I spent a few minutes up at Shipley Glen today with my camera. Actually I spent quite a few minutes up at Shipley Glen but a fair number were spent in the car waiting for the rain to stop. I could see the blue sky beyond the rain clouds but they were moving slowly.
The reason for going up there was that I had seen Purple Hairstreak at Dalton Park Nature Reserve on Monday so I was wondering if they were also at Shipley Glen. As you can see, they were.
Purple Hairstreak Butterfly on Oak trees at Shipley Glen 
Purple Hairstreak Butterfly on Oak trees at Shipley Glen 
Purple Hairstreak Butterfly on Oak trees at Shipley Glen
Shipley Glen, in a similar way to Dalton Park Nature Reserve is a good place to see them because the ground level of Bracken Hall Green is close to the top of some of the close Oak trees. The butterflies are small and inhabit the Oak tree upper canopy and so are difficult to see from the bottom of the trees. I spotted some early on in my visit and got some photos. Then the rain came. I waited out the rain but after I only managed to spot 4 or 5 flitting around some of the leaves in trees too far too many feet away to get photos – as I said, they are small.
I will try again soon when there is more sunshine, perhaps this Friday.
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