We stayed at Spurn over the weekend and given that Saturday was planned to be the sunniest day, we thought that would be the best day for a trip to the point.

I thought that there would be a good chance of seeing a green hairstreak or two as late April/early May is right in the flight season.

We didn’t see much in terms of butterflies until after we crossed the breach. The odd small white and peacock and then on the narrows a small brownish butterfly took flight and it was flying erratically in a southerly direction- I wondered what it could be as I was only expecting green hairstreaks to be at the point. It soon settled and to my surprise it was our first green hairstreak of the day. Not long after there was another, then another.

We continued towards the point and saw more small whites and singles of red admiral, green-veined white and orange tip. Just past the lighthouse there was a large privet type bush and there must have been at least 7 or 8 in that single location. There were more as we approached the VTS tower abd another 4 on the privets there. We carried on towards the point and saw another 6 by the time we got to the green beaconand a similar number as we looped round towards the lifeboat jetty.

By the time we started heading back the wind had got up a bit but there were still a few more on the wing.

This was easily the best count of green hairstreak I have had at Spurn. Whether the recent cold weather has delayed the emergence until Saturday when conditions were almost perfect I dont know.

The combination of sunlight and a fresh emergence really did show these charismatic butterflies in their best light.

Yet another memorable wildlife encounter at Spurn. Fantastic!