top of a sunflower leaf in the rain.  For a moment I didn't recognise it and then couldn't quite believe it was a purple hairstreak.

Having checked my photo against my field guide I brought the butterfly into the dry.  Unlike other hairstreaks, purple hairstreaks characteristically bask with their wings outspread but even indoors this one wasn't obliging.

To provide it with a bit of "sunshine" I brought out an anglepoise lamp and then it did open its wings to show it is a female, with iridescent patches on the forewings.

Perhaps attracted by the warmth it then flew into the hood of the lamp.

We agreed that wasn't a sensible place to stay so it obliged with a couple more photos before being released once the rain had eased.

Purple hairstreaks spend most of their time high in the canopy of mature oak trees (of which there are quite a few in the garden) so it isn't such a surprise to find one here.  However, because they feed on honeydew from aphids they rarely come down to ground level.  Now I know they are here I'll look for the males flying high in the trees on sunny afternoons (if we have any). 

Purple hairstreak

Just over a week after my first white-letter hairstreak I have now seen my first purple hairstreaks (Neozephyrus quercus).  I was walking through an oak wood with my nephews Joel and Sam when Joel's sharp eyes spotted a butterfly.  As it flew off we saw a flash of purple and a few moments later Joel found another one.  It is was fairly worn female, with a patch of purple on each front wing as it catches the light.

The purple hairstreak is a fairly small butterfly, about the size of my thumbnail.

Then this morning I found another one, this time in Gosforth Park Nature Reserve.  This was a male and he was a bit reluctant to open his wings.  When he did they looked brown in most lights, but as he turned you can see the purple colour extends to the edge.

And this afternoon another one in the same spot, this time a female.  Although purple hairstreaks live on oak trees this one had hopped onto an adjacent elm.

Purple hairstreaks spend most of their time in the tops of oak trees.  They live on honeydew and rarely come down to look for flowers so I feel very privileged to have seen these three.