A Brown Hairstreak butterfly was spotted at Godolphin Garden recently by Tony, one of our Get Out There! volunteers, who took this fab photo. Mark, another volunteer and also a trustee at HCGA, identified it as a Brown Hairstreak, which was later confirmed by the Herts & Middlesex branch of Butterfly Conservation, who deemed it a new location for the species.
Mark says, “When Tony sent the picture to me, I thought it was a Female Brown Hairstreak, and that it was, historically at least, pretty rare in this area – although I know it is confirmed to be established on Wormwood scrubs. Not entirely sure how or why this one got to Godolphin – they are attracted to Blackthorn bushes/trees and there are none there to my knowledge. Probably just indicative of its continuing spread through our area.”
He added – “Also, it’s quite difficult to photograph usually. They don’t tend to hang around for long, and rarely at ground level – so Tony did well to get such a good photo.”
Well done Tony and Mark, and a big thank you to all our volunteers who look after Godolphin Garden and its precious urban wildlife habitats.