I've made two unsuccesful attempts this month to try to find my lifer High Brown Fritillary in the south of Belgium. On the first attempt, in the province of Namur, I got a brief look at the elusive Lesser Purple Emperor instead. Two days ago, it was this Purple Hairstreak at a nature reserve in Belgian Luxembourg which more than made up for not connecting with my target species. Purple Hairstreak is not particularly uncommon and quite widespread but notoriously difficult to observe since its spends most of its life at the top of mature oak trees, rarely descending to ground level. I knew it was the first I'd seen in a long time but, looking back at my records, I was amazed to discover my only other sighting in Belgium was EXACTLY ten years before, on 29 Jul 2009! The only other naturalising I've done of late was some dragonfly photography in Brussels, where this Red-veined Darter, a recent coloniser from the Mediterranean, seemed very much at home thanks to the all-time high of 40°C we reached last week.
